Chapter 1 - I Let You Finish
Adrian Vale’s fist sent me crashing across the marble floor.
My shoulder struck first.
Then my hip.
Pain flashed through my jaw as I slid beneath the crystal chandelier, one palm scraping against the polished white stone.
Adrian remained standing over me in his dark navy suit.
“No one will ever believe you.”
His breathing was heavy, but his movements were calm.
He adjusted his jacket.
Then he straightened one silver cufflink as though striking his wife had been an inconvenience that wrinkled his sleeve.
From the doorway to the sitting room, his mother watched without moving.
Celeste Vale looked at me with disgust.
“Look what you made him do.”
I pressed one trembling hand against the floor and tried to rise.
Adrian’s polished shoe stopped inches from my fingers.
He crouched, caught my chin, and forced my face upward.
“Tomorrow, you sign everything.”
He meant the permanent transfer of voting control.
My company.
My family trust.
The last legal barrier between him and everything my father had built.
Adrian released my face with a dismissive shove.
I wiped the corner of my mouth and forced myself onto one knee.
“You should’ve read the final clause.”
His expression tightened.
Then headlights swept across the mansion windows.
One beam.
Then another.
Then five more.
Within seconds, the entrance hall filled with cold white light from a line of black vehicles surrounding the circular drive.
Adrian turned toward the open wrought-iron doors.
Rain shimmered beyond the columns. Dark figures began stepping out, still obscured behind the headlights.
His fingers returned to his cufflink.
This time, they trembled.
“What did you do?”
I rose behind him, unsteady but standing.
“I let you finish.”
He slowly turned back toward me.
May you like
For the first time in three years, Adrian looked at me without contempt.
He looked afraid.
