The car ride from the café was a world away from the tense silence of the morning. A quiet hum of energy lingered between Kaelen and me, the ghost of Sienna's approval and shared coffee making the plush interior feel less like a boardroom on wheels and more like a sanctuary. He didn't need to hold my hand; his presence was a solid, steady force beside me, his earlier vow—"I have no intention of ever letting that happen"—still warming the cold, guarded places inside me.
The car glided to a smooth halt at the Sterling Group's curb. The gleaming marble facade, which had felt like a tomb just days ago, now looked like a chessboard. And for the first time, I felt I was holding the right pieces.
"My PR team will vet through the press conference articles have send you a draft this afternoon," Kaelen said, his voice pulling me from my thoughts.
"I'll look them over," I replied, my voice even. A small, genuine smile touched my lips. "Thank you. For managing this situation, the coffee, and for Sienna."
His gaze held mine, the gunmetal grey softening just a fraction. It was a look that promised a thousand more quiet mornings, a thousand more battles fought side-by-side. He gave a single, slow nod. "I'll be in touch."
I stepped out of the car, the crisp city air a shock after the sandalwood-scented warmth. I didn't look back, feeling the weight of his gaze until the car pulled away. Squaring my shoulders, I walked toward the building, the click of my heels on the pavement a confident, rhythmic beat. The victory from the press conference was a shield, the memory of my father's embrace was armor, and the promise of a future with Kaelen was a weapon.
The armor cracked the moment I stepped out of the car.
He was there. Not waiting in the office building, but right here, as if he'd been pacing around the entrace. Liam.
He looked… ruined. His suit was a day old, his eyes raw and desperate. The golden boy was tarnished, his polish scraped away to reveal the weak metal beneath.
"Elara." My name was a plea, a sob held back by sheer force of will.
I didn't break stride. "Liam." I moved to walk past him, but he sidestepped, blocking my path.
"Please. Just talk to me. You won't answer my calls… you've just… shut me out." His voice was frayed, the panic barely contained.
I stopped, crossing my arms over my chest. A defensive posture, but it felt more like a barricade. "There's nothing to talk about. The conversation is over. It ended the moment you decided my dressing room was an appropriate venue for your indiscretion."
He flinched, his face crumbling. "It was a mistake! A stupid, fucking mistake! She meant nothing! She tempted me, Elara. I swear!"
"And that's supposed to make it better?" My voice was dangerously quiet. "That you threw away everything we were supposed to be for nothing? That just makes it pathetic, Liam."
I tried to move again, but his hand shot out, not to grab me, but to grip my forearm. His touch was feverish. "Don't. Please. We can fix this. We can go back."
"There is no back," I said, trying to pull my arm away, but his grip tightened. "Let go of me."
"Is it him?" he demanded, his voice dropping, turning ugly. "Is that it? You were already fucking him, weren't you? This whole 'betrayal'… it was just your convenient excuse to trade up. Did you two laugh about me? Were you warming his bed while I was planning our future?"
The vulgarity, the sheer audacity of his rewriting of history, stole my breath. Rage, hot and sharp, flooded my veins. "You disgusting—"
"That's enough, Liam."
The voice was like a blade of ice, cleaving through the toxic heat between us. Kaelen stood by the entrance, his hands in the pockets of his coat. He must have gotten out of the car the moment he saw Liam waiting. His expression was impassive, but his eyes were fixed on Liam's hand on my arm.
Liam's grip loosened in shock, and I yanked my arm back, my skin crawling.
"This is a private conversation," Liam snarled, turning his fury on his uncle.
"It sounded public. And it's over," Kaelen stated. He didn't move, but his presence seemed to expand, filling the area with a silent, oppressive authority. "Walk away."
The command, so calm and absolute, was the final spark. Liam's face twisted, a mask of bitter, reckless spite. He looked from me to Kaelen, a nasty smile curling his lip.
"What's the matter, Uncle?" he sneered, taking a step forward. "Can't stand to hear it? Does it bother you? Knowing I had her first? Knowing every inch of her, every sound she makes… I was there. You're just getting my leftovers."
The words were meant to wound, to claim some pathetic, primitive dominance. I saw a muscle feather in Kaelen's jaw, the only sign he'd even heard them. He didn't look at me, his gaze locked on Liam with a terrifying focus.
"You are a child," Kaelen said, his voice low and lethally soft. "You were given a treasure and you treated it like trash. Your 'claim' is the reason you've lost everything. It's not a boast; it's your epitaph."
He took a single, deliberate step forward. Liam, for all his bluster, instinctively took a half-step back.
"You will not speak to her again," Kaelen continued, the softness gone, replaced by unyielding steel. "You will not approach her. You will not even look in her direction. If you do, I will not only ruin you financially, Liam. I will erase you. You will become a ghost in this city. Do you understand?"
The confrontation wasn't physical, but it was a total annihilation. Liam stood there, stripped bare, his vulgar taunts exposed as the empty, childish things they were. The fight drained out of him, leaving only a hollow, broken shame. He looked at me one last time, a plea and an accusation, before turning and stumbling down the hall toward the stairwell, unable to even wait for the elevator.
The silence he left behind was deafening.
Kaelen finally turned his gaze to me. The fury was gone, replaced by a quiet, searching intensity. "Are you alright?"
I nodded, my own breath shaky now that it was over. The adrenaline was receding, leaving a strange emptiness. "Yes. I… thank you."
He didn't move to touch me, respecting the public space, the raw edges of the moment. He simply gave me that same, steadying look. "Just give me a call if you need anything."
Then he was gone, the black car swallowed by the ongoing traffic.
I stood alone in the hallway, the phantom grip of Liam's hand still on my arm. But it was Kaelen's words that echoed in the silence. A treasure. Treated it like trash. Erase you.