IN DEBT TO DESIRE

Headlines

LIORA’S POV

The world did not give me a single night to breathe. Damian Cross made sure of that.

By morning, Holt Designs was all over the news again. Every finance blog and the biggest business sites carried a headline that was so damning in bold letters.

‘CROSS CAPITAL CALLS HOLT DESIGNS A SINKING SHIP’

I threw my tablet across the desk. It hit the wood hard and cracked. My assistant, Ivy, was startled.

“Get me a statement in thirty minutes,” I said sharply. “Something that would remind the investors who we are.”

“Yes, Ms. Holt.” Her voice shook as she hurried out of the room.

I pressed my palms against my forehead. My head throbbed. Damian’s timing was exact. He had moved from pressure to public attack. He was no longer circling. He had fired the first shot.

And the board would use it against me.

By ten in the morning, I sat at the head of the long conference table. Every person looking back at me wore the same expression. Doubt.

Mr. Halloway cleared his throat. “We cannot ignore this, Liora. Cross’s statement is shaking confidence. Shares dropped five points this morning.”

“Five pointsares not collapsing,” I said. “The shares would be on an uptrend when the new design line launches.”

“Uptrend?” Vance leaned back, unimpressed. “Cross has more influence than any of us. He is calling Holt Designs unstable and poorly led.”

“Are you quoting him or sharing your own opinion?” I snapped.

His jaw tightened, but he continued. “We are stating the truth. If you do not control this situation, the market will… And if the market turns against us, this board will have to step in.”

Step in Take everything from me, it's what most of them wanted. I was not going down for them, at least not with a hard fight.

“I inherited this company,” I said through my teeth. “My father built it. I kept it going. I will not let Damian Cross decide it belongs to him, or whoever.”

Halloway leaned forward. “Inheritance is the problem here, Ms. Holt. The succession terms are not as simple as you think.”

The room went still. My pulse jumped.

“You want to talk about succession now?” I asked. “During a crisis, Cross created?”

“Better to be prepared,” he said. “If Cross weakens your position, the board will need to consider options. The bylaws are clear. If the heir does not meet the conditions of succession…”

“That is enough,” I said, heat rising in my face.

They knew. Or they had heard pieces of it. My father’s hidden contract was spreading like a quiet poison.

I pushed back my chair. “Meeting over. I will not sit here and watch you circle my father’s seat.”

Their whispers followed me all the way out. The rest of the day went by so fast.

When I reached home, the sky was turning purple. I barely set my bag down before I heard my mother in the sitting room.

“Rough day?” she asked gently.

I laughed without humor. “The board is digging into Father’s succession terms. Damian already sent our stocks sliding. And the broadcasts are calling me a careless heir.”

She took a slow sip of her wine. “Then you know what needs to be done.”

I froze. “Do not start.”

“Liora…”

“No.” I paced the carpet. “You want me to marry someone I have never met. A man Father promised me to. A man hidden behind silence and secrets. While I am drowning in Cross, debt, and a board ready to cut me out. Do you hear yourself?”

She placed her glass down carefully. “You think I want this? Your father left you with a contract that cannot be ignored. If you refuse it, the board can remove you.”

I pressed both hands against the fireplace mantle. “Then tell me who this man is. If I am supposed to give up everything, I deserve a name.”

Her voice softened, but it stayed steady. “I do not know.”

I turned sharply. “Stop lying.”

“It is the truth,” she said. “Your father refused to tell me. The family insisted on privacy until the time came. Only his lawyer knew, and he promised silence until the groom stepped forward.”

My chest tightened. “So, I am supposed to wait? Till the day a stranger knocks on my door with a ring and a contract, and I am expected to say yes?”

“Not a stranger,” she whispered. “A man from a family powerful enough to protect Holt Designs. Your father believed staying quiet was the safest way.”

I let out a broken laugh. “He did not protect me. He chained me to someone I have never seen, while leaving me to fight the chaos he created.”

She winced but did not argue.

I sank into a chair and covered my face. “Mother, I cannot do this. Cross is pushing me to the edge. The debts are crushing. The board wants me out. And now a nameless groom. It is too much.”

She reached across and held my hand. “You are stronger than you feel right now. But you have to think clearly. Your father used everything he had to defend this company. This contract may be painful, but it might also be something you can use.”

I lifted my head. My eyes stung. “How do I use something I cannot control? How do I rely on a man I do not even know?”

Her answer came slowly. “Sometimes the things we resent become the things that save us.”

I stared at her, feeling empty.

Later that night, alone in my room, I went through different news channels, and they all repeated Damian’s words. My email is filled with investor warnings.

And behind it all, a silent future husband with no face and no name waited somewhere in the dark.

I whispered into the room, barely holding myself together. “If I am being forced into this game, then I will learn to play it better than all of them.”

But fear pressed hard against my ribs.

Because I did not know which one would destroy me first.

Damian Cross.

The board.

Or the man waiting at the end of my father’s contract.