The cameras flashed like lightning across the velvet-lined conference room. Blackwood Enterprises had transformed the floor into a palace of polished steel and gold. Behind the podium, Elira stood in crimson.
Not just a woman returning.
A warning.
Every seat was full—reporters, shareholders, staffers who remembered her name only in hushed whispers. And somewhere among them… Vanessa was watching.
Damian stood just offstage, unreadable in his signature black suit, eyes locked on her like he was tethered to every word she was about to say.
Elira breathed in.
Then stepped forward.
“Years ago, I vanished.”
Silence gripped the room.
“There were rumors. Lies. Cover-ups. But I wasn’t dead. I was stolen—from my life, my work… from my future.”
Her voice didn’t shake.
“I didn’t return to a
