Enemy Territory
752 Words
Elias Blackwood didn’t turn when I entered his office.
That alone made my skin crawl and my temper flare.
He stood with his back to me, hands tucked into his pockets, staring down at the city like a king surveying land he had already claimed. The silence stretched, deliberate, waiting for me to break it. I refused.
Finally, he spoke. “You’re either very brave… or very foolish.”
I crossed my arms, letting my irritation show. “And you’re either arrogant… or blind.”
That earned him the faintest shift in posture. Slowly, deliberately, he turned. His eyes locked onto mine with a sharpness that made my skin prickle. He didn’t look surprised to see me. That bothered me more than anything.
“So,” he said, voice calm, almost smooth, “you’re Ava Cole.”
Hearing my name leave his lips felt wrong, tainted somehow, as someone had taken it and marked it for their own use.
“Yes,” I said, tight-lipped. “And I’m guessing you already know everything about me.”
“Enough,” he replied. “Sit.”
I didn’t.
“I don’t take orders from you,” I said.
One corner of his mouth lifted ever so slightly. Not a smile. Something colder. Sharper. “You applied to work in my company. That makes you my responsibility.”
I let out a short, bitter laugh. “Responsibility? That makes me your employee, not your property.”
“Sit,” he repeated, eyes unwavering.
I obeyed—but only because I needed this job, needed access, needed time.
He slid a thick file across the polished desk. “Your qualifications are impressive. Top of your class. Strong analytical instincts. And a very… interesting background.”
I clenched my jaw. “Leave my family out of this.”
“That may be difficult,” he said coolly. “Considering your father.”
There it was. That word. A punch to my chest.
“You destroyed him,” I said, my voice trembling despite myself.
He didn’t flinch. “I outperformed him.”
“You framed him.”
“Careful,” he said, his eyes darkening, shadows flickering across that sharp face. “Accusations like that can end careers.”
“Like you ended his?”
The room dropped a degree colder.
For a moment, I thought he might deny it, argue, or deflect. Instead, he said quietly, “Your father made poor decisions.”
“He was honest,” I snapped.
“That was his weakness,” he replied matter-of-factly.
Rage boiled over like lava I could no longer contain.
“You stole everything from us,” I said, voice sharp, shaking. “And you didn’t even look back.”
He rose then, moving around the desk with deliberate, unhurried steps. My instincts screamed danger, but I refused to retreat.
“I don’t owe you an explanation,” he said softly. “And you don’t owe me loyalty. But while you work here… you will follow my rules.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Then you won’t survive this place,” he said, calm as death.
I stared at him. “Is that a threat?”
“A warning,” he said, handing me another folder.
“These are your assignments. Confidential. Sensitive. You will not discuss them with anyone.”
I opened it and felt my stomach twist.
Shell companies. Shadow investors. Numbers that didn’t add up. Every line screamed secrecy and deceit.
“This is illegal,” I said, voice low but trembling.
“This is reality,” he replied.
“You used this to ruin my father,” I said, anger building with each word.
He stepped closer. His presence filled the room, heavy, suffocating. “No. I used this to win. He didn’t know how to play.”
Hatred surged violently. I wanted to strike him right there. Instead, I let a thin, dangerous smile slip onto my lips.
“Then I’ll learn,” I said. “And when I do… I’ll beat you at your own game.”
For the first time, something flickered in his eyes. Not anger. No surprise. Interest.
“Good,” he said, voice soft but deliberate. “I prefer enemies who fight back.”
As I left his office, my hands trembled—not from fear, but from fury.
This was enemy territory.
I was walking straight into the lion’s den.
But I wasn’t here to be eaten.
I was here to burn it down.
- Writer
