The CEO'S weakness

Chapter 14: Silent partner.

Beatrice's POV.

The mansion was too quiet. Three days had passed since I arrived, and the luxury was beginning to feel like a heavy velvet curtain. I had spent the afternoon with Aunt Patricia, who had shown me the library, but my eyes kept wandering to the heavy steel door at the end of the north hallway.

"Don't go in there, dear," Aunt Patricia had whispered earlier. "That's where Lucas goes when the world is too loud."

But tonight, the world didn't sound loud; it sounded like it was breaking.

I heard a thud, sharp and heavy then followed by the sound of shattering glasses. My instincts as a Kingston, used to fixing things and minding the shop, overrode my fear. I pushed open the door and the air hit me like a wall of ice.

​Lucas was on the floor, his body locked in a terrifying, rigid tremor. He looked like he was fighting an invisible monster that was trying to snap his bones.

​"Lucas!" I rushed to him, my knees hitting the hard floor.

"Get... out," he managed, his jaw clamped shut so tight I thought his teeth might crack. "Beatrice... leave."

"I'm a nurse's daughter, Lucas. I don't leave when people are hurting." I sat on the cold floor beside him, ignoring the chill. I reached out, hesitantly at first, and placed my hand over his shaking one.

The moment our skin met, he gasped. The tremor didn't stop instantly, but the violent tension in his neck seemed to drain away. He leaned his head back against the pillar, his eyes closed, breathing in short.

Slowly, the heat from my body seemed to seep into his charcoal shirt. The violent shaking began to subside into a low shiver. For hours, I didn't let go. I felt his heart rate slow, his breathing even out, until he finally went limp against me, exhausted.

I wanted to ask what was wrong with him, i didn't think it was the right time. I just held him towards chest.

"I'm right here. You aren't alone in the dark." I assured.

For the first time, he didn't pull away. He let out a long, shuddering breath, his head tilting toward mine. In that freezing, dark room, the Ice King let someone see the cracks.

Lucas's POV.

The seizure receded, leaving me hollow and exhausted. But for the first time in five years, the recovery wasn't a lonely descent into exhaustion. Beatrice was there. Her warmth was a physical anchor, pulling me back from the brink of the neurological void.

"You should be in bed." I said, but after a while I didn't hear a response. I looked at her in the dim light. She was already asleep, and in a very bad posture.

Regaining my strength, I stood up and carried her back to her suite. She would have a lot of questions after seeing me like this, I thought to myself. I didn't want to find out this way.

I tucked her into the bed, before leaving.

...

Beatrice's POV.

The next morning, I woke up on my bed. I looked around, then slowly recount what happened last night. I knew he must have gone to work, so I decided that I would ask Aunt Patricia about it.

I found Aunt Patricia in the kitchen, her face etched with worry as she polished silver leather.

"Aunt Patricia, can I ask you something?" I said, sitting at the counter.

She turned towards me,"About Lucas?" She asked, her expression now contoured with concern.

"Yes" i replied.

"I saw him last night. He was... freezing. Breaking. What is wrong with him?"

Patricia stopped polishing and let out a long, heavy sigh. She looked toward the hallway to ensure we were alone. "The Doctors said he had a Cystic Agnosia. It started five years ago, after his accident."

She sat down across from me, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Lucas wasn't always this cold. But he was betrayed by the one person he trusted. Her name was Alice. She was working with his rival, Damien, behind his back. The night he found out, he drove off in anger, he couldn't contain the betrayal. She sighed and continued "He crashed into a truck ... a crash that should have killed him. When he woke up, He woke up with that disorder. The trauma turned his nerves to a brick of cold spikes."

My heart ached as she spoke. I thought of the man I held last night, a man betrayed by love, broken by a rival, and carrying the weight of a dying empire.

"The family doesn't help," Aunt Patricia continued. "His uncle, Spencer and his wife, Emily treat his illness like a target. He pushes everyone away because he thinks the cold is the only thing that keeps him alive."

I looked at my hands, still feeling the phantom warmth of his skin. I didn't feel pity anymore; I felt a desperate need to show him that not everyone is a traitor

...

Tyler's POV

While Lucas was back at Blackwood wings, I was doing what I do best: making deals and breaking hearts. I didn't stay at Blackwood, it was too quiet for me. I spent my nights at the Grand Baltic penthouse or at my parents' estate, playing the role of the spoiled only son.

But business called. A new player had emerged in the Star City docks, bypassing Santiago Kurf's old routes.

Her name was Fernanda.

She came from Mexico, looking to expand her pharmaceutical and tech-mobility products into the German market. Lucas had asked me to handle the deals with her, while he handled matters at the Niles extension.

She met me at a private lounge near the city's harbor. She was stunning with sharp eyes and a mind that calculated percentages faster than a supercomputer.

"Half the shares, Tyler," Fernanda said, sliding a contract across the table. Her voice was like velvet over gravel. "I provide the product and the Mexican infrastructure. ZigLan provides the mobility and the European distribution. We split the percentages 50/50."

I leaned back, flashing my best playboy grin. "That's a steep price, Fernanda. Most people pay us for that kind of access."

"I am not most people," she replied, her gaze not wavering for a second. "I know Lucas is busy with the Nile Town rigs and other ZigLan extension. You're the one who gets things done in the dirt. Do we have a deal, or not. I have other options to explore."

I felt a spark of genuine admiration. She knew exactly which buttons to push. "I'll handle the logistics. Lucas is... occupied. But I like your style, Fernanda. Maybe we can discuss the 'mobility' over dinner?"

"I don't eat with business partners, Tyler," she said, standing up and snapping her briefcase shut. "I only win with them. Have the contracts ready by the Gala."

I watched her walk out, a smirk tugging at my lips. For the first time in my life, I had met a woman who didn't care about the name. This was going to be fun.