The takeover.
FLASH FORWARD
Aurora
I look over the interior of Stone Corporation with new eyes, through the transparent walls of the elevator as it speeds upward to the thirteenth floor.
There isn’t much to change, I realise. The Stones have done a grand job for ages. I step out of the lift, and trail behind two black clad men, with curled earpieces tucked in their ears.
Voices hush as I walk past doors, I’m no news anyway. Okay, I may be news around here.
“Your meeting’s right here, ma’am,” one of the security agents says, and I dismiss them with a wave of my hand.
Drawing a deep, reassuring breath, I take three steps towards the huge glass doors to the Boardroom, and wrap my fingers around the cold chrome handles, releasing my breath as slowly as possible.
This is where I’m meant to be. Every plan, every risk I have ever taken, has brought me to where I want to be. Finally.
“Um, Aurora?” I tilt my head to the sound of my awkward Korean-American assistant, whose brown eyes bulge behind her pink-rimmed glasses. “Are you nervous?”
An incredulous laugh escapes me, releasing the tension a bit. “Why the hell should I be? I’m basking in the glory of my win.”
I see the wheels turning in her head before she opens her mouth again. “But you know, being nervous is norm—"
I flash her a quick warning glance and she shuts it.
Refocusing, I do what I learnt from therapy.
Remove Lucian from the picture. What do I want to achieve? I want to see him suffer.
I’ll watch them beg as I take everything away, starting with Stone Corporation.
Rage courses under my heated skin like lava and I tighten my grip on the handles.
My reflection stares back at me from the polished steel: auburn hair glinting in the light, my lips curve to the faintest, dangerous smile I’ve perfected on my employees in the last year.
But an image of Lucian in a white bathrobe, dark hair dripping water, and steel-grey eyes that could murder, sneaks past my resolve; what if I still want him? My weak heart quickens at the thought.
No, I blink, pushing it away.
I’m not that girl anymore. I don’t beg to be chosen. Now, I burn Kingdoms down.
I tighten my grip on the chrome handles, and pull the doors open, gracefully; my game expression turns on as I step in.
Every conversation stills, heads turn to my direction, and my confidence returns.
Standing where I was, my gaze skimmed over the dozen heads present, in the air-conditioned room, and it rested on him. My heart jams in my chest.
He still has that effect, but I won’t mind it.
Lucian springs to his feet at the other side of the endless polished table. I watch how his eyes widen and I do a once-over on him.
I notice when his mask slips, I see the tick in his jaw, how he runs his gaze over me as if he’s seeing a ghost.
His mussed hair, and the dark rings around his eyes confirm my suspicion that this decision was a hard one to make, or he already knew I was the one taking the company.
It doesn’t matter, it’s already done. This, however, is to fulfil all righteousness.
I step forward, the sound of my heels re-echoes, clicking like gunfire across the marble, and I feel my lips curve. Perfect.
“Gentlemen,” I say in a voice too smooth for my own good. “Shall we begin?”
Energy throbs and bubbles through my veins, I spread my palms over the edge of the table, and hold every gaze I could, daring them to say what they’re thinking.
My eyes land on Lucian, I watch his knuckles whiten in a fist. Then he parts his lips…
