CrossCorp’s boardroom was tense, suffused with the cold hum of fluorescent lights and the low murmur of uneasy employees. Damien had returned from the depths of his penthouse spiral, but the fire in his eyes was no longer tempered. The absence of Bella left him raw, unpredictable, and dangerously unhinged. His once-magnetic charm had morphed into something jagged and threatening, a reflection of the storm inside him.
The meeting began with the usual formalities: quarterly reports, financial projections, and client updates. But Damien’s mind wasn’t on spreadsheets or stock values. Each mention of profit margins or market share felt hollow, meaningless. His empire—the thing he had built meticulously, piece by piece—suddenly seemed fragile and insufficient. Without her, nothing mattered.
He
