Chapter Ten: Collateral Heartbreak
951 Words
Alina couldn’t sleep.
She kept replaying the kiss in her head. Damon’s mouth on hers. His hands gripping her waist. The heat, the anger, the ache.
And her own betrayal.
She had kissed the enemy.
Worse—she had wanted to.
Evelyn stirred on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, eyes still sleepy. She sat up and blinked. “You’re pacing.”
Alina froze. “Didn’t mean to wake you.”
“You didn’t,” Evelyn muttered. “But you’re radiating stress like a car alarm. What happened?”
Alina opened her mouth.
Then closed it.
She couldn’t say it.
Not out loud.
“You kissed him, didn’t you,” Evelyn said flatly.
Alina’s eyes widened. “How did you—”
“You’ve been walking around like someone dropped a bomb in your heart. And you look like guilt is suffocating you.”
Alina sat down across from her, burying her face in her hands.
“It wasn’t supposed to happen.”
Evelyn folded her arms. “Let me guess. He confronted you about your real identity?”
Alina nodded.
“And then instead of blowing up your cover... he kissed you?”
Another nod.
“And you let him?”
Alina looked up, eyes wide and hollow. “I kissed him back.”
Silence.
Then Evelyn groaned and tossed a pillow at her.
“Alina! What the hell?”
“I know! I know.” She caught the pillow and hugged it like a life raft. “I didn’t plan it. It just happened. And now I can’t stop thinking about it.”
Evelyn stared at her, voice softening. “Do you still want to ruin him?”
Alina hesitated. “Yes… but…”
“But now it’s complicated,” Evelyn said for her.
Alina’s throat tightened. “He’s not what I thought he was. He’s ruthless, yes—but not without reason. Not without pain.”
“And you think that justifies what he did to your father?”
“No,” Alina said sharply. “But I think there’s more to the story. More than I knew.”
Evelyn’s expression shifted. “Then you’d better figure it out fast. Because if you keep falling for him, and this thing blows up... you won’t just lose your chance at revenge. You’ll lose yourself.”
The next morning, Alina walked into Voss Tower with her spine straight and her heart a battlefield.
Her phone buzzed.
Message from Leo:
Meeting in the war room. Just us three. Now.
Her stomach dropped.
War room meant secrets. Strategy. Exposure.
She was about to find out if the kiss had changed everything—or nothing at all.
Damon and Leo were already inside when she arrived.
Damon didn’t greet her.
He just gestured to a chair and spoke to Leo, cool and businesslike.
“The leaks weren’t random. Someone inside is feeding data to Arclight.”
Alina blinked. “You’re sure?”
“We tracked three flagged packets through Taiwan servers. They disappeared through a ghost firm linked to Arclight Capital.”
Alina sat down slowly. “That’s the group that pushed the takeover on my father’s company.”
Damon’s jaw tightened. “They’re trying to do it again. This time through us.”
Leo looked between them. “You said you wanted to finish what your father started.”
Alina glanced at Damon.
He was already watching her.
“You still want revenge?” he asked quietly.
She didn’t flinch. “I want the truth. And I want whoever’s been hiding it to burn.”
He nodded once. “Then we work together.”
The rest of the day blurred.
Calls. Files. Internal audits.
She and Damon barely spoke—but when they did, there was no trace of the kiss.
No trace of emotion.
Only fire.
Only purpose.
But the heat between them still pulsed, just beneath the surface.
Like a secret waiting to explode.
At noon, she got a call from Evelyn.
Alina stepped out into the hallway to answer.
“Hey, I’m in a meeting—”
“You need to listen,” Evelyn interrupted, her voice tense. “Someone contacted me. Said my old consulting firm is under review. They froze two of my accounts.”
Alina’s blood ran cold. “What? Why?”
“They said it’s linked to you. To your name being flagged in some internal audit at Voss.”
Alina’s knees weakened. “No. No, I never used you for anything—”
“I know,” Evelyn said quickly. “But someone wants to scare you.”
Alina gripped the wall. “They’re using you as leverage.”
“I think they know what you’re doing. Or suspect it.”
Alina’s mind raced.
Someone was sending her a message.
Back off… or someone you love gets hurt.
She ended the call and stormed back to the war room, where Damon stood alone.
“You said no one else knew,” she hissed.
“They didn’t,” he replied calmly.
“Then why was Evelyn flagged? Why are they freezing her accounts?”
He stared at her. “Someone moved faster than I expected.”
Alina’s voice shook. “She’s innocent. You dragged her into this.”
Damon stepped closer. “I didn’t authorize anything.”
“But you didn’t stop it either.”
They stared at each other, fury and fire dancing between them.
“She’s all I have left,” Alina whispered.
“I know.”
Her chest ached.
She wanted to scream. To run. To kiss him again and slap him right after.
“Stay out of my life,” she said coldly.
Damon’s voice was low. “Too late.”
- Writer
