Chapter 10
888 Words
Rowan glanced down at his phone, the glow of the screen reflecting sharply against his face beneath the warm lights of the ballroom.
A single message stared back at him.
"All information confirmed. What do you want me to do with him?"
He didn’t hesitate.
His fingers moved almost immediately... calm, precise.
It was Cedric. His personal assistant.
Only hours earlier, Cedric’s call had come just minutes after Rowan and Cathie stepped out of the car. Quiet information, passed through alliances that preferred whispers to headlines. Rowan had listened without interruption, already knowing the name before Cedric confirmed it.
Valente.
Mr. Dylan Valente—owner of the estate hosting the gala, founder of the second-largest company across the states. Powerful. Respected.
And still, unmistakably—beneath Ravenscoth when the right names were spoken in the right rooms.
A small, knowing smile curved at the corner of Rowan’s lips as he typed back.
"You don’t need to do anything."
What mattered more was that Dylan Valente had summoned Cathie earlier, after the event. Rowan didn’t need details to know it wasn’t a good sign.
Cedric’s response came almost instantly.
"Sir, what exactly are you planning?
Are you sure this is the right move?"
Cedric rarely questioned him, and when he did, it indicated that the situation was serious.
"You’re at a Valente event. You just announced an engagement there.
Pretending off your real status isn’t wise, not now.
If I’m being professional, this isn’t a good decision."
Rowan didn’t respond right away.
Instead, he walked toward a quieter corner of the hall, moving through layers of soft laughter and softer suspicion. Whispers brushed against him from both sides as he passed... unashamed, unfiltered.
He took a glass of wine from a nearby server and surveyed the room. Curious eyes were still fixed on him. Judgment hung heavily in the air.
"Fiancé… Where did he come from? She left Jake for that?" The same gossip always circulated, moving from person to person. Rowan pretended not to hear it and, more importantly, didn’t care to understand.
He shook his head slightly, suppressing whatever response threatened to surface—at least for now.
Then his fingers moved again.
"I need you to do something for me."
There was a long pause.
Rowan lifted his glass, took a slow sip, then typed once more.
"Get Dylan Valente’s attention. One way or another."
No further explanation was needed.
Cedric already understood.
When Ravenscoth’s assistant reached out, all companies under his influence paid attention; people listened, all Boards paused. Calls were returned promptly. Whatever Dylan Valente was involved with would quickly become secondary... if only briefly.
And it wouldn’t appear to be business.
That was important.
Rowan wanted no records, no official ties, no visible conflict.
Just a distraction.
Because he knew... whatever was about to unfold between Cathie and her father tonight wouldn’t remain quiet.
****
Dylan Valente stood rigid in a private sitting area just off the main hall, his posture straight, his expression carved from controlled disappointment.
Cathie sat across from him.
“You embarrassed this family tonight,” he said at last, his voice even—but cold. “Do you have any idea how this looks?”
Cathie swallowed hard. "I just wanted to introduce him properly. I had no intention of making an announcement... or causing a scene."
"And yet you did." His gaze intensified. "With a man nobody knows. After everything with Jake."
His expression hardened further. "Do you really expect people not to jump to conclusions? You've given them the easiest one—that you betrayed Jake and moved on without any shame."
Her hands clenched at her sides as she hesitated. “You don’t know the full story.”
“That hesitation,” Dylan said coolly, “tells me enough.”
He took a slow breath. "After what Jake did... this isn't the solution I anticipated from you."
Before Cathie could reply, his phone rang.
The sound sliced through the tension like a knife.
Dylan frowned as he reached into his inner suit pocket. “Who calls at a time like—”
He stopped.
His eyes narrowed as he read the name on the screen. Irritation flickered across his face, almost instantly disappearing and replaced by something else entirely: recognition and caution.
It was a name he knew well.
Without another word, he straightened up. “Excuse me.” he said, stepping away.
Cathie watched him step away, her confusion deepening as his posture shifted... his attention sharpening, his presence tightening.
The conversation was brief. Quiet. Controlled.
And when Dylan returned, something had changed.
The disappointment lingered, and the irritation remained... but it was tempered now, balanced as if an unseen weight had altered the atmosphere in the room.
“At some point this week,” he said finally, “you will properly introduce me to this man.”
Cathie blinked in surprise. “You… want to meet him?”
“Yes,” Dylan replied. “I want to know who he is.”
She searched his face, feeling unsettled. Whatever that call had been about, it clearly mattered.
“…Alright,” she agreed slowly.
Dylan nodded once and turned away, leaving her alone with burning questions in her chest.
Across the hall, out of sight, Rowan lifted his glass and took a measured sip.
- Writer
