Novels by Ilelaboye Demilade

Damian's POVThere were things I had accepted about myself in the years since Isabella walked out of our lives. I had accepted that I was arrogant. I had accepted that I had been careless with the one person who deserved the opposite of careless. I had accepted the guilt, worn it like a second skin until it stopped feeling like a punishment and started feeling like a fact.What I had not accepted, until the moment she turned to look at me in that lobby and I saw it, was that she was not as untouchable as she needed me to believe she was.There had been a flicker. Barely there. The kind that only a man who had spent years memorizing her face would catch. But I caught it. And I was still thinking about it hours later when Carter walked into my office looking like he'd run up fourteen flights of stairs."Close the door," I said before he could speak.He did. Then he set a tablet on my desk and turned it to face me. "We have a problem that has nothing to do with Isabella."I looked at the

Bella's POVI had always believed that the most dangerous thing a person could do was feel something they weren't prepared for.I found out just how right I was on a Tuesday morning, in the last place I ever expected it to happen.Elena had sent me the report at six-fifteen. I'd read it twice, standing in my kitchen in silence, my coffee going cold beside me. The message was simple, and devastating in its simplicity: Victor Kane's emergency arbitration motion had been withdrawn. And it had not been withdrawn because Victor lost his nerve. It had been withdrawn because someone had filed a counter-submission at four in the morning, a submission so thorough and legally airtight that the arbitration board had dismissed the challenge before business hours even began.The counter-submission had been filed under Cole Enterprises' legal department.Damian had protected my acquisition.I set the report down on the counter, stared at it for a long moment, and then walked away from it. I poured

The Weight of GuiltDamian's POVThe gym on the thirty-eighth floor of Cole Tower had been empty for three hours by the time I arrived. I preferred it that way. Fewer witnesses to the version of me that existed without the suit.I worked the heavy bag until my knuckles ached and my shoulder screamed for mercy, and still I didn't stop. There was something about the impact, about making contact with something solid and unresisting, that was the only thing cutting through the noise in my head tonight.Carter had tried to reach me four times. I'd let every call ring out.Twenty percent.She had walked into my company's bloodstream without a single person at that board table seeing it coming, including me. That was the part that refused to leave me alone, not the acquisition itself, not the legal exposure, not the shareholder panic. It was the fact that she had planned all of this while I was still busy telling myself she'd moved on.I landed one final blow on the bag, letting my forehead

The Devil's OfferBella's POVThe boardroom on the forty-second floor of Adeniran Holdings had the kind of silence that settles after thunder. I sat at the head of the table, fingers laced together on the surface, watching my team exchange nervous glances as though they were waiting for permission to breathe. I didn't give it to them. Not yet."Run it again," I said quietly.My lead analyst, James, cleared his throat. The young man had been with me since the London days, and he had learned, painfully at times, that when I asked him to run something again, I wasn't doubting his figures. I was drilling the reality of them into the room."Twenty percent of Cole Enterprises," he repeated, pulling up the holographic figures on the wall screen. "Acquired through a consortium of four foreign investment firms, all registered under the Adeniran Holdings umbrella. The acquisition is fully legal, fully documented, and the board of Cole Enterprises has no grounds to contest it without triggering

The First BlowDamian's POV“Damian, have you taken a look at the investors list to see the latest shareholder report?” Carter’s voice vibrated with so much urgency, and I know it wasn't the ordinary one. I could see all the disbelief in his face as he leaned over my desk.I froze, as I await whatever news he was to bring. The coffee in my hand almost spilling. “What… what exactly are you talking about?” I asked, already scared of the answer that would follow.He tapped the screen twice. “Isabella Adeniran is the one. She… she’s finally climbed the business ladder and had acquired twenty percent of Cole Enterprises. But she didn't do it alone, it's through the help of foreign investors. No one saw any of this coming. The board as we speak right now is in chaos.”I felt my stomach twist as I couldn't comprehend what he was saying. My pulse jumped to a high beat. “Isabella of all people? How...why…how did she achieve that? That’s really impossible.”Carter shook his head, completely con

Sparks of WarDamian's POV “Damian, you seriously need to take a look at this,” Carter’s voice came out more like being hurried, though low, but also urgent as he grabbed my arm. “Isabella… she’s the one speaking.”I froze mid step as I couldn't believe it, the champagne glass getting heavy, and slipping off my hand. “Speaking? Here?” I asked, still in disbelief at how things were turning around. My pulse pounding vigorously. She was on the Wall Street?“Yes, that's the news I got. The press, even the investors… the whole city’s watching her perform right now. Manhattan is buzzing because of her commanding aura. You need to witness how tough she’s handling Selene.”I listened as he narrated all that's happening. I couldn't place my hand on how she turned out to be this strong, despite being very fragile when I divorced her. How did she turn out to be this ruthless, when she could barely stand up for herself when we were together? I still can't explain if what I feel is jealousy or ju