chapter 10

I didn't cancel dinner. I let him pick me up.

When I slid into his car at six, the smell of his expensive cologne mixed with the faint scent of leather and rain. He leaned over, his eyes soft, and kissed me on the cheek.

“You look exhausted, sweetheart,” he said, his hand lingering on my neck, thumb rubbing a soft, comforting circle against my skin. “Tonight is about us. No phone calls. No business.”

I sat there, frozen, feeling his warm thumb on my neck while my skin crawled. Every touch felt like a lie. Every gentle word felt like a drop of poison.

The restaurant was a quiet, dimly lit place downtown with white linen tablecloths, soft jazz playing in the background, and waiters in suits who moved like shadows. Adrian had booked a corner booth, private, intimate, surrounded by small tea candles flickering in crystal glass.

He took my hand across the table the moment we sat down.

“To us,” he said, raising his wine glass with a bright, victorious smile. “To finally leaving the noise behind.”

I stared at the pale amber liquid in his glass. I looked at his handsome face, the clean jawline, the clear, unbothered eyes of a man who believed he had successfully played every person in his life and gotten away with it.

“What are we drinking to, exactly?” I asked, my voice low and steady, though my heart was pounding against my ribs like a trapped bird.

“To our new beginning,” Adrian said warmly, tapping his glass against mine. “I talked to the board today, Emma. Things are settling down. We have our apartment. We have our space.”

“And what about Victoria?”

Adrian’s glass froze halfway to his lips. The easy, relaxed smile on his face faltered for a fraction of a second before he smoothed it back over.

“Victoria?” he asked smoothly, taking a sip. “What about her?”

“She came to my office today, Adrian.”

The wine glass hit the table with a sharp, heavy *clink*. The color drained from his face so fast it was almost terrifying.

“She... she came to your office?”

“She told me about the six a.m. phone call,” I said, leaning forward into the warm candlelight, staring straight into his panicked eyes. “She told me about the company funds you used for our old apartment. She told me you traded her an Executive Vice President seat just to cover your tracks before your mother found out.”

Adrian’s lips parted, but no sound came out. The suave, confident CEO collapsed instantly, replaced by a sweating, cornered boy.

“Emma, listen to me,”

“Is it true?”

“She’s twisting it!” he stammered, leaning across the table, his fingers digging into the tablecloth. “Emma, you don't understand how these structures work! I had to allocate those funds temporarily because Mom froze my personal account when we moved out! I wasn't embezzling, I was just…”

“You traded a woman a seat at your company so you wouldn't get cut off by your mother,” I whispered, tears finally burning the backs of my eyes. “And then you came to my bed, got on your knees, and swore on your life that you told Eleanor to go to hell.”

“I did it to protect our home!” he pleaded, his voice rising in panic. Heads turned at nearby tables, but he didn't care. “If Mom knew I used corporate accounts for the lease, she would have used it to oust me! I had to neutralize Victoria! I had no choice!”

“You always have a choice, Adrian,” I said, my chest aching so badly I could barely draw breath. “You just never choose me.”

Before he could answer, his phone, lying face-up beside his napkin, lit up.

It was a video call. The contact photo was Eleanor.

Adrian looked down at the screen, then up at me, his eyes wide with absolute terror.

“Don't pick it up,” I said quietly. “If you pick that up right now, Adrian, I walk out that door and never come back.”

He looked at me. Then he looked down at the vibrating phone. The name *Eleanor Hartwell* flashed over and over, demanding, inescapable.

He swallowed hard. “Emma... it might be an emergency. Her health…”

“Don't.”

His hand trembled. He reached out, his fingers hovering over the glass screen. “Just... let me see what she wants. Two seconds, Emma. I’ll tell her I’m busy.”

He swiped the green button.

“Adrian,” Eleanor’s voice echoed sharply through the speaker, crisp and entirely devoid of any weakness or chest pain. “The press release for Victoria’s appointment is live. We are hosting a live broadcast interview at the estate in thirty minutes. You need to be here to stand beside her for the camera.”

Adrian’s eyes stared frantically toward me. “Mom, I’m at dinner with Emma.”

“I don't care where you are,” Eleanor cut him off, her tone like ice. “Victoria’s father is already here. The camera crew is setting up. If you are not in this living room in twenty minutes, I will personally announce to the press that you are stepping down as CEO due to personal instability. Do you understand me?”

The line went dead.

The silence at our table was deafening.

Adrian sat there, staring at his dark phone screen, his breathing fast and shallow. He looked up at me, his eyes brimming with pathetic, helpless tears.

“Emma...” he whispered, his voice trembling. “Please. Come with me. Just stand there with me for the cameras. If we do it together, she can’t hurt us.”

I looked at him, really looked at him and felt something inside me die completely. He wasn't just a coward. He was a vacuum, dragging me down into his own spineless misery until there was nothing left of me.

“No,” I said, standing up from the booth.

“Emma, please!” He grabbed my wrist, his grip desperate, hurting me. “If I don't go, I lose everything!”

“You already lost,” I said, pulling my wrist out of his grip with all the strength I had left.

I turned and walked out of the restaurant into the pouring rain.

My phone vibrated in my purse. I pulled it out, my body shaking so hard I could barely hold it.

*Unknown Number: Look at the car across the street.*

I wiped the rain from my eyes and looked up.

Parked directly across from the restaurant was a black luxury SUV. The rear window rolled down slowly.

Sitting in the backseat, holding an iPad displaying a live security feed of my empty apartment, was Richard Hartwell.

He looked at me through the rain, his face expressionless, and tapped the screen of his tablet.

A second later, a text popped up from the unknown number:

*While you were at dinner, your landlord terminated your lease for corporate fraud, courtesy of the paper trail Adrian left. All your belongings are currently in bags on the curb outside your building.*

*Welcome to the game, Emma. You have nowhere left to go.*