Chapter 12

The ballroom sparkled with wealth.  

Crystal chandeliers cast soft light over a crowd dressed in expensive suits and gowns. Cameras flashed. Glasses clinked. Voices murmured in polite conversation.

To everyone here, tonight was just another elite charity gala hosted by Moreau Holdings.  

But for Damon Moreau, tonight felt like standing on the edge of a cliff.  

His grip tightened around the glass of champagne he wasn’t drinking.  

Across the room, Luca stood near the balcony doors, looking like he didn’t belong in a room full of billionaires.  

He wore a simple black suit, no tie, and had dark hair falling slightly into his eyes.  

He looked calm.  

Too calm.  

Damon knew why.  

Because Luca was preparing to leave.  

Again.  

Damon felt it in his bones.  

Two hours earlier,  

Luca had stood in Damon’s office, his expression unreadable.  

“This isn’t working,” he had said quietly.  

Damon’s chest tightened at the memory.  

“What do you mean it’s not working?” Damon snapped.  

Luca exhaled slowly.  

“I mean the contract did its job.”  

The words felt like knives.  

“The media backed off. Your reputation stabilized. The board stopped questioning your decisions.”  

“So?” Damon said harshly.  

“So I’m leaving.”  

Just like that.  

As if Damon meant nothing.  

Back in the ballroom, Damon watched Luca from across the room.  

Something twisted painfully inside his chest.  

For years, Damon had controlled everything.  

The company. The board. The press.  

His emotions.  

But Luca had destroyed that control in the most dangerous way possible.  

He made Damon care.  

And Damon hated that.  

Because caring meant vulnerability.  

And vulnerability was exactly what people like Matteo waited for.  

As if summoned by the thought, Matteo appeared beside him.  

“Quite the turnout tonight,” Matteo said smoothly.  

Damon didn’t look at him.  

“Yes.”  

Matteo followed Damon’s gaze across the room.  

To Luca.  

A knowing smile flickered across his face.  

“Your… partner seems distant tonight.”  

Damon’s jaw tightened.  

“He’s fine.”  

Matteo chuckled softly.  

“If you say so.”  

Something in his tone made Damon uneasy.  

But before Damon could respond, Matteo added casually,  

“The board has been asking questions again.”  

Damon finally turned to him.  

“What kind of questions?”  

Matteo lifted a shoulder.  

“About Luca.”  

The name felt like a trigger.  

“They think he’s… suspicious.”  

Damon’s stomach dropped.  

“They’re concerned he appeared suddenly in your life right when the company started facing pressure.”  

Damon stared at him coldly.  

“And?”  

Matteo smiled faintly.  

“And they think he might be manipulating you.”  

For a moment, the words hung between them like poison.  

Then Damon laughed.  

A sharp, humorless sound.  

“They think Luca is manipulating me?”  

Matteo’s eyes glittered.  

“Yes.”  

Damon leaned closer, his voice low.  

“Then the board doesn’t know me very well.”  

Across the room, Luca felt Damon’s gaze.  

He didn’t look up.  

He couldn’t.  

Because if he did, he might lose the resolve he had spent all day building.  

Leaving was the right decision.  

It had to be.  

Matteo was getting closer.  

The board was suspicious.  

The media was watching again.  

And Damon was already drowning under the weight of his past.  

Luca refused to become another weapon used against him.  

Even if it meant walking away from the only person who had ever made him feel 

He cut the thought off.  

No.  

This was a contract.  

Nothing more.  

“Ladies and gentlemen.”  

The microphone echoed through the ballroom.  

All conversation quieted.  

Damon stood on the stage.  

Tall. Composed. Powerful.  

The perfect billionaire CEO.  

Luca forced himself not to stare.  

“This evening,” Damon began smoothly, “is about the future.”  

The crowd listened attentively.  

“The future of innovation. The future of partnership. And the future of Moretti Holdings.”  

Polite applause followed.  

But Damon wasn’t finished.  

His gaze moved across the room.  

Until it landed directly on Luca.  

And this time, Luca couldn’t look away.  

Something had changed in Damon’s expression.  

Something dangerous.  

Something determined.  

Damon continued speaking.  

“For weeks the media has speculated about my personal life.”  

Soft laughter rippled through the room.  

“And for weeks I have allowed those rumors to exist.”  

His voice lowered slightly.  

“But tonight I want to make something clear.”  

Luca’s pulse quickened.  

Damon stepped down from the stage.  

And started walking across the ballroom.  

Straight toward him.  

The room fell silent.  

People turned to watch.  

Cameras lifted.  

Luca’s breath caught in his throat.  

Damon stopped in front of him.  

Close enough that Luca could see the storm in his eyes.  

“You said the contract did its job,” Damon said quietly.  

Luca’s heart pounded.  

“It did.”  

“And that means you’re leaving.”  

“Yes.”  

Damon studied him for a long moment.  

Then he said something Luca never expected.  

“Too bad.”  

Luca blinked.  

“What?”  

Damon’s voice hardened.  

“Because I never agreed to end it.”  

The room erupted with whispers.  

Damon turned slightly, making sure every camera in the room could see them.  

Then he reached for Luca’s hand.  

Luca froze.  

“You don’t have to do this,” Luca whispered urgently.  

Damon’s grip tightened.  

“Yes,” he said quietly.  

“I do.”  

Before Luca could react  

Damon pulled him closer.  

And kissed him.  

Right there.  

In front of the entire ballroom.  

Cameras flashed like lightning.  

Gasps filled the air.  

But Damon didn’t pull away.  

Not until the world itself seemed to pause.  

When he finally stepped back, his voice was steady.  

“Let me clarify something for everyone.”  

The room held its breath.  

“Luca Raines isn’t a rumor.”  

Damon’s fingers were still wrapped around Luca’s.  

“He’s my partner.”  

Shock rippled through the crowd.  

“And if anyone has a problem with that”  

His gaze swept across the watching executives.  

Including Matteo.  

“They can take it up with me.”  

Silence.  

Heavy.  

Electric.  

Luca stared at him in disbelief.  

“You just declared war,” Luca murmured.  

Damon’s eyes darkened.  

“Good.”  

Then Luca noticed something strange.  

Across the room

Matteo was smiling.  

Not angry.  

Not surprised.  

Smiling.  

Like everything was going exactly as he planned.  

And that was when Luca’s phone vibrated in his pocket.  

He glanced at the screen.  

One message.  

Unknown number.  

But the contents made his blood run cold.  

"Congratulations. Damon just walked into the trap."  

Luca looked up

slowly.  

Straight at Matteo.  

And for the first time 

He realized the game had truly begun.  

Matteo has been waiting for Damon to publicly choose Luca because it triggers the next phase of his plan.