CHAPTER FIVE

Chapter Five

~The Broken King

>Pierre's Pov 

The city lights came in through the French windows, upsetting my bad eye with each pulse of color. It was a reminder of what I have become and what might become of the empire I was struggling to hold together. 

My fingers traced the scar that ran over my blind eye, feeling its raised edges beneath my fingers. The gesture had become a habit and it betrayed the weakness I fought so hard to hide.

"You had looked so pathetic in that meeting, Pierre," my father's words from this morning cut through my thoughts. "Do you think that anyone could respect a leader who shows his weakness in public?"

Weakness? I laughed mirthlessly at the word. The sound died in my throat as I wondered what kind of leader could not even trust his own heart to keep beating? 

It was all because my heart had failed in the board meeting and I had to clutch my chest, gasping for breath with everyone watching. 

The intercom rang and I walked to the desk and reached for it. "What?" I asked in irritation.

"Sir?" The voice of Rachel, my assistant came through, pulling me from my well of self loathing. "Shall I send your driver up?"

"No. Leave me. You can get off work if you want. I will be fine."

There was a pause that was heavy with unspoken concern. "Sir, perhaps you should-"

"I said leave me!" The words came out harsher than I intended but weakness was not a luxury I could afford.

The line clicked off and I was left alone in the suffocating silence. I sighed and sat, the memories rushing onto me like a predator to prey.

My mind went back to six months ago, to the night that had changed everything. I remembered the sound of shattering glass and the hot blinding pain in my chest. The last thing I remembered was darkness, sweet blessed darkness.

"Mr. Delacroix?" The doctor had said to me hours later when I had been revived. "You have lost sight in an eye. There is also a metal shard lodged dangerously close to your heart. Surgery might be too risky. We would need you to monitor your stress levels carefully."

I remember laughing at his words maniacally. It has been a scary sound that had made the nurses exchange worried glances. Stress management? For a man running a multi-billion dollar empire?

But even that memory paled in comparison with the mysterious redhead who had walked into my life like a dream and vanished like morning mist. 

It has been one night of genuine pleasure in the dark. She had made me feel things... Love perhaps? But love seemed too foolish a word for a man like me. That woman, she had taken my heart and left me nothing.

The intercom rang again and I unconsciously brought it to my ears without thinking.

"Mr. Delacroix?" My assistant's voice interuppted, bringing me back to the present. "Your wife is on line one. Shall I put her on?"

I pressed the button. "No, not now Rachel."

"She said that it was urgent and that I should get through to-"

"I said not now!" The silence that followed was heavy with unspoken words. Then, she ended the call. 

Kate. My convenient wife.

I fear she was not her -the mysterious woman who had slipped away like smoke through my fingers. 

Kate was simply Kate. 

She was the safe choice, the proper choice with her perfect smile and proper manners that made me feel more alone than ever. But we had somehow ended up together, courtesy of my father.

My Father's words from that day in his study echoed in my head. "The board needs stability Pierre. The company is going to have to trust your half ass. You either marry Kate Beaumont or you step down as CEO."

"You can not force me into marriage!" He had laughed cruelly. 

"Can not I? Your reputation is hanging by a thread. The bored needs stability. Your current condition is enough to oust you as CEO. All your enemies need to do is create one more scandal and it is all over."

I had wanted to fight and to rage against his ultimatum. But the empire my grandfather had built and my father had expanded, I could not let it crumble because of me.

"Fine," I had spat the word like it was poison. "I will marry her."

I stared at my wedding ring which felt heavy on my finger. Kate Delacroix was the perfect society wife. Although she had the...

A sudden pain shot through my chest and a groan slipped past my lips. I stumbled forward, gripping the desk to brace myself. The lights were swimming before my eyes.

"Oh not now," I growled through clenched teeth as I squatted, fumbling for the pill bottle that was in my desk drawer. "Breathe," I commanded myself. "Just breathe."

The door burst open and Rachel rushed into the office, speaking. "Sir, I am so sorry to interrupt, but-" She froze when I forced myself upright, swallowing the pain.

"Mr. Delacroix!" She called in genuine concern. "You are so pale! I... I did not mean to barge in, but... should I call a doctor? Are you alright?"

"I am fine." I snapped at her, placing the yellow bottle of pills on the desk as my hands trembled slightly. "What is it? And it had better be worth the intrusion."

"Oh sir, confidential information has been leaked to the Coast Industries."

The room tilted dangerously at her words. "What information?" I demanded as my heart pounded.

"The new software designs, every single one of them."

She hesitated and I just knew there was more."What else?"

"The trident project too has been leaked sir."

"What kind of leak?" The pain in my chest was replaced by a different kind of tension.

"The financial order for Project Trident, the development costs, the market analysis and even the prototype specifications is all over the internet."

My heart was failing as well as my vision, but it had nothing to do with my condition and everything to do with the problem at hand. "Who is responsible for it?"

"We are still tracing the source, but..." She swallowed hard. "It had to be someone internal. And sir? Vonnex Corp just announced a similar initiative. Their CEO is also holding a press conference in an hour."

I gripped the edge of my desk tightly until my knuckles went white. "Get IT on this now. And Rachel?"

She paused at the door. "Yes, sir?"

"Get me the board members. All of them. Now."

As she hurried out, I reached for the bottle, took two pills and dry swallowed them. Then I leaned back heavily in my chair. 

Someone had dared to mess with the wrong man, and I would show them exactly why the Delacroix name was feared in the corporate world.

Even if it killed me.