로그인"You carry bad luck, Eva, and I won't let you destroy my son."The door to the penthouse had barely clicked shut behind Damian before Victoria Knight swept into the room like a cold front.Damian had left at dawn to handle an emergency board meeting triggered by Ryan's viral video, leaving me alone in the quiet suite. I hadn't even finished my first cup of coffee when the door unlocked and Victoria stepped inside, flanked by two towering men in black suits.She didn't knock. She didn't ask permission. She walked in like she owned the building, her tailored cream suit pristine, her dark silver hair swept into a tight bun, and a heavy pearl necklace resting against her neck. She looked immaculate, powerful, and entirely dangerous."Mrs. Knight," I said, my voice tight as I set my mug down on the glass table. "Damian isn't here.""I know he isn't," Victoria replied, her eyes sweeping over my worn clothes and pale face with absolute disgust. "I waited for my son to leave so I wouldn't hav
"Touch her again, Ryan, and I'll bury you before Alive.Damian didn't wait for a response. He covered the distance between them in two lethal strides, his large hand snapping around Ryan’s wrist with bone-crushing force.A sharp crack echoed through the rain as Damian twisted Ryan's arm back, forcing him to release my soaked coat. Before Ryan could even scream, Damian’s heavy fist slammed directly into the side of his jaw.The impact sounded like a dropped stone. Ryan was lifted off his feet, crashing hard onto the wet stone steps."Damian, stop!" I gasped, my throat tight as the rain blinded my eyes.Damian didn't hear me. He was a creature of pure, unbridled violence now. He stepped over Ryan, grabbed him by the collar of his expensive suit, and yanked him up only to drive a devastating knee straight into his ribs. Ryan let out a pathetic, wet choke, coughing blood onto the white marble. Damian threw him against the heavy front door, his hand clamping around Ryan's throat, shutting
You have ten minutes, Eva, or the entire country hears what a dirty little fraud you are.Ryan’s voice came through the phone like cold grease on a raw wound.I stood at the edge of the stone driveway. The dark iron gates of the Croft estate loomed over me like the bars of a cage. Cold rain whipped across my face, soaking straight through my clothes and plastering my hair to my neck. But the freezing water didn't compare to the icy numb feeling spreading through my chest.I'm at the gate, Ryan," I said, keeping my voice dead even. "Open it.The heavy iron doors groaned as they pulled back. I stepped through, my heels clicking hard against the wet asphalt. Every step felt like walking toward a firing squad, but I forced my chin up. My heart was pounding like a trapped bird against my ribs, but I locked my face into stone. I refused to let him see me shake.Ryan stood on the grand porch under the covered stone entrance. He wore a crisp suit, casually swirling a glass of dark liquor in h
Get out.My voice didn't shake, but those two words cut through the suffocating silence of the suite like a blade.I stood paralyzed beside the desk, my fingers gripping the cool edge of the wood so hard my knuckles turned white. My eyes burned, hot and heavy with tears that threatened to spill, but I jammed my teeth together and swallowed the sob rising in my throat. I refused to cry. I refused to show a single drop of weakness in front of him.Damian didn't step back immediately. Standing at well over six feet, his massive frame towered in the dim light, the powerful CEO who commanded an entire corporate empire now looking down at me with raw, aching restraint. The air between us felt heavy enough to choke on, thick with secrets that had just ripped my world apart.Eva, listen to meWhat did I just watch, Damian?!" I turned my head, staring straight into his face, my voice cracking under the weight of a thousand shattering realities. "That the man who raised me... the man I called m
"Get your filthy hands off me!"Sophia’s voice tore through the room like glass breaking on stone.Before her heels hit the floor, two of Damian’s guards filled the doorway. Their broad shoulders blocked her right at the edge of the foyer.Behind me, Damian’s chest moved in heavy, hard beats against my back. His broad hand held my waist like a lock. Slowly, he lowered my feet to the ground, but his grip stayed tight, holding me steady while my knees threatened to give out.Sophia yanked her jacket straight. Her hands shook as she smoothed down her silk sleeves. A ugly laugh rasped out of her throat.She looked past the guards, her eyes stabbing right into mine with a dark, bitter hate that had been festering under her fake smiles for four long years."Look at you," she sneered, her top lip curling over her teeth. "Crawling straight out of one Knight's bed and into his cousin's before the sheets even get cold."The air in the room went dead cold.Damian’s jaw clamped shut, the muscle b
"Tell me my father was a liar."I held out the illuminated phone screen, my hand trembling as the glowing text of my father’s deathbed letter burned between us in the quiet room.Damian’s dark eyes swept over the words, his face going entirely pale. The ruthless CEO who could command an empire in his sleep suddenly looked as if he had been struck across the chest."Eva..." he rasped, taking a step toward me."Did you do it?" My voice cracked, raw and bleeding with six years of buried grief. "Did you order his liquidation three weeks before he lost everything? Answer me, Damian!"Damian didn't look away. He didn't offer a sleek corporate excuse. He stepped straight into my space, his heavy hands coming up to gently frame my face. His palms were warm, trembling slightly against my skin as he tilted my head up."Yes," Damian whispered, his dark eyes filled with a helpless, agonizing sincerity that shattered my breath. "I signed the order. But it wasn't to destroy him, Eva. I swear on my







