Chapter 4

I looked at Damian standing outside my door. I didn't step aside or speak. I just let my eyes ask what he wanted.

He stared at me for a few seconds before finally breaking the silence.

"About Isabella… I turned her down."

He paused, then added an explanation.

"She was just emotional. Don't overthink it."

I was surprised. I had expected him to tell me he was with Isabella now.

But here he was, telling me he had rejected her.

He was even worried I would "overthink it," so he had come to explain.

"Damian," I said, my tone flat. "Whether you accept her or not has nothing to do with me anymore."

Clearly, Damian hadn't expected this reaction. Complete indifference, without even a hint of relief.

"If there's nothing else, I'm going to bed." I reached for the door.

"Ava." Damian's large hand shot out, slamming against the doorframe and blocking my path.

He leaned in, his voice dropping a few degrees. "You've been… off lately."

I avoided his scrutinizing gaze and pushed the door shut. With a soft click, the lock engaged.

The door now separated me from the face I had looked up to for a decade.

I leaned against the cold door, slowly exhaling.

My chest ached, a heavy, suffocating weight.

It wasn't Damian's style to come and explain things like this. In his world, explanations were for the weak.

In the past, I had been so careful to hide my every emotion, all of which revolved around him, and he had never even noticed.

But tonight, after I showed no reaction to Isabella's confession, he had come all this way to "clarify" things, just to placate me.

I didn't understand why. Maybe it was to maintain some sense of order and rules, or maybe it was just to assuage his own guilt.

A mix of absurdity and a faint, sour feeling washed over me. The more I thought, the more my head throbbed.

I don't know how long I stood there before the ringing of my phone snapped me back to reality.

"Ava! Did you see the file that was just posted on the family's internal server?"

"How did Isabella get made lead administrator for the Phoenix system? That's the channel you nearly died to secure!"

"That encryption algorithm, the one that can bypass FBI surveillance… you pulled all-nighters for three months straight, you went in as bait on the dark web! That's the family's financial lifeline!"

My heart plummeted and my blood ran cold.

"What did you say?"

"Check the internal announcement! The sole creator and operator of the Phoenix system is listed as Isabella Rossi! Even Damian has taken a backseat! What the hell is going on?"

I dropped the phone, rushed to my computer, and logged into the encrypted server.

A top-secret file was pinned to the top of the announcement board. I couldn't miss it.

[In recognition of Miss Isabella Rossi's independent construction of the 'Phoenix' intelligent laundering system, which single-handedly saved the family's financial operations from crisis, she is hereby appointed as the Head of the Financial Division…]

"Phoenix." It was my masterpiece, a system powerful enough to change the entire financial landscape of the underworld.

It was the impenetrable shield I had exhausted myself creating, all to help Damian solidify his power among the Five Families.

In the underworld, whoever controlled this secure laundering channel held the family by the throat.

But now, the credit for this career-making achievement, an achievement that could elevate anyone to the top, bore only Isabella's name.

Damian had even graciously removed his own name from the project, gifting all the credit, mine included, to her.

As if he were merely a selfless collaborator.

Rage tore through me. I snatched my phone and dialed Damian's private number.

"What's this about the credit for 'Phoenix'?" I asked the moment he answered.

Damian's steady voice came through the receiver, the sound of a moving car in the background.

"I turned down her confession. She was a wreck, and her authority within the family took a hit."

I almost laughed out loud, my fingers digging into the edge of the desk.

"So? You use my life's work as a consolation prize for her?"

"That was my creation! You took my weapon and used it as a favor to placate your little princess! Did you ask me? Did you get my permission?"

Damian's tone remained infuriatingly calm as he sidestepped the real issue.

"The core of the system is on our server. She handled the final key generation. Crediting her as the creator serves the family."

"Ava, the system belongs to the family. Isabella is the Don's daughter. She needs a major achievement to command respect and keep the old guard in line. Your contribution will be reflected in your year-end bonus."

My voice began to tremble with a mix of indignation and a nauseating disgust.

Three months of sleepless nights, countless algorithmic models, all erased with his casual words.

It had even become his consolation prize to Isabella after he rejected her.

And to think I had actually felt a flicker of hope for his late-night explanation.

So this was it. In his eyes, my dignity, my talent, even I myself, could be carved up and served on a platter to soothe Isabella's bruised ego.

"Reflected? How? By paying me off for my silence?"

I took a deep breath, my voice turning cold.

"Damian, what do you take me for? Do you really think I'm just a shadow behind you? Someone who doesn't need a name or a face? Just a tool to build your empire?"

As the words left my mouth, I felt a clarity I had never known before.

For ten years, I had been setting myself on fire for a man who didn't even see me as a person.

And he thought it was his right.