The Beginning Of The End

Rune sat on the cold metal bench, elbows resting on his knees, eyes fixed on the cracked tile floor. The sterile scent of disinfectant clung to the air, mingling with the faint stench of sweat and rust.

His world, luxury, marble floors, aesthetic walls and eye-catching luxury was gone. Completely beyond reach, replaced by white walls, flickering lights, and the sound of guards’ boots echoing down narrow halls.

The orange jumpsuit felt alien on his skin. Stripped of his tailored suits, Rolex watches, and designer colognes, Rune looked smaller. His jaw was bruised, an early morning fight with one of his cellmates, his once neatly styled hair now a chaotic mess.

The door creaked open, and his lawyer entered. A middle-aged man in a grey suit that looked slightly too big for him. He carried a leather briefcase and the kind of expression that came from delivering bad news one too many times.

Rune didn’t look up.

“Tell me you have good news.”

The lawyer sighed as he took the seat across from him. “I wish I did, Mr. Sterling. But the evidence they have against you…” He opened the file on the table, flipping through several pages covered with seals, signatures, and transaction records. “It’s brutal.”

Rune’s head lifted slowly, eyes narrowing. “Define brutal.”

“Leaked bank transfers, offshore accounts in your name, falsified statements linked directly to your signature. Even the timestamped communications with your brokers. The prosecution claims you siphoned investor funds to private holdings overseas. The trail is clean, and it leads straight to you.”

Rune slammed his fist against the table, making the papers scatter. “That’s impossible! There's no way they could have discovered any of it! Andy must’ve done this!”

The lawyer didn’t flinch. “Even if that were true, it’s not just Andy. There’s video testimony from two employees and email correspondences traced from your company servers. It’s airtight. If we go to trial…”

He paused.

Rune glared at him, voice dangerously low. “Say it.”

“You’re looking at a minimum of twenty-five years, possibly more.”

The air left Rune’s lungs. Twenty-five years. He leaned back, his expression darkening with disbelief. His empire had crumbled in less than seventy-two hours.

A bitter laugh escaped him, echoing off the walls. “Twenty-five years… For what? For running a business smarter than the rest?” He leaned forward, a cruel smirk twisting his mouth. “They want to make an example of me.”

The lawyer’s tone softened. “Rune, I understand how this feels, but there’s nothing we can do unless you cooperate. Take a plea, maybe reduce…”

Rune cut him off with a sharp glare. “No plea. No admission. You hear me?”

The lawyer sighed, gathering his papers. “Then I’ll see what I can negotiate. But Rune…” He hesitated at the door. “Whoever exposed you, they didn’t just want you ruined. They wanted you erased.”

Rune’s gaze flicked up, cold and certain. “Thea.”

The lawyer frowned. “Your ex-fiancée?”

“Who else?” Rune’s fists clenched until his knuckles turned white. “She had help. She couldn’t have pulled this off alone.”

He leaned back, his mind racing. Faces flashed through his thoughts; Seth, Andy, Thea. Each one merging into a single image: betrayal.

He snapped his fingers. “Give me your phone.”

The lawyer blinked. “That’s against…”

“Give. Me. Your. Phone.”

Something in Rune’s voice made the man obey. He hesitated before sliding the device across the table. Rune picked it up, his fingers flying across the screen. His smirk widened as he typed, the glint of vengeance returning to his eyes.

“Let’s see how she likes this,” he muttered.

Two messages. The perfect poison. He knew Thea well and knew exactly how to get to her..

He hit send.

And as he slid the phone back, that familiar, arrogant smile, the one the world used to admire, returned to his lips. If she thinks it's over now that he's behind bars, this is just the beginning!

♤

Thea’s phone buzzed as she stepped out of the elevator. The timing couldn’t have been worse.

She frowned, juggling a folder in one hand and her coffee in the other as she approached Seth’s office. She had finished up with her proposal for the Blackwood and Balmero partnership and was on her way to Seth's office to finalise things.

She had taken over the Balmero company a few days back, fired a lot of Posy's incompetent friends and staff and replaced her with the people she used to work with and who knew their jobs.

And now, Balmero will be rubbing shoulders with Blackwood soon.

Her eyes remained fixed on her phone at the unknown number. The messages from journalists had been endless since last night, but this one… this one made her stop cold.

She didn't need to be told who it was.

Rune: Hope you’re enjoying the spotlight, darling. Tell me, has Seth told you the truth yet?

She blinked. The truth?

Another message came almost immediately.

Rune: He used you. Seth has been waiting years to get back at me. You were just a pawn in his game.

Thea’s lips parted slightly, disbelief coursing through her veins. She shook her head, exhaling sharply.

“He’s lying,” she whispered to herself. “He’s angry, he’s desperate. He’s trying to twist things.”

Still… the words burrowed deep.

Her grip on the folder tightened. Rune always knew where to hit hardest, where the doubts lived.

She reached Seth’s office door, pausing just as voices drifted from inside.

“…Rune has been officially charged,” Arian was saying, his tone measured. “It’s all over the news. They’ve denied bail.”

Thea’s heart skipped.

Seth’s voice came next, calm but edged with satisfaction. “Good. He deserved it.”

Arin chuckled. “ That went better than you planned.”

Thea froze.

Her pulse thundered in her ears. As planned?

She pressed herself against the wall beside the door, unable to stop listening.

Arian continued, “Thea handled it all for you.”

Seth spoke. “Fitting, isn’t it? Rune ruined her once. Now she’s the one who destroyed him. Even without me interfering.”

Thea’s chest constricted.

Her breath trembled as she reached for the door handle, her thoughts spinning like a storm.

Before she could stop herself, she pushed the door open.

Both men turned sharply. Arian’s brows lifting in surprise, Seth’s expression freezing mid-sentence.

“Thea,” Seth started, rising from his seat, but she cut him off.

“So it's true?” Her voice was low, trembling with anger. “Did you approach me because of him?”

Seth’s eyes darkened. “What are you talking about?”

“Rune,” she said, the name tasting like ash. “He texted me. Said you used me. Said this was all some kind of revenge for something that happened between you two. And you used me to get to him.”

A flicker of emotion crossed Seth’s face, something between guilt and disbelief but he said nothing.

The silence was answer enough.

Thea laughed bitterly, shaking her head. “I can’t believe this. All this time, I thought—”

Arian stood up. “Thea, I think there's a misunderstanding here..”

“Ypu know about it too? Didn't you?” Thea springing him and Arian's eyes shifted in apology.

“Thea, listen..” Seth began, but she raised a finger to his face, her voice cracking.

“No! Don’t. Don’t you dare try to explain this away.”

Arian took a step back, sensing the storm brewing. He shot Seth a warning look before quietly slipping out, leaving them alone.

It was best he didn't intervene and give them both the space they needed to talk things out.

Thea’s eyes glistened with a mix of rage and betrayal. “Did you know who I was when we met? When you offered to help me expose him?”

“Yes,” Seth admitted quietly.

Her heart sank.

He stepped closer, his voice low and rough. “But it wasn’t like that. At first, yes. I wanted Rune to pay for what he did to my company. He stole from me, from my family. But then you…”

Thea cut him off sharply. “Don’t you dare make this about me.”

“Thea…”

“You should’ve told me!” she yelled, her voice echoing through the glass office. “You let me fall for you while you were still chasing your revenge!” A gasp escaped from her lips as her eyes flickered open in realisation.

“That's why you changed. You…you didn't want anything but a contract between us and all of a sudden, he told me how you felt about me and..ypu treated me differently….”

She met his gaze. “You used me. To get to him.”

His expression softened, regret flickering in his eyes. “ No. It stopped being about revenge the moment I met you.”

She laughed, brokenly. “How convenient.”

He reached for her hand, but she stepped back.

“Don’t touch me.” Her voice was barely above a whisper now. “I thought Rune was the manipulative one. But you…you’re worse. You made me think I mattered to you.”

“You do,” Seth said, desperate now. “You always have and always will.”

Her eyes burned. “Then why didn’t you deny it when I walked in?”

He froze.

And in that pause, that heartbeat of silence, she found her answer.

Thea took a shaky breath, turning toward the door. “We’re done, Seth. Whatever this was… it ends here.”

“Thea, wait,” he called, but she didn’t stop.

She walked out, slamming the door behind her so hard it rattled in its frame.

Seth stood there, staring after her, his jaw tight, his knuckles white around the edge of his desk.

Through the glass walls, the city stretched below them, glittering and indifferent.

He closed his eyes, exhaling slowly. “Damn it.”

~~~

Thea walked through the corridor outside Seth’s office, her vision blurred by unshed tears.

The elevator doors slid open, but she didn’t step in right away. She looked out through the tall windows at the end of the hall, hoping he'd be there, pleading and offering an explanation.

But he wasn't. And it became clear, he didn't care.

Her phone buzzed again. She didn’t have to look to know who it was.

She swiped it away.

For once, she didn’t want answers. She just wanted silence.