Isabella's POV.I never thought I would be the kind of woman who sits at a polished table, calmly planning the financial downfall of someone who once swore he loved me.But here I was in the private conference room of Declan's estate as papers were placed before my table. Declan leaned back in his chair, watching me with that steady unreadable gaze of his that somehow made my pulse skip. He didn't say a word as he allowed me to take the lead, this was my war to fight and he was simply arming me.I traced a finger over the contract in front of me. “So once I sign this. Levi's company liquidity dries up and his investors will pull out. His loans will get called in and by Monday he is going to drown” I asked as Declan nodded his head at me.“Exactly. You are going to be squeezing him until he cannot breathe anymore. His empire even if it's small, compared to ours starts to crumble” he revealed and I swallowed hard as a strange heat coiled in my chest.Was it a triumph? Or guilt? God I w
Ryan's POV.I always thought that Cairo was predictable. But she was cunning and reckless in the way only a woman with nothing to lose could be.She had come to my office dozens of times and she wouldn't leave without singing My Name multiple times, or pressing her body close to me hoping to slip under my skin.Tonight was no different except from the fact that I was more irritable and more disgusted by my own thoughts. I was alone in my office with a glass of whiskey in my hand. My mind wasn't on Cairo instead it was on Isabella. On how she had laughed at me the last time I cornered her, and how she had clunged to Declan instead.My stomach twisted inside of me because I was angry. And I felt a pathetic ache that made me want to smash the glass in my hand just to feel it cut.Then the door swung open without a knock. Cairo stepped inside, wearing a silk dress that barely clung to her curves. Her hair was styled in loose waves as her perfume instantly hit me.“Ryan” she called out my
Declan's POV.I hadn't slept properly in days. My home office was littered with empty coffees and cold takeout boxes.Half of the boxes were stained with sauce I didn't even remember eating. The screen in front of me kept replaying the damn tape that had wrecked Isabella's life.Over and over again even when her face twisted in pain as she felt humiliated in front of the whole world. Except now. When I saw that it was all fake.“We have run the footage through multiple detection models” Jason said as he pushed his glasses up.Jason had been my lead tech guy for years and I didn't fail to notice the way his eyes darted nervously. He was terrified of me and it was for a good reason. I had screamed at them non-stop for the past forty eight hours.“And what else?” I demanded with a rough voice.“Everything is AI manipulated and the facial movement doesn't match the micro muscle patterns. The voice is cloned and as you can see here” he said as he pointed at the screen, his fingers trembli
Isabella's POV.I sat on the edge of the bed as I gently placed the bowel of chicken broth on the table beside me. I could notice Declan's eyes on me as though he was exhausted by how much I cared about him. “I'm not a dying man Bella. You can't always be hovering around me” he said and I rolled my eyes at him but I didn't move away from him.“Says the man who was nearly ripped apart by glass two weeks ago. Eat your soup right now and stop complaining to me, you are not a little child anymore so don't expect me to run after you” I scolded him but my intentions were laced with nothing but the purest form of love to ever exist.He grumbled under his breath just like a child would do but he grabbed his phone either way. He was always going to respect me, as I watched him scoop the soup to put into his mouth and my chest felt instantly tight.His arm was still wrapped in bandages and where he shifted I could see his stitched wounds from under his shirts. Seeing himself vulnerable did thi
Ryan's POV.I always thought that Cairo was predictable. But she was cunning and reckless in the way only a woman with nothing to lose could be.She had come to my office dozens of times and she wouldn't leave without singing My Name multiple times, or pressing her body close to me hoping to slip under my skin.Tonight was no different except from the fact that I was more irritable and more disgusted by my own thoughts. I was alone in my office with a glass of whiskey in my hand. My mind wasn't on Cairo instead it was on Isabella. On how she had laughed at me the last time I cornered her, and how she had clung to Declan instead.My stomach twisted inside of me because I was angry. And I felt a pathetic ache that made me want to smash the glass in my hand just to feel it cut.Then the door swung open without a knock. Cairo stepped inside, wearing a silk dress that barely clung to her curves. Her hair was styled in loose waves as her perfume instantly hit me.“Ryan” she called out my n
Declan's POV.I hadn't slept properly in days. My home office was littered with empty coffees and cold takeout boxes.Half of the boxes were stained with sauce I didn't even remember eating. The screen in front of me kept replaying the damn tape that had wrecked Isabella's life.Over and over again even when her face twisted in pain as she felt humiliated in front of the whole world. Except now. When I saw that it was all fake.“We have run the footage through multiple detection models” Jason said as he pushed his glasses up.Jason had been my lead tech guy for years and I didn't fail to notice the way his eyes darted nervously. He was terrified of me and it was for a good reason. I had screamed at them non-stop for the past forty eight hours.“And what else?” I demanded with a rough voice.“Everything is AI manipulated and the facial movement doesn't match the micro muscle patterns. The voice is cloned and as you can see here” he said as he pointed at the screen, his fingers trembli