Chapter 14: Thrones Built from AshDominic’s declaration reverberated like a crack of thunder.Lana stared at the folder he slammed onto the table. “An heir?” she repeated, her voice caught between awe and disbelief.Malcolm didn’t move. His expression was cold granite, but his right hand twitched just once.“That’s impossible,” he finally said. “I would have known if Jonas left anything behind.”Dominic smiled, sharp and slow. “He left a lot. But you burned most of it. This one survived because someone trusted my mother to hide it.”Lana snatched the file, her eyes scanning the contents. Her heart stuttered.It was real.Signatures. Dates. A notarized amendment placing Dominic Rossi as a 49% shareholder in the initial Silken Group structure.“You’ve been lying for decades,” she whispered to Malcolm.“Lana—”“No!” Her voice cracked through the room like glass. “You let him live in the shadows while you wore a crown built on ashes.”Malcolm turned to Dominic. “You’re not entitled to an
Chapter 13: Whispers Behind Glass WallsThe silence in the office was the worst kind the kind that felt too aware, too orchestrated. Lana’s heels clicked sharply on the marble tiles as she walked into the tenth-floor workspace of Silken Group. Heads didn’t turn, but she could feel the weight of every pair of eyes. Watching. Whispering.She adjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder and held her chin high.A receptionist gave her a strained smile. “Good morning, Miss Valen.”“Morning,” Lana replied, her voice firmer than she felt.Her corner office hadn’t changed. Pristine desk. Minimalist orchids still blooming. But as she stepped inside, she saw itAn envelope.Cream-colored. No name.Just a single word written in dark ink: Velvet.Her chest tightened. Only Dominic called her that. And he hadn’t used it since… well, since before everything fell apart.Lana shut the door and opened the envelope. A key. A handwritten note.“Trust me one last time. The truth is always louder behind c
Chapter 12: A Kiss That Lies Too WellThe corridors of Cadence Designs were quieter than Lana remembered. The hush wasn’t comforting it was accusing, charged with the kind of silent tension that made every step sound louder than it should. Phones still rang, keyboards still clacked, but the usual banter was gone. No smiles. Just eyes. Watching. Whispering.She walked with her chin high, red pumps clicking against marble tiles like defiance in motion. Her silk blouse hugged her tightly, as if her clothes were the only ones brave enough to embrace her right now.Behind her, hushed murmurs followed.“Did you hear? She was the reason he quit.”“Guess the rumors were true. Sleeping her way up.”“She doesn’t even look ashamed.”Lana’s nails dug into the handle of her handbag. She kept walking, even though every word was a pin in her spine.She reached her office and shut the door behind her harder than she meant to. The echo lingered, like a punctuation mark on her mood.It had only been tw
Chapter 11: The Fallout Still BurnsThe sunlight spilled across Lana’s apartment like an intruder, warm and unwelcome.She sat hunched on the edge of her couch, the plush silk robe she wore wrinkled from a sleepless night. Her phone buzzed again on the glass table, lighting up with another message from Mia. Lana ignored it.The headlines were everywhere.Dominic Voss resigns.The woman in red revealed.Silk scandal.Her name was now synonymous with betrayal. Not of vows, but of image. Reputation. Voss Corp’s clean perfection cracked open because of her—and him.She poured herself coffee, though she wouldn’t drink it. Her hands trembled too much to lift the mug.A knock shattered the stillness.Soft at first, then firm. Like a man torn between asking and demanding.Lana's heart stuttered.She knew before the second knock who it was.“Who is it?” she asked, even though her voice was barely audible.> “It’s me. Dominic.”Every muscle in her body tensed. She hesitated, staring at the door
Chapter 10: The Choice Between Love and SurvivalThe headlines didn’t stop.Dominic Voss Under Federal Scrutiny.Whistleblower Identified.Board Considers CEO Ouster Amid Growing Pressure.They printed lies. They printed truths. And worst of all, they printed my name.It started as whispers of an anonymous source seen entering Voss’s penthouse, a woman connected romantically and professionally to the scandal. But by Thursday morning, my face was on the front page of a tabloid:“Dominic’s Mistress or Corporate Mole?”My phone exploded.My inbox turned into fire.HR called to “discuss next steps.”And Dominic?He was too busy putting out a corporate wildfire to realize I was already burning.---I found him in the war room tie undone, phone pressed to his ear, three lawyers and two board members pacing behind him.When he saw me, he froze.“Give me a minute,” he said into the phone.They all stared as I walked in. I didn’t care.We stepped into his office.“Why didn’t you tell me they w
Chapter 9: Chained to His SecretsThe problem with loving a man like Dominic Voss wasn’t the danger.It was the silence.The heavy, suffocating kind that wrapped around your heart and whispered: You’ll never really know him.After Vanessa left, we didn’t talk much. He made breakfast eggs, toast, black coffee. Simple. Controlled. He was trying to act like it was a normal day, like our world hadn’t just been cracked open by a past he never wanted me to see.But every touch between us was too soft. Everyone look too careful. He kept his distance, even when his hand brushed my thigh under the kitchen table.I left without kissing him.I needed space. Not from his body.From the lies.---By noon, the article leaked.It wasn’t the exact draft Vanessa had shown me Dominic had clearly tried to buy time but the bones were the same.Dominic Voss Under Fire: Accusations of Corporate Manipulation ResurfaceI stared at the screen at my desk, a storm building behind my ribs. My coworkers whispered