Chapter 9 - Trapped In The Corner

Sheba ~

The blinding high beams sliced right through the tinted windows of the Maybach, turning the rain-soaked glass into a wall of glaring white. I threw my hands up to block the light, my heart pounding against my ribs like crazy. The sudden appearance of that unmarked SUV completely wrecked the quiet vibe of the courtyard, turning the whole place into a total war zone in seconds.

Outside, the guys didn't waste any time. Julian spun around instantly, his hand diving under his jacket straight toward the gun he kept hidden in his holster. But Damien didn't reach for a weapon at all. He just stood there, his eyes locked dead on the doors of the SUV that had just blocked us in. His jaw was clenched so tight I could see the muscles twitching under his skin. That cold, untouchable attitude he had inside the car was totally gone, replaced by a dark, dangerous anger.

Before either of them could pull a weapon or take a step forward, all four doors of the SUV flew open at the exact same time. Guys in heavy tactical gear spilled out into the pouring rain, moving fast and like they really knew what they were doing. They didn't yell any warnings or tell us to put our hands up; they just fanned out instantly, locking down every single exit and pointing their assault rifles straight at the Maybach.

I pressed my back as hard as I could against the passenger door, a cold wave of panic washing over me. My breath caught in my throat as I stared through the windshield at the armed guys outside.

"Damien..." I whispered, my voice shaking even though I was trying my hardest to sound tough. "Who are these people? How did they find us?"

Damien didn't answer me. He stood his ground right on the gravel path, the rain soaking right through his dark wool coat and slicking his hair back, but he didn't even flinch. His dark eyes scanned the tactical crew until they landed on the one guy stepping out of the front passenger seat.

The guy stepped into the yellowish glow of the courtyard lights with a slow, annoying kind of confidence. He was wearing an expensive charcoal suit that looked completely ridiculous standing next to guys in full military gear and rain. A faint, wicked smile touched the corner of his lips as he straightened his cuffs, his cold eyes gleaming like he had just won a prize.

Adrian.

The breath left my lungs in a sharp, painful rush. Seeing him standing there out in the rain right outside Damien's house felt like a living nightmare. The man I had actually trusted, the man who had stolen my career, walked all over my dignity, and kicked me out of the corporate world like trash—somehow he had found the one place that was supposed to be safe.

Julian dropped his hand a little bit from his gun, his voice tight and low so only Damien could hear him. "The perimeter alarms didn't go off, Boss. They got right past the gate codes. Someone must have let them in from the inside."

Those words just hung in the air like a death sentence. Damien turned his head just a tiny bit, his dark eyes flashing toward Julian before snapping right back to Adrian. The meaning behind it was terrifying. There was no lucky guess and no tech glitch.

Someone in our inner circle was a complete snake.

Adrian stopped a few feet away from Damien, his smile stretching into something mean and ugly. He didn't even look at Julian, and he didn't glance over at the Maybach where I was trapped behind the glass. All his attention was locked on Damien, the guy who always had a plan, now looking completely boxed in.

"You look kind of surprised, Damien," Adrian said, his voice smooth and carrying easily over the steady sound of the rain. "Did you really think you could play secret agent games with Vanguard Holdings and leave zero footprints behind? You built a pretty nice little hideout up here in the hills, but every fortress has a weak spot. And yours just happened to be sitting right next to you in the car."

Damien took one slow step forward, closing the distance between them with the quiet, deadly movement of a caged animal about to attack. The air in the courtyard felt like it dropped ten degrees, getting so thick and heavy you could barely breathe.

"You're a long way from your fancy office, Adrian," Damien said, his voice barely a whisper, but it sounded so cold and threatening that even the armed guards twitched. "Walking onto my property uninvited is a mistake you aren't going to live long enough to fix."

Adrian let out a dry, fake laugh that just made Damien look even more furious. "I didn't drive all the way out here to talk about real estate, Damien. I came to get what's mine. And more importantly, to clean up whatever pathetic mess she left rolling around in our system."

Adrian stepped closer to the Maybach, his eyes locking straight onto mine through the tinted glass. The cruel, mocking smirk on his face made my stomach twist into painful knots.

"Look at you, Sheba," Adrian called out, his voice dripping with venom loud enough for everyone outside to hear. "Hiding in the back of a luxury car because you couldn't hack it in the real world. Look how much weight you've put on since I fired you. All that stress-eating and wallowing in self-pity really destroyed whatever little appeal you used to have. You look soft, bloated, and entirely worthless. Honestly, Damien, I'm shocked you even let someone in that condition sit in your car. She's a complete liability, a heavy, sluggish burden who couldn't outrun a turtle, let alone survive a real corporate war."

The words hit me like a physical punch to the chest. My breath caught, tears of pure humiliation stinging the backs of my eyes as the cruel mockery stripped away every shred of my confidence. Hearing him tear down my body in front of armed strangers made me feel small, weak, and utterly exposed.

"Come on out, Sheba," Adrian taunted, his voice dripping with fake pity. "Let's finish this where it all started. Though I doubt you even fit through the front doors of my office anymore without breaking a sweat."

Inside the car, my hands shook with a terrible mix of hurt and white-hot rage. I wanted to shrink into the seat and disappear, but the sheer cruelty of his words also sparked a burning fire in my chest.

Damien didn't blink. Without taking his eyes off Adrian for even a second, he slowly raised his right hand and made a tiny, sharp hand gesture to Julian that made Julian's eyes pop wide open like he finally understood the real game.

"You think you won just because you made it through the gate, Adrian?" Damien asked, his voice dropping into a quiet, terrifying calm that meant trouble was just getting started. "You didn't break into my house. You just walked right into a trap."