CHAPTER 5

Chapter 5

Elena's POV 

“Don’t let emotion complicate this strategy at this point.”

I wasn’t meant to hear that, I wasn’t even meant to be on this floor, but somehow, I found myself there. 

I was actually standing outside the slightly open boardroom door, ensuring my pulse was even when I noticed the voices were a bit hushed 

Edward Hayes’ voice, Damon's grandfather, was the loudest, which he never meant to do, but anger made him flare up. 

“The Laurent merger would secure Europe. We only needed her until expansion stabilized, that's all.”

I knew at that point that he was talking about me.

Her? Not Elena, not even your wife? 

Just her.

My fingers became so cold that I feared I might freeze any moment. Inside, there was a brief pause, and I wondered what they were doing. I strained to hear Damon’s voice...waiting for denial, for outrage, for something that might encourage me to still stay.

Nothing came immediately, only the silence of agreement.

Edward continued, sharp and controlled. “She was part of the agreement right from time. Don’t pretend you didn’t understand that from the beginning.”

Agreement? What is he talking about?

My mind flashed back to the gala, to Jasmine in white, to the story of Milan, and how I was deceived in snow, then back to Damon’s silence like he was right.

Then, Damon finally spoke, low and restrained. “It’s not that simple.”

Edward let out a short laugh. “It never is, once men start confusing attachment with necessity.”

“So what now?” Damon asked. I waited for the answer like my life depended on it. 

What now?

Edward didn’t hesitate, as his mind was already made up. “Now you finish what we started. Laurent wants stability at this point, and Victor Laurent won’t negotiate sentimentally. If Jasmine Laurent’s return softens the ground, then we go ahead and use it.”

My breathing stayed steady, but something inside my chest felt like it was splintering clean down the middle.

“And Elena?” Damon asked quietly.

My name in his mouth...now too soft, more than I had imagined.

“She has served her purpose,” Edward replied flatly. “Carter funding shielded your European exposure very well. The marriage with her helped stabilize rumors. The optics were very impeccable, but we all know this was never about permanence.”

Carter funding? It was more like I wasn't hearing well again. My family company was funding theirs, how powerful is that? 

Having heard enough, I stepped back from the door before they could see my shadow.

My heart wasn’t racing uncontrollably, and it was freezing.

Jasmine Laurent.The merger would secure Europe.

If actually Laurent was the endgame, why did Edward come to me three years ago to take up the duty?

Why sit in my hospital office and wait till I was free to attend to him? Why look at me like I was the only salvation? Why beg to marry his grandson?

Just then, my phone vibrated in my hand so suddenly I almost dropped it on the ground.

It was my Mom.

The timing felt surgical, just the distraction I needed. I stepped into the empty corridor and answered immediately. 

“Hello.”

“Elena,” my mother’s voice came very calm, controlled, and elegant as always. “Are you alone?”

“Yes.”

“It’s a good time then.” The words landed heavily, almost like adding to what I already have.

“Time for what exactly?”

“To come back to Carter Biotech.” I closed my eyes briefly, hoping maybe I was overthinking everything. 

Carter Biotech again? The empire I walked away from, the very inheritance I pretended I didn’t want, with the excuse of wanting a path for myself. 

The very responsibility I ran and agreeing to marry a man I barely knew was part of the running.

“I told you already,” I said quietly, “I didn’t want that life.”

“You didn’t want the pressure that comes with it,” she corrected. “There’s a difference between the two if you must use that.”

I leaned against the wall trying to figure out my next move.

“Why now?”

“That's because Hayes Tech is vulnerable as we speak.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means,” she said evenly, “our investments are no longer strategic if leadership becomes unstable at the moment.”

My grip tightened on the phone, as I wondered why all that was happening at the same time.

“You invested in Hayes?”

“Elena,” she said gently, “we financed half of Damon’s European expansion.”

The hallway seemed to be rotating immediately that left her mouth. 

“Damon knows about this?”

“He knows the funds came through holding subsidiaries. He does not know you are the controlling heir to the empire.”

Controlling heir? That sounded powerful, and tempting at the same time. 

“I didn’t want to inherit this life,” I whispered.

“You want to keep running all your life,” she corrected again.

She wasn’t wrong. Exactly three years ago, I was completely exhausted from being groomed to lead from expectations.

“You said you were helping a family,” my mother’s voice pulled me back to the present. “But Elena, you were always meant to lead your own.”

“Why are you telling me this now?” I asked.

“Because Victor Laurent is moving too fast than he should.”

I went still on hearing that name. 

“Moving how?”

“He’s pushing for merger leverage. He thinks Hayes needs him right now.”

“And does he?”

“Yes.”

“And what would happen if Hayes merges with Laurent?”

“Carter withdraws partnership.”

“So if I step back in,” I said slowly, “I control everything whether Damon rises… or collapses.”

“Yes.”

The simplicity of the story terrified me in ways I never imagined. 

“You let me marry him knowing all of this?”

“You chose it.”

That was because I was tired, and I crazily wanted out. Because I thought marrying into another empire would feel easier than leading my own.

“Does Damon know who I am?” I asked quietly.

“No.”

I didn't know why, but a strange calm settled in my chest. Three whole years of my life, of being the quiet wife. Only the doctor, the convenient stability they needed for their company, while secretly, unknowingly to them, I held the strings.

“Why call me now?” I asked again.

“Because if you don’t reclaim your position,” my mother said softly, “someone else will use you in theirs.”

Then Edward’s voice echoed loudly in my head; she had served her purpose. I was used as a temporary shield, when I was actually the real deal. 

If Laurent was always the target… If Jasmine is Laurent as claimed...

Was I the bridge to get the two together?

“Mom,” I asked carefully, “how did Edward find me?”

“We introduced you.” she said after a long pause. 

“What?”

There's more to this fake union that I'm yet to find out. To me, it seemed like a deal was broken before the contract ended. But whichever way, I was done running. I would gladly step outside for Damon Jasmine. And I hope he never looks for me.