All Chapters of HIRED BY THE RUTHLESS CEO : Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

Damien’s POV Everything I thought I knew about the accident is suddenly in question. I'm halfway to Silverlake Heights—from the hospital—when my phone rings. Henry's name flashes across the dashboard display. "Tell me you left the hospital," he says without preamble. "Just did. David's being transferred to Cedars-Sinai this afternoon." I merge onto the freeway, exhaustion making my reflexes slower than usual. "Aria and her mother seemed... hopeful." "Good. That's good." Henry pauses, and I hear papers rustling in the background. "Listen, I need to talk to you about something. Where are you?" "Driving home. Why?" "Pull over." The urgency in his voice cuts through my fatigue. I take the next exit and park in a gas station lot. "What's going on?" "The board meeting's set for next week. Final verdict on the Victoria situation." Henry's tone is careful, measured. "But Damien, we found something else. Something big." My grip tightens on the steering wheel. "What

Damien’s POVEight years of rage finally has the right target, and I've never felt more controlled.The boardroom on the fortieth floor has never felt smaller. Fifteen people sit around the table—board members who've trusted me, questioned me, supported me through building Cross Technologies into what it is today. At the head of the table, Chairman Edward Morrison watches me with careful neutrality.Richard Hastings sits three seats to my right, perfectly composed in his tailored suit. He has no idea what's coming.Victoria sits across from me, her lawyer beside her. The week-long investigation into her embezzlement is complete, and today she'll face the consequences. Her face is pale, her usual confidence shattered.Aria sits in the observation seats behind me. I invited her this morning, asked if she wanted to watch justice finally happen. She wore her navy suit—the one she wore her first day at Cross Technologies—and kissed me before we left my house.Henry stands beside the presen

Aria’s POVThe elevator doors open to madness.What was a handful of reporters inside has multiplied into hundreds—maybe thousands—of people crowding the plaza outside Cross Technologies. Camera crews, journalists with microphones, curious employees who should be working, bystanders filming on phones. The glass doors are blocked by the sheer mass of bodies pressing forward.Security forms a barrier, but it's barely holding."Mr. Cross! Ms. Holt!""Just one more question!""Are you engaged?""Aria, what does your father think?"The questions crash over us like waves. Henry's jaw is tight as he coordinates with security through his earpiece. "We need the back exit. Now."But I can see it through the windows—more press there too. They've surrounded the building.The whole world is watching, waiting for us to define something we haven't fully defined ourselves.My phone won't stop buzzing. Sophie. My mother. Unknown numbers. News alerts flooding my screen: "Breaking: Cross Technologies CE

Damien’s POVShe’s about to answer the question I’ve been too afraid to ask directly.We’re standing in this abandoned office—someone’s forgotten workspace with dim lights and drawn blinds. Through the glass walls, I can see the chaos of Cross Technologies beyond, but in here, it’s just us. Just this moment that could change everything.“Did you mean that?” I ask again, my voice rough. “What you said to Julian. About having feelings for me?”Aria’s quiet for a long moment. I watch emotions flicker across her face—fear, uncertainty, something that might be hope.“Yes,” she says finally. “Yes, I meant it. I have feelings for you, Damien. Real feelings. The kind that scare me because they’re so intense.”Air leaves my lungs. I’ve heard sweeter words from her—declarations during passion, forgiveness when I didn’t deserve it. But this truth, raw and uncertain, means more than all of them combined.“After everything you put me through, I should hate you,” she continues, her voice steady but

Damien’s POVThree weeks without her, and I’m coming apart at the seams.I’m standing in the conference room, staring at quarterly projections I’ve read five times without absorbing a single number. Around the table, executives wait for my input. Tara Michaels, my COO, has asked me a question twice now.“Damien?” Her voice cuts through the fog. “Your thoughts on the Meridian acquisition?”I blink. Meridian. Right. The tech startup we’ve been courting for months. The deal that should have my full attention because it’s worth forty million and could expand our AI division exponentially.“Push it to Q3,” I hear myself say.Silence. Henry’s looking at me like I’ve lost my mind. Maybe I have.“We discussed this last week,” Tara says carefully. “If we don’t move now, Hastings Tech will…”“I said push it.” My voice is sharper than intended. “We’re not ready.”The lie tastes bitter. We are ready. I’m not ready. I’m not ready for anything that requires me to think clearly, strategize effective