All Chapters of TWISTED OBESSION: MY FIANCE CHEATED SO I SLEPT WITH HIS BOSS: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

ELARA I'm in Damien's kitchen making coffee when the penthouse phone rings. It is not my cell or the encrypted phone he gave me. It is the landline that I didn't even know he had. I stare at it for a moment, unsure if I should answer. It's his home and his phone. But he's still at the office after the board meeting, and what if it's important? On the fifth ring, I pick up. "Hello?" Silence. Then I heard a voice I know too well. "Elara?" My blood runs cold. "Elena." "Oh, thank God." My twin sister's voice is breathless, shaking. "I wasn't sure if this was the right number. I found it online, and just... I needed to talk to you." "How did you get this number?" My voice is flat. "Does it matter? Elara, please, I need to see you. It's important." "No." "Please. Just hear me out. I know I don't deserve it. I know what I did was unforgivable, but..." "But what?" Anger flares hot in my chest. "But you're sorry? But it was all a mistake? Save it, Elena. I don't want to hear it."

ELARAMy mind is racing, trying to calculate and find a way out.The video is real. I recognize the angle...from somewhere near the ceiling of Damien's office. A camera we didn't know was there.How long has Lucas been planning this?"Tick tock, Elara." Lucas's finger hovers over the phone. "My patience has limits."Noah's team is frozen. If they move, Lucas clicks send. If they don't move, he takes me."Don't do this, Lucas." My voice is surprisingly steady. "Whatever Warren is paying you, it's not worth it.""This isn't about money anymore." His eyes are cold. "This is about justice. You and Damien destroyed my life. Now I'm returning the favor.""You destroyed your own life when you stole two million dollars.""I took what I was owed!" His voice rises, and people are staring now. "I worked for that company for five years. Five years of eighty-hour weeks, of being passed over for promotion, of watching less qualified people get ahead because they knew the right people. I earned that

ELARA The evening stretches on in tense silence. We order dinner...neither of us eats much. We sit on the couch watching the news coverage of the scandal, though Damien keeps changing the channel whenever my face appears on screen. "Stop protecting me from it," I finally say. "I need to see what they're saying." He hands me the remote without argument. The coverage is brutal. "Billionaire CEO's Office Affair Exposed." "Cross Enterprises Scandal: Sex Tape Goes Viral." "Is This Workplace Harassment?" That last one makes Damien's jaw clench. "They're making you the victim," I observe. "Like I'm some innocent employee you took advantage of." "Better than the alternative." "Which is?" "That you're a gold-digger who seduced me for my money." His voice is bitter. "That's what Warren wants them to think. That you're using me." My phone has been buzzing non-stop. I've ignored it all—calls from my parents, from colleagues, and from reporters that somehow got my number. The only person

ELARA  The NYPD precinct is exactly what you'd expect from every crime drama on TV: fluorescent lights, worn linoleum floors, the smell of burnt coffee, and too many bodies in too small a space.Except this time, I'm not watching it on screen. I'm living it.Damien walks beside me, with his hand on my lower back. Behind us is our lawyer...a sharp woman in her sixties named Margaret who has a reputation for eviscerating prosecutors on cr

DAMIENAfter a moment, she laughs. Breathless and slightly hysterical."What?" I ask."Everyone's probably still talking about how you're about to be destroyed. And you're here, completely fine, having just... handled everything.""That's because they don't understand power. Real power." I roll onto my back and pull her against my side. "They think power is about image and public opinion. It's not. It's about control. About making moves before your enemies even know the game has started.""You're kind of terrifying when you talk like that.""I know." I kiss the top of her head. "But I'm your kind of terrifying.""Yeah. You are."My phone buzzes. Text from Noah: All clear. Warren's trying to salvage something, but he's got nothing. Mrs. Torrino signed an NDA an hour ago. DA's office confirmed they're dropping the inquiry. You won the day.I show it to Elara."It's really over?" she asks."This round is over. There will be others. There always are." I set the phone down. "But yes. For n