All Chapters of Doll: Chapter 31 - Chapter 38

The air inside the penthouse boardroom of the Valerius tower tasted of aged scotch, expensive cigar smoke, and poorly concealed greed. The heavy mahogany table stretched twenty feet across the room, flanked by the men who controlled the city’s underworld.I walked through the double doors twenty minutes late, offering no apologies as I took my seat at the head of the table.To my immediate left sat a man whose name was never recorded in any of our official ledgers, an unnamed billionaire who laundered our cash through his offshore real estate developments. He was currently leaning in, deep in a hushed conversation with my uncle, Marcus.Marcus sat to my right, looking entirely too comfortable. He wore a bespoke charcoal suit, his silver hair swept back with immaculate precision. He looked like a legitimate businessman, a beloved philanthropist, and a devoted family man. In reality, he was a viper who had spent the last three years plotting to steal my great-grandfather’s empire out fr

The heavy oak doors swung open. Adrian stepped into the study, one hand already loosening his dark silk tie, the exhaustion of the syndicate meeting etched into his jawline.But the moment his eyes landed on me, the corporate boss vanished.He took in the scene in a fraction of a second—my pale face, my trembling frame pressed hard against his desk, the tears drying on my cheeks, and the plastic burner phone clutched in my fist. Instantly, a lethal, terrifying alertness rolled off him. The temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees."Elera," he said, his voice a low, dangerous command. "Who contacted you?"I didn't try to hide it. I couldn't. I shoved the glowing screen toward him, my hand shaking so violently I almost dropped it. "Your uncle," I choked out, my voice cracking. "He has a sniper on my sister. I have until midnight to bring him your ledger, or she dies."Adrian didn’t flinch. He didn’t yell. He stepped forward and took the phone from my hand. His dark eyes scanne

The heavy lock of the study door engaged with a sharp, echoing click.I stood frozen on the edge of the Persian rug. The sheer adrenaline that had kept me upright in front of my sister was rapidly draining from my blood, leaving behind a cold, hollow exhaustion.Adrian did not look at me. He walked straight to the crystal decanter on his desk, poured two fingers of amber liquid into a glass, and drank it neat. He set the glass down with a heavy thud. The silence in the room was absolute, pressing against my eardrums until I felt like I was suffocating."Sit," he commanded softly.I collapsed into the leather armchair opposite his desk. My legs simply refused to hold my weight any longer.Adrian leaned against the edge of the mahogany desk, crossing his arms over his chest. His dark eyes locked onto mine, stripping away every defense I had left. There was no trace of the charming fiancé who had just comforted my sister. He was a predator evaluating a trapped prize."Twelve years ago,"

The knock on the study door came twenty minutes later. Two heavy, measured thuds echoed through the suffocating silence of the room.Adrian didn’t jump. He slowly released his hold on my waist, stepping around the mahogany desk to unlock the heavy door.Hector stood on the threshold. Rain glistened on the shoulders of his dark leather jacket, smelling faintly of cold asphalt and burnt ozone. In his right hand, he held my ratty navy duffel bag—the fabric sliced wide open along the bottom seam, revealing the gray foam padding inside.Without a word, Hector reached into his pocket and placed a small, heavy object on the corner of Adrian’s desk.The silver pocket watch.It looked tiny against the dark wood. The casing was scratched and tarnished, the glass face spiderwebbed with tiny fractures from the day my parents died."The apartment is ash," Hector said, his voice flat and rasping. "No hostiles in the perimeter. The girl is asleep downstairs in the guest suite under double guard.""G