All Chapters of His Ruin: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Drisana The words tasted strange. Unexpected. But somehow… not entirely false. I faced the cameras once more."I owe the public an apology."Camera shutters clicked relentlessly."I know many of you have questions. I know this comes as a surprise. We kept our marriage private for personal reasons, and for that, I'm sorry."Finally, I looked at my father. His face had gone completely still."I'm not sorry for marrying him. You taught me something when I was young."My voice hardened as I held his gaze."Bite before you get bitten. So that's exactly what I did."Carter laughed. "She's lying.”He pointed at us."She's only doing this to cover up her own cheating scandal with Armani Rossi."The ballroom erupted into whispers. He looked directly at the reporters."They've been sneaking around ever since SpectraGuard partnered with Veda Beauty. The media caught them together. Now they're trying to save face."He scoffed. "They aren't married.""This..." He gestured between us. "It's all fo

ArmaniThe bedroom door clicked shut behind me.I didn't stop walking.The hallway was empty, the mansion silent at this hour. I took the staircase down instead of the elevator, crossed the west wing, and stopped in front of what looked like an ordinary bookshelf inside my private library.My thumb pressed against a carved wooden panel. A soft mechanical click echoed. The bookshelf slid sideways.Cold air spilled from the hidden room beyond. I stepped inside. The door sealed itself behind me.Rows of monitors lit up one after another, bathing the room in a pale blue glow.Most people believed this room was where I monitored SpectraGuard's cybersecurity systems.They were only half right. The center screen came alive first.DRISANA VARMA. A timeline appeared beneath her name.Phone. Tablet. Desktop. Laptop. Vehicle GPS. Home activity.I sat down. My fingers moved across the keyboard almost automatically. The system replayed everything she'd done after leaving the mansion.The cameras

DrisanaThe quarterly strategy meeting dragged on, but I barely heard a word anyone was saying.Graphs filled the projector screen while department heads debated budgets and expansion plans. I nodded whenever someone looked in my direction, pretending to follow the conversation.My phone vibrated against the conference table.Unknown Number. I almost ignored it. Instead, I unlocked the screen.“You should've left the ledger alone.”“Destroy the drive.”“This is your only warning.”For a second, my mind went completely blank. The room around me faded. My heart lurched painfully against my ribs.The encrypted files. No one else knew about it.No one except… Armani.My fingers tightened around the phone. The words he'd spoken the night before replayed in my head."Whatever you're thinking of doing...""Don't."I remembered the way he'd looked at me. The way he'd refused to answer my questions. Something inside me shattered. He knew. He'd known all along. He wasn't trying to protect me.

DrisanaHis jaw clenched so tightly I thought it might crack."Don't." His voice was low. "I mean it, Drisana."I let out a bitter laugh. "There you go again, threatening me.""I'm warning you.""No…” I shook my head, “…You're trying to save yourself."His eyes searched mine desperately."I don't care what you think about me.""Clearly.""But you need to stop.""I won't.""I can protect you."That made me laugh. "Protect me?"I looked at him like I'd never seen him before."From who?"Silence. My smile disappeared."Exactly."I stepped around him."I'm done listening to you.""Drisana."I didn't stop walking."Drisana."His voice followed me through the hallway. I kept going. I heard his footsteps. Then they stopped. For reasons I couldn't understand, he didn't follow me.The café was nearly empty.It sat at the edge of downtown, tucked between two old brick buildings where hardly anyone paid attention to who came and went.I chose the table furthest from the entrance. My fingers nev

ArmaniThe engine screamed beneath me.I drove past traffic lights, pedestrians, and speed limits.None of them existed anymore."Boss, slow down!"Jax's voice came through the earpiece. I ignored him.My phone rested on the passenger seat beside me, displaying the live security feed from Drisana's apartment.The front door had already been forced open. The living room was empty. The camera in the hallway flickered.One of the men disappeared toward the bedrooms. The other remained behind, searching drawers.I called her again. Switched off.“Fuck! Pick up the fucking phone!” I slammed my fist against the steering wheel. "Boss!" Jax again."We're three minutes behind you!"Three minutes. Three minutes were enough for everything to go wrong. I pressed harder on the accelerator.The speedometer climbed. One hundred. One forty. One sixty.Please. Please. Please. The tires screamed as I cut across an intersection without slowing. A horn blared somewhere behind me.I didn't look back. T