Todos los capítulos de You Chose Her, I Took Your Empire: Capítulo 41 - Capítulo 50

Marie's POVI shoved open the stairwell door and marched across the floor. My father’s words rang in my ears, driving the blood straight into my face. He thought I was weak. He thought Julian was weak. I was going to prove both of them wrong before this afternoon went any further.I spotted Elena standing near the printing bay at the edge of the east floor, waiting for a stack of collated reports to finish cycling through the tray.I walked straight up to her, grabbed her upper arm, and yanked her away from the machine."Hey—" she started, her papers shifting in her grip."In here. Now," I said.I dragged her down the narrow corridor and shoved her into the small glass-walled conference room. I slammed the door shut and turned the thumb-lock until it clicked into place.Elena caught her balance, adjusted the files under her arm, and looked at me. Her face stayed blank."Where are the decryption keys for the Lancer files?" I demanded, closing the distance between us until I was standin

Elena's POVI sat down at my desk and placed my signed release agreement flat on the left side of my blotter. The paper was stiff, fresh from Babcock’s printer, bearing his signature in dark blue ink.Across the aisle, Sarah from HR was still standing near the printing bay. She didn't say a word, but her eyes remained fixed on my station, ensuring no one interfered. In his corner office, Julian remained behind glass, his hands pressed flat against his desk as he stared through the blinds like an idiot.I unlocked my personal terminal and plugged in the authorization token from my pocket.My fingers moved over the keys. I opened the main directory for the Lancer portfolio and entered my developer master key. Line by line, the system errors vanished. The red warning banners that had paralyzed the department cleared from the terminal.At 3:42 PM, the final confirmation prompt flashed on my monitor: LANCER_RISK_MODEL_V4: FULLY VALIDATED AND AUTHENTICATED.I checked the distribution list a

Elena's POVMy vanity table vibrated continuously against the bedroom wall.I picked up my earring, fastening the silver stud into my lobe, and glanced down at the screen. Thirty-four missed calls. Forty-seven text messages. All from Julian.Elena, answer the phone.Babcock said you walked out. Where are you?Call me right now, Elena. You don't have my permission to leave.Don't do this to me.*I read the preview lines without feeling a single spike in my pulse. No anger. No anxiety. Just a mild, dull annoyance at the noise.I tapped his contact profile, hit Block This Caller, and set the phone face down on the glass top. The room went instantly, blissfully silent.I stood up and smoothed down my blazer. It was a tailored, charcoal-grey suit, completely different from the conservative, blend-into-the-wall outfits I used to wear to the office. I adjusted the lapels, slid my personal tablet into my leather clutch, and looked at my reflection in the mirror.For four years, I had hidden in

Elena's POVThe glass ceiling of the main exhibition hall rose four stories above us. Light flooded the floor, bouncing off polished concrete and large digital displays showing live market feeds.We walked through the rows of booths. John stayed half a step beside me, his hands in his coat pockets. We weren't handing out business cards or begging for meetings like the rest of the people in suits. We stopped at a booth showcasing low-latency trading infrastructure, and I spent ten minutes talking with their lead systems architect.I spoke clearly. I explained my thoughts on execution speed without checking over my shoulder. I didn't have to look back to see if Julian was scowling at me for taking the spotlight.When the architect stepped away to answer a phone call, I turned around.John was standing by an interactive display terminal, looking right at me. He wasn't checking his phone or reading the screen behind me. He was watching my face, his dark eyes quiet and attentive.My cheeks

Elena's POVI stood in the center of the carpeted hallway, looking at Julian Thorne.His face was flushed red, his dark blue suit was slightly wrinkled at the shoulders, and his fingers were shaking as he pointed at me. For years, a scene like this would have made my throat tighten. It would have made me apologize, shrink back, and find a way to fix whatever problem he was blaming me for.Now, I felt nothing.I looked at his crooked tie. I looked at the sweat glistening on his forehead. He looked small. He looked desperate."Julian," I said. My voice was level, quiet, and steady."Don't you 'Julian' me!" he shouted, stepping closer. A few people near the doors turned to stare at us. "You think you can just sabotage my firm, walk out on a fifty-million-dollar deal, and show up here acting like you're some high-class analyst? You owe me an explanation!"Marie stepped up beside him. She adjusted her designer handbag on her shoulder and sneered at me, her eyes narrow and sharp."Look at y