When Masks Fell.
Damien dragged a hand over his face. Unbelievable. And then, and whistles erupted again. He looked up, just in time to see Eva, standing high on the table, rolling her waist so seductively that the men howled in excitement. His blood boiled instantly.
Enough.
He stormed forward, ignoring the chaos around him. Before he could reach her, Eva spotted him. Her eyes lit up like the sun breaking through clouds. She spread her arms wide and shouted with glee, "Damian!" She called his name sweetly. "Look, everyone, look! That's my husband. My man!" she said confidently with a gleam.
The employees roared with laughter, some whispering, some recording, gossip already flying in the air. To them, Eva was clearly drunk beyond reason.
Damien climbed onto the table, scooped her into his arms, and turned a gaze so cold it silenced the entire room.
"If you value your jobs, and your phones, you will delete every single thing that has to do with her. Now." His voice was low, sharp, deadly. The room froze, and one by one, phones were pulled out, videos erased in fear.
But the whispers remained.
There were jokes flying around everywhere. Some teased that they wanted to get drunk too, just so the boss would carry them the way he carried Eva. Others whispered that Eva was finished, surely she'd be fired by morning. A few went as far as speculating there was definitely something between Eva and the boss. "So Eva's got eyes for him after all," someone muttered,
"yet she pretends she wants nothing to do with him—shame on her, even calling the boss her husband!" Another insisted the only reason the boss demanded all the videos be deleted was because he was trying to protect the company's image. After all, no CEO wanted the world mocking his employees as clowns or seeing his empire as unprofessional. Rumors spread like wildfire, gossip buzzing louder than the office air conditioning, but behind the heavy doors of Damian's office, no one truly knew what was happening.
Damien didn't stop to care. He carried her out, barefoot and clinging to him like a child, her head resting against his shoulder, her legs kicking in the air restlessly.
Eric wanted to rush forward, to stop Damien before he openly crossed the floor to Eva, but by the time he moved, Damien was already at her side. Eric froze, his heart leaping into his throat. For a split second, he thought the entire cover was blown, his boss's carefully built wall of secrecy shattered in front of everyone. Panic clawed at him, but then the whispers began. Rumors, wild, shallow, and harmless. None of them touched the truth. Relief washed over him like cool water. For now, they were safe.
He exhaled, ready to retreat when his eyes caught a figure that stopped him cold.
Seraphina.
He hadn't seen her since the party fiasco. Word was she had gone back to California. Yet here she was, walking straight toward Damien's office like a storm in heels. Eric's gut tightened. If she saw Eva in there, disaster would be immediate.
He rushed forward, plastering a smile on his face.
"Seraphina, dear, it's so good to see you again."
Her sharp eyes narrowed, suspicion already brewing.
"Where is Damien?" she demanded, skipping all pleasantries.
"Oh, my boss isn't around. He, stepped out," Eric lied smoothly, though his pulse thudded in his ears.
She folded her arms across her chest, pinning him with a stare that could peel skin.
"Damien is not around, and yet you're here? It's not adding up, Eric. Tell me the truth."
"He's not here, I promise. I just had yo stay back to handle a small celebration party," he repeated, his smile tight, rehearsed.
She studied him for what felt like an eternity, her gaze slicing right through his facade. Finally, she turned away as if to leave, but after two steps, she stopped, her voice low and dangerous.
"We need to talk, Eric."
His stomach dropped. Still, he led her into his office, closing the door softly behind them. Seraphina set her handbag down with deliberate care before turning, her fox-like eyes glinting with accusation.
"Tell me the truth. Is Damien really married? Did he actually marry some cheap nobody?" Her voice cracked, brittle with restrained rage.
Eric straightened, trying to keep calm. "Miss Seraphina, I can explain. You just need to breathe. It's, temporary. My boss has his head in the clouds again, and this time, he's wrestling with a disaster. If I were you, I'd sit tight and wait."
"Wait?" Her composure crumbled. She shot forward, her voice rising, trembling with tears. "So it's true. He did marry! Does Mrs. Eleanor even know? Eric, why didn't you stop him?" She jabbed a finger into his chest, tears spilling freely now. "Why didn't you warn me?"
"Calm down, Sera..."
"Don't you dare tell me that!" she cut him off, her fists pounding against his chest, each word breaking under the weight of heartbreak. "You should have stopped this! You should have stopped her!"
Eric's patience snapped. His voice thundered through the room.
"Enough, Seraphina! You need to wake up from this pathetic dream of yours. Stop being delusional!"
She froze, staring at him with wide, wounded eyes.
"Damian wants nothing to do with you," Eric said, each word like a blade.
Her lips parted, disbelief painted across her face.
"What...?"
"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Seraphina!" Eric's voice was sharp, slicing through the air. "Throwing yourself at him, hiding behind his mother, it's not going to get you anywhere. So stop it. For your own sanity, Seraphina, stop!"
Her eyes blazed, lips trembling with fury. "Over my dead body! Eric, I would rather die than give up that position!"
Eric froze, staring at her in disbelief. Position? His chest tightened, his mind racing. So this is it, this whole thing is just about a throne? About power? Oh, my poor boss... doomed to a loveless life. No one truly, genuinely loves him.
His disappointment spilled out, his words laced with anger and sorrow. "I thought you loved him. I truly believed that you were different. But now... now I see it's nothing but a game of power and obsession. Seraphina, I am beyond disappointed."
She flinched as if struck, then Eric turned to walk away. But as he got to the door, her voice broke, trembling with raw emotion and Eric paused.
"You don't know my story, Eric," she snapped, her voice quivering. "So don't you dare judge me!" Then Eric spun around only to see her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "First, it was love. Pure, innocent love. I loved him from high school. But then... it became an obsession. But before I could escape it, he disappeared on me! He left me behind, and I... I was forced to move on."
Her voice cracked, and tears finally slid down her cheeks. "But I never stopped loving him. Never. Do you know how many boyfriends I had after he left Chicago? Twenty! Twenty men, Eric! I kept changing faces, searching desperately for that missing piece, but none of them were enough. None. And then... I saw him again. Damian. And in that moment, I knew, he was the missing piece. It was Damian or nothing. No one else could ever fill that void. No one!"
Her voice rose, frantic, breaking under the weight of her obsession. "But he kept rejecting me. Over and over, ever since high school, always pushing me away, always making me feel worthless. And each time he did, I... I cheated. Out of spite. Out of pain. Because if I couldn't have his heart, I could at least feel loved, even if it was through betrayal."
She took a shaky breath, her hands trembling as she pointed at him. "And then there's you. You, Eric! You've always been there, a reminder of how he never saw me the way I wanted him to. And one day... one day I stopped feeling anything. Instead, I craved it. The title. The throne. Mrs. Damian Lopez." Her voice cracked into a sob. "That's the only last name I'll ever bear. Because Damian is the only man fitting of me, the only man who can make me whole, who can give me that title!"
Her shoulders shook violently, her tears mixing with a manic determination in her eyes. "So I decided, I would get him by any means. By force, by lies, by anything even if I had to rely on his mom. And now, Eric," her voice dropped into a whisper, trembling with madness, "...it's too late to stop now. Because it has become an obsession. I can't stop anymore."
"You should see a psychologist, Sera. You really need help," Eric said coldly, his hand already on the doorknob, ready to leave.
Her voice cracked like glass.
"Really? So now you too look down on me? You also think I'm worthless, don't you?"
Eric froze, his back still to her, but he said nothing. Silence was its own answer.
Seraphina's lips trembled as anger and pain warred in her chest.
"Of course you would think poorly of me. After all, you've found yourself a girl, a new affair!"
Eric spun around sharply.
"What are you talking about?"
"I saw you!" she screamed, her voice shaking. "I saw you kissing that girl! And I hate you for even doing something so stupid!"
Eric's brows lifted, then he gave a short, bitter laugh.
"Why? It's not like I'm in a relationship, and I can very much decide to go into one. And I have every right to be with whoever I want."
Seraphina smirked bitterly.
"And who would ever want you? A lowly errand boy, a shadow clinging to Damian Lopez's heels. A right hand man. A slave. Who could ever want that?"
Eric smiled but not in pain, instead with a sharp, dangerous calm.
"It's great to see what you think of me. Funny. But it may interest you to know that this so-called slave has accomplishments. I graduated Harvard at the top of my class. I own three houses in the most exclusive neighborhoods. I have businesses under my name. And in case you forgot, I am the second-in-command to Damian Lopez, one of the most powerful men alive. That's who I am. And for the record, the girl you saw me with? She asked me out. And she would do anything to get a yes from me!"
Thrn he turned to leave.