The truth of it hit me like a physical blow. How many times had I told myself that exact lie?
That it was fine Nathan presented my work as his own, that it was fine I stayed in the background, that love meant sacrifice?
"I was so stupid," I whispered, tears burning behind my eyes again.
"You were trusting. There's a difference."
Damien's tone softened slightly. "Nathan is good at what he does. He finds brilliant women, makes them fall in love with him, convinces them to give him everything, then discards them when they're no longer useful.
You're not the first, and if we don't stop him, you won't be the last."
"Elena," I realized. "She's next, isn't she? Once the baby is born and he's gotten whatever he wanted from her"
"He'll destroy her too. Just like Sophia."
Damien's jaw tightened. "Which is why we need to move fast. Six months. That's my timeline. In six months, I want Nathan removed from Chen Technologies, Cross Enterprises under my control, and you installed as CEO of your mother's company."
Six months. It sounded impossible. It sounded insane.
It sounded perfect.
"What do you need from me?" I asked.
"Everything." Damien set down his glass and leaned forward, all business now. "I need you to join Titanium Holdings as Chief Innovation Officer. Two million dollar salary, full benefits, stock options. You'll report directly to me and help build the case against Cross Enterprises from the inside."
"You want me to be a corporate spy."
"I want you to document what's yours.
Gather evidence of Nathan's fraud, reconnect with former Chen Technologies employees who were forced out, build a coalition of people who want to see justice done." He pulled up something on his tablet.
"You'll also need to be seen with me publicly. Let society know you've not only survived Nathan's betrayal you've thrived. Make him wonder what we're planning."
"Strategic appearances," I said, my mind already racing ahead. "Business dinners, charity events, making him jealous and paranoid."
"Exactly. Nathan's ego is his weakness. The more he thinks you've moved on with me his more successful brother the more erratic he'll become. Erratic people make mistakes.
Mistakes we can exploit."
It was brilliant. Ruthless and calculated and absolutely brilliant.
"One question," I said. "What happens after? After we've destroyed Nathan and I've gotten my company back. What happens between us?"
Damien's expression was unreadable. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, this partnership you're proposing it requires us to spend a lot of time together. To be seen together publicly.
To trust each other with sensitive information." I met his eyes directly.
"I need to know this is purely business. Because I just had my heart destroyed by one Cross brother. I'm not interested in repeating that mistake with another."
Something flickered across Damien's face surprise, maybe, or respect for my directness.
"Purely business," he agreed. "I don't do relationships, Aria. After Sophia, I locked that part of myself away. This is about revenge and justice, nothing more. Can you handle that?"
"Can you?" I countered. "Because spending months working closely together, pretending to be a couple for society's benefit lines can blur."
"Not for me." His voice was absolute ice. "I'm very good at separating business from personal. The question is: are you?"
I thought about Nathan. About three years of loving someone who'd seen me as nothing more than a means to an end. About how completely I'd given him my heart, my trust, my future.
Never again.
"I can keep business and personal separate," I said firmly. "I learned my lesson about mixing the two."
"Good." Damien extended his hand across the table. "Then we have a deal. Partners in revenge, nothing more."
I stared at his hand. This was insane. I barely knew this man. He was offering me a job and a revenge plot against his own brother, and I was seriously considering accepting based on one conversation and a tablet full of evidence.
But what was my alternative? Go home, cry myself to sleep, and let Nathan win? Let him keep my mother's company, my work, my reputation? Let him move on with Elena and their baby while I became a cautionary tale about trusting the wrong man?
No.
I'd been raised by Catherine Chen. My mother didn't cry over spilled milk she built new factories to make better milk. She didn't let setbacks define her she used them as motivation to prove everyone wrong.
If my mother were here, she'd tell me to fight back. To be strategic, be ruthless, and never let a man diminish my power again.
So I took Damien's hand.
His grip was firm, warm, surprisingly gentle for someone known as "The Ice King." For just a moment, as our hands clasped and our eyes met, I felt something pass between us.
Understanding, maybe. Or recognition two wounded people united by a common enemy.
Then he released my hand and the moment passed.
"Welcome to Titanium Holdings," he said, pulling out his phone. "I'm sending you the employment contract now. Have your lawyer review it actually, do you have a lawyer? Someone Nathan doesn't control?"
"Jennifer. My best friend. She works for Morrison & Associates."
"Good firm. Have her review the contract tonight. You start Monday." He stood, refilling both our glasses. "Now, let's discuss strategy. What do you know about Chen Technologies' current operations?"
For the next two hours, we talked. About Nathan's management style, about the employees he'd fired or forced into resignation, about the projects he'd cancelled and the ones he'd claimed as his own innovations.
Damien took notes on everything, his mind clearly cataloging information, building his case piece by piece.
I watched him work and understood why he'd built a twelve-billion-dollar empire by thirty. He was brilliant. Focused. Absolutely relentless in pursuit of his goals.
A tiny voice in the back of my mind whispered that I should be scared of him.
That a man this calculating, this cold, this ruthless wouldn't hesitate to use me the same way Nathan had.
But I pushed that voice aside. I needed someone ruthless right now. I needed someone who understood that being nice had gotten me destroyed, and being strategic would get me justice.