Dominic didn't sleep.
The penthouse felt larger without Elara—too quiet, too empty, like power stripped of purpose. For the first time in years, money couldn't fix what he had broken.
At dawn, he made a call no one expected.
"Cancel it," he said coldly.
There was a pause on the other end. "Sir, that deal secures your majority control."
"I know," Dominic replied. "Cancel it anyway."
He ended the call without hesitation.
That deal—the one Elise had once offered him in exchange for walking away from love—was finally dead.
---
Bianca felt it immediately.
Her phone rang nonstop. Investors panicked. Partners demanded answers. The safety net she had carefully woven began to unravel.
She stormed into Elise's office, fury blazing. "You said he would choose power."
Elise's expression was grim. "He didn't."
Bianca's hands shook. "Then he's a fool."
"No," Elise said quietly. "He's in love."
That was when Bianca realized the truth—
She had already lost.
---
Elara was at her apartment when Dominic arrived.
No guards.
No grand gestures.
Just him.
She opened the door and froze.
"I'm not here to argue," Dominic said before she could speak. "Or to convince you."
She crossed her arms. "Then why are you here?"
He met her eyes—unguarded, honest. "Because I walked away from a deal that would've made me untouchable."
Her breath caught. "Why?"
"Because it was built on the same choice I once made," he said. "And I won't make it again."
Silence filled the space between them.
"I don't want you to need me," Dominic continued. "I want you to choose me—freely. Every day. Or not at all."
Elara searched his face, seeing not the devil—but the man beneath the crown.
"You're terrified," she said softly.
"Yes," he admitted. "Because this time, losing you would be real."
She stepped back, opening the door wider. "Come in."
Not forgiveness.
An invitation.
---
Across the city, Bianca watched her empire crumble, rage turning inward.
She had tried to destroy Elara by making her small.
Instead, she had forced Dominic to become something dangerous—
A man with nothing left to lose but the woman he loved.
And men like that?
They didn't stop.
They ended wars.