The first sign that something was wrong wasn't the call.
It was the silence before it.
I woke before dawn, the room washed in a dim blue that made everything feel unreal, like a memory that hadn't decided whether it wanted to stay. Elias slept beside me, one arm flung across my chest, his breathing slow and deep. For once, he wasn't restless. For once, he wasn't halfway awake, mind turning through thoughts even in sleep.
That should have comforted me.
Instead, it tightened something in my chest.
I lay there, staring at the ceiling, listening to the city hum far below. I'd lived with this noise my entire adult life the distant sirens, the low mechanical pulse of a city that never stopped demanding. Normally, it grounded me. Reminded me who I was.
This morning, it felt like a warning.
I moved carefully, easing out from under Elias's arm. He shifted, murmured something unintelligible, then settled again. I watched him for a moment longer than necessary, memorizing the shape of him in sleep, the unguarded softness he never allowed the world to see.
Then my phone vibrated.
Once.
I didn't need to look to know who it was.
Julian never called before six unless something had gone very wrong.
I stepped into the hallway, closing the bedroom door softly behind me. The penthouse felt cavernous without Elias's presence anchoring it. Too clean. Too quiet.
"Talk," I said the moment the line connected.
Julian didn't waste time. "We have a breach."
My jaw tightened. "Define breach."
"A controlled leak," he replied. "Targeted. Intentional. Not financial personal."
The word landed like a blow.
"Go on."
"There's a narrative forming," Julian continued. "Anonymous sources. Suggesting conflict of interest. Questioning judgment. Questioning" He paused. "Your private life."
I closed my eyes.
Of course.
"They're not attacking the company," I said slowly. "They're attacking me."
"Yes," Julian confirmed. "And by extension"
"Elias," I finished.
Silence.
"That name hasn't been printed yet," Julian said carefully. "But it's coming. I'd stake my reputation on it."
I leaned against the wall, the cool surface pressing into my spine. This was always how it happened. Not head-on. Not openly. Power never attacked directly it circled, waited, learned where to cut deepest.
"How far has it spread?" I asked.
"Enough that the board will demand a response by end of day," Julian said. "And Damien… they're framing it as concern. Concern for stability. For optics."
I let out a short, humorless laugh. "They always do."
"There's more," Julian added.
I waited.
"Someone reached out to Elias last night. Anonymous. Offered information. Protection. An exit."
My blood went cold.
"What kind of exit?" I asked quietly.
"The kind that removes him from the narrative," Julian said. "Before he becomes leverage."
I ended the call without another word.
I stood there for a long time after the screen went dark, staring at my own reflection in the glass wall across the hall. Damien Blackwood. Untouchable. Calculated. Always ten steps ahead.
And yet this, this was the one scenario I had never allowed myself to fully plan for.
Because every contingency ended the same way.
With Elias hurt.
Or gone.
I went back into the bedroom.
Elias was awake now, propped up on one elbow, watching me with that quiet attentiveness that always made me feel like he saw more than I wanted him to.
"You got a call," he said.
"Yes."
"That look on your face," he added gently, "means it wasn't a good one."
I sat on the edge of the bed, running a hand through my hair. "They've started moving."
He didn't ask who they were.
He never did.
"About the company?" he asked.
"No," I said. "About us."
The word hung between us, heavy and exposed.
Elias was quiet for a moment. Then he shifted closer, sitting beside me. Not touching. Just near enough that I could feel the warmth of him.
"They'll try to make me a weakness," I continued. "A liability. Something that compromises you."
"I already am," he said calmly.
I turned to him sharply. "No."
He met my gaze without flinching. "Yes. And that's okay."
"It's not," I snapped. Then, softer, "I won't let them use you."
Elias studied me for a long moment. Then he asked the question I'd been dreading.
"What are you planning to do?"
I didn't answer immediately.
Because the truth was ugly.
Because the instinct rose fast and familiar the instinct to isolate, to remove the threat, to protect by distance.
Because part of me had already imagined it.
"I could shut it down," I said finally. "Force the board's hand. Bury the story. Restructure leadership. Make it clear that my personal life is not a point of negotiation."
"And the other option?" he asked quietly.
I looked away.
"I could make this easier for them," I said. "Create space. Reduce visibility."
Elias nodded slowly. "Distance."
"Yes."
"For how long?" he asked.
I didn't have an answer.
That was the worst part.
He stood then, pacing once across the room before turning back to me. "They want me gone," he said. "Because I matter."
"That's exactly why"
"No," he interrupted, voice firm but not angry. "Listen to me. They don't get to decide that. You don't get to decide that for me."
I stood too, unable to stay still. "You don't understand how this works."
"I understand perfectly," he replied. "I understand power. I understand fear. And I understand you."
He stepped closer, placing a hand on my chest, right over my heart.
"This is where you run," he said softly. "Not because you don't care. But because you care too much."
My throat tightened.
"You think leaving me out of the blast radius makes you strong," he continued. "But all it does is tell them they were right. That love is leverage."
I closed my eyes.
He was right.
Damn him.
"I won't be collateral," Elias said. "I won't be erased so you can keep pretending you don't have something worth losing."
I opened my eyes and met his gaze.
"What if they destroy everything?" I asked. "What if they take it all?"
"Then we rebuild," he said simply. "But I won't disappear so you can stand alone in the ruins."
Something in me broke then.
Not loudly.
Quietly.
Finally.
I reached for him, gripping his arms like I needed the proof that he was still here. "I don't know how to protect you without pushing you away."
"Then don't protect me," he said. "Stand with me."
The words felt like standing on the edge of something vast and terrifying.
And inevitable.
I pulled him into my arms, holding him tightly, forehead pressed to his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around me without hesitation, grounding me, choosing me
again.
Outside, the city continued to move, indifferent to the choice being made inside a glass tower high above it.
For the first time, I didn't think about what this would cost me.
Only what it would cost me not to choose him.
"I won't hide you," I said finally. "And I won't step back."
Elias exhaled slowly, relief trembling through him. "Good."
"They're coming for us," I added.
He smiled faintly. "Let them."
I held him there as the sun rose fully, light spilling into the room, exposing everything our fear, our resolve, our devotion.
This was the moment.
Not the collapse.
Not the victory.
But the choice that would decide both.
And for once, I chose openly.
I chose him.