The Kane boardroom had never felt so hostile.
Cassandra stood beside Adrian at the head of the table, the city skyline glaring through the glass walls behind them like an audience waiting for blood. Every seat was filled. Every face unreadable. Phones buzzed softly. Screens glowed. Numbers scrolled.
This wasn't just a meeting.
It was an execution attempt.
Adrian's hand brushed hers—brief, grounding, deliberate. Not reassurance. Alignment.
We stand together.
Victoria sat three seats down, impeccably dressed, legs crossed, expression bored in the way only people about to detonate chaos could manage.
"Shall we begin?" she said sweetly.
The projector flickered to life.
Charts. Transactions. Transfers Cassandra recognized from the documents Marcus had shown her. Shell companies. Quiet acquisitions. Strategic bleeding.
A slow, surgical attack.
One of the board members cleared his throat. "These figures suggest internal compromise."
Victoria sighed theatrically. "Or poor leadership."
Adrian didn't react. His stillness was unnerving.
"This doesn't implicate me," he said calmly. "It implicates someone who understands my systems intimately."
Victoria smiled. "Or someone married to you."
The room shifted.
Cassandra felt it immediately—the subtle recalibration, the unspoken question slithering through the air.
Is she the weakness?
Adrian turned his head slightly, eyes locking on Victoria.
"You're accusing my wife of corporate sabotage?"
"I'm suggesting," Victoria replied, "that her past associations make her… questionable."
Cassandra's chest tightened.
Before she could speak, Adrian did.
"If anyone in this room believes Cassandra is a liability," he said evenly, "you are welcome to say it now."
Silence.
Heavy. Cowardly.
Victoria leaned back. "You see? They don't trust her."
Adrian nodded once. "Then I'll make this simple."
He tapped his tablet.
The screen changed.
Gasps followed.
Cassandra stared.
Adrian Kane had just announced his temporary resignation as CEO.
The room erupted.
Victoria's smile froze.
"What are you doing?" Cassandra whispered.
Adrian didn't look at her. His voice carried steel and sacrifice.
"I'm removing the excuse," he said. "If this company is under attack, it won't be through my marriage."
Victoria stood abruptly. "You can't be serious."
"Oh, I am," Adrian replied. "The board will appoint interim leadership. I'll remain a majority shareholder, but operational control ends today."
This wasn't strategy.
This was surrender.
For her.
The meeting dissolved into chaos, but Cassandra heard nothing over the roaring in her ears.
He gave up power.
For trust.
⸻
They didn't speak until they were alone in the car.
"What did you just do?" she asked, voice shaking.
"I chose you," he said simply.
"That wasn't your choice to make alone!"
"Yes," he snapped, then immediately softened. "It was."
He pulled over.
Turned to her.
"I will not build an empire on your back," he said. "Not now. Not ever."
Tears burned her eyes. "You don't even fully trust me."
His jaw clenched. "Trust isn't certainty. It's risk."
Silence fell between them—charged, raw, intimate in a way that had nothing to do with touch.
"You terrify me," she whispered. "Because you could ruin yourself for me."
He leaned closer—but stopped short.
"You already matter more than the empire," he said. "That's the terrifying part."
Her breath hitched.
She wanted him. Wanted his arms. Wanted the promise in his voice.
But outside, the world was closing in.
⸻
The attack came that night.
Not physical.
Digital.
Accounts frozen. Headlines published. Whispers turned into accusations.
Kane Heir Steps Down Amid Internal Scandal
Mystery Marriage Sparks Corporate Collapse
Victoria moved fast.
Too fast.
"This isn't just her," Cassandra said, pacing the study. "Marcus is feeding her intel."
Adrian nodded. "Which means he's close."
As if summoned, the security system chimed.
"Unscheduled visitor," the AI announced.
Marcus Hale stepped into the room like he owned it.
"Relax," he said. "I come in peace."
Adrian moved instinctively, placing himself between Marcus and Cassandra.
"You have ten seconds," Adrian said.
Marcus smiled. "You resigned. Bold move. Emotional. Sloppy."
"You leaked the documents," Cassandra said. "You used my past."
Marcus's gaze softened. "I warned you, Cass."
"Don't call me that."
He sighed. "Victoria promised me the Kane board seat I lost. I just had to prove Adrian's weakness."
"And that weakness was me?" Cassandra asked.
"No," Marcus said. "It was love."
Adrian stilled.
Marcus leaned closer. "You fell for her. That made you predictable."
Adrian's voice was lethal. "Get out."
Marcus paused at the door. "You think stepping down saves her? It paints a target. Victoria won't stop until one of you is ruined."
The door closed.
The silence after was worse.
⸻
That night, Cassandra couldn't sleep.
Neither could Adrian.
They sat on opposite sides of the bedroom, tension coiled, unsatisfied, unspoken.
"You didn't have to give up everything," she said quietly.
"I didn't give it up," he replied. "I reprioritized."
She looked at him then—really looked.
Not the CEO.
Not the strategist.
A man choosing vulnerability in a world that devoured it.
"I don't want to be the reason you lose yourself," she said.
"You're the reason I found myself," he countered.
The words settled heavy and intimate between them.
He stood. Walked toward her. Stopped just in front of her.
"I want you," he said softly. "But I won't touch you if you think staying costs me too much."
Her throat tightened.
"Adrian… stay," she whispered.
The word wasn't permission.
It was a plea.
He exhaled, resting his forehead briefly against hers—no kiss, no crossing lines. Just heat. Breath. Wanting.
"I'm here," he said. "Even if it destroys me."
⸻
The next morning, the final blow landed.
Victoria called an emergency vote.
Adrian's shares—frozen.
Someone had transferred Cassandra's name onto a shell company ownership record.
She had been framed.
And now, legally, she looked complicit.
Cassandra stared at the screen.
"I didn't sign this," she whispered.
"I know," Adrian said, already moving. "Which means they're preparing to arrest you."
Her blood ran cold.
"You need to leave," he said urgently. "Now."
"No," she said. "I'm not running."
He grabbed her hands. "Cassandra—"
"I won't be your weakness," she said fiercely. "I'll be your proof."
Sirens echoed faintly in the distance.
Adrian made a decision.
He pressed a secure phone into her hand.
"Go to my mother," he said. "She knows where the real records are. She's the only one who can clear your name."
"And you?"
"I'll stay," he said. "I'll burn their time."
She shook her head. "You could lose everything."
He smiled—soft, devastating.
"I already chose."
She ran.
Behind her, Adrian Kane stood alone as the walls closed in.
Love chosen over power.
Truth buried under lies.
Two people torn apart not by lack of feeling—but by too much of it.
And somewhere in the shadows, Victoria smiled.
Because the war had finally begun.