Damien’s POV
Monday was finally here.
My first day at Sterling.
I pulled into the building parking lot just after 7:45 a.m.
The glass building rose above me, all steel and money.
A reminder of everything I’d lost, and everything I was now walking back into because I couldn’t let Elena slip through my fingers.
It was a two-hour drive from home, and I’d spent every minute of it thinking about her.
About the way she looked when she came over five days ago.
Everything we said.
Everything we didn’t.
The things I should’ve said.
I couldn’t sign the divorce papers.
I wasn’t ready to lose her.
Maybe today, starting here, I could try prove that to her.
I got out of my car and walked in.
Inside the lobby, the security guard looked up at me with something like recognition.
“Sign in, please, sir.”
The “sir” felt like mockery, but I signed anyway.
My signature looked shaky, I didn’t realize my hands were trembling.
“Employee entrance is around back,” he added.
“Executive elevator is restricted.”
My stomach dropped.
“I’m sorry?”
He just pointed, already turning away, done with me.
I swallowed whatever pride I had left and headed to the employees’ elevator.
Three other staff members stepped in after me, laughing, until they saw me then they went silent.
No one looked at me.
I didn’t blame them.
Floor by floor, they all stepped out.
I exhaled each time the doors closed behind them.
Instead of stopping on my assigned floor, I continued up to the executive level.
Adrian had called me up for a brief meeting.
His office floor was another world entirely.
Thick carpet, quiet hallways, with real art that hung on the walls.
Even the air felt expensive.
It was all I’d hoped to have someday.
This was Elena’s world.
I followed the signs leading to Conference Room B, and I saw him through the glass.
Adrian Sterling.
Elena’s older brother.
He stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows, with his hands tucked in his pocket.
My chest tightened and I knocked on the door.
“Come in.” He didn’t turn. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
I stepped inside and closed the door behind me.
The silence between us was heavy.
Uncomfortable.
Finally, he turned around slowly, his expression unreadable.
“Sit down.”
I nodded and sat, but he remained standing.
Another Sterling power play.
Elena did the same move when I signed my company over.
“I am no longer your direct supervisor. You’ll now report to Marcus Zen,” Adrian said.
My jaw tightened.
“Marcus was…”
”A junior analyst at your company,” he cut in, sharply.
“Yes. I know.”
He didn’t bother hiding the satisfaction in his tone.
“Consider it part of the… adjustment.”
This wasn’t an adjustment.
It was a punishment.
A deliberate demotion for everything I’d put his sister through.
He wanted me answering to a man who used to answer to me.
Before I could respond, the door opened.
A petite woman stepped in.
“Mr. Sterling? Elena asked me to get you. The board is waiting in Conference Room A.”
My pulse spiked.
Elena was here.
“Thank you, Patricia,” Adrian said.
He walked to the door and just before walking out, he glanced at me.
“Try not to embarrass yourself today.”
Then he walked out.
Patricia followed behind him, leaving me alone with my racing heartbeat.
Elena was here.
She was somewhere down this hall.
I had to see her.
I took in a breath, steadying myself then I pushed the door open.
I stepped out into the hallway just as two executives walked by, talking quietly.
They didn’t see me at first.
“Oh, they’re not letting her take the position yet,” one of them whispered.
“Of course not,” the other scoffed.
“She hasn’t completed her six-month probation.”
I froze.
Probation?
“What did she expect? Her father’s stipulation was ironclad. Divorced heirs must work under the acting CEO for six months before inheriting full authority.”
My chest tightened.
“I heard she’s not divorced,” the other added, lowering his voice.
“So technically her clock hasn’t even started. Right now she has the title…but zero real power. That’s embarrassing.”
The elevator dinged and they stepped in.
One of them finally noticed me, but then he immediately looked away.
The doors closed in front of them.
I couldn’t move.
Everything suddenly clicked into place. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
Elena coming to my apartment.
Her anger.
Her urgency.
“I need the papers signed tonight, Damien.”
It wasn’t just emotional for her, it was her future on the line.
Her legacy.
Her father’s company.
And I was the reason she wasn’t CEO yet.
The reason she was still stuck.
I braced a hand against the wall, breath shaking.
Someone walked by, saw me, and quietly turned around without a word.
I couldn’t blame them, I was barely holding myself up.
I forced myself to move, forced my legs toward Conference Room A.
And then I saw her through the glass.
Elena.
She was sitting at the table with her head bowed over her phone.
Her hair was pulled back.
She had on a crisp black suit.
She looked immaculate, effortless.
Except for the exhaustion in her eyes.
As if she knew I was standing there, she glanced up and our eyes met and something flickered through them.
Pain.
But it vanished quickly and she looked away.
The meeting had already started, I couldn’t walk in.
I just stood there a second longer as something inside me quietly collapsed.
Then my phone buzzed.
“From: Elena Sterling. Subject: Immediate Reassignment.”
My stomach dropped.
I opened the email.
“Effective immediately, you are reassigned to the Westfield merger documentation review. All 2,000 pages must be analyzed, summarized, and prepared for presentation by end of day. Failure to complete will result in termination. —E. Sterling.”
Two thousand pages in eight hours.
It was impossible.
My phone buzzed again.
“Conference Room D — 8 AM. You’ll be working with the integration team. Do NOT be late.”
I exhaled shakily, checking my watch.
8:05 AM.
For a split second, everything inside me froze.
Then I bolted.
I ran down the hallway, ignoring the stares and whispers.
Elena wasn’t just going to make this job hard.
She was going to make working for her hell.
But I was ready for it.