Elena’s POV
I watched Damien flee the ballroom and felt absolutely nothing.
That should have scared me.
That complete absence of feeling for a man I’d once loved enough to give up everything for.
But instead, I felt nothing.
“You’re doing amazing,” Caleb murmured as I stepped off the stage.
He’d been waiting in the wings.
“I can’t believe I just did that.”
”Believe it.
You were incredible.” He handed me a glass of champagne.
“How do you feel?”
”Powerful,” I admitted.
“Is that bad?”
”That’s perfect.” He clinked his glass against mine.
“That’s exactly how you should feel.”
Adrian appeared beside me, grinning like a kid on Christmas.
“The internet is exploding. #SterlingCEO is trending worldwide. Everyone wants to know your story.”
”They’ll have to wait.” I sipped my champagne, and my eyes scanned the room.
Margaret had her head in her hands and Jessica looked like she was crying.
Victoria had disappeared entirely.
And Damien…
Damien was gone.
“Mrs. Blackwell is asking to speak with you,” my assistant, Patricia, came up to me nervously.
“Tell her I’m busy.”
”She’s quite insistent…”
”Then tell her I said no.” I met my assistant’s eyes.
“I’m not at all interested in anything the Blackwells have to say.”
She nodded and hurried off.
“Cold,” Caleb observed, but he was smiling.
“Don’t start with me,” I said, chuckling a bit.
“Dance with me,” he said suddenly, setting his glass down.
“What?”
”Dance with me.
Right here, right now.
Let everyone see that Elena Sterling is exactly where she’s supposed to be.”
I sighed, half smiling.
“You’re obsessed with dancing, aren’t you?”
Caleb smirked.
“Only when it gets me what I want.”
My tummy did that butterfly thingy.
Traitor.
He was right though.
That was exactly what tonight was.
I set down my champagne and took his hand.
The moment we stepped onto the dance floor, cameras flashed like fireworks.
Caleb pulled me close, one hand on my waist, the other clasping mine.
We started moving to the music, and for a moment, everything else faded away.
“You know, after today, everyone’s going to think we’re together,” I said, holding his gaze.
“Good. Let them.”
”Caleb…”
”I’m not pushing, Elena,” he said quickly.
“I’m just saying, would it be so bad? People thinking you’re with someone who actually appreciates you?”
Before I could answer, I caught movement in my peripheral vision.
Damien had come back.
He was standing at the edge of the ballroom, watching us dance with an expression I couldn’t read.
“He’s watching,” Caleb said, following my gaze.
“I don’t care.”
”Liar.”
”I don’t care about him.
All I care about is that he’s being forced to realize what he lost.”
Caleb turned to me, and when we came back together, he was grinning.
“You really are something, Elena Sterling.”
”It took me three years to remember that.”
The song ended and applause scattered around us.
And then, a reporter appeared in front of me with a microphone.
“Miss Sterling! Just a few questions?”
”Of course,” I said, switching into CEO mode seamlessly.
“The world is fascinated by you. Where have you been? Why the secrecy?”
”I was living a different life.
Learning what really mattered to me.
Now I’m ready to lead Sterling Global into its next chapter.”
”And is Caleb Harding part of that chapter?”
I felt Caleb tense beside me, but I smiled smoothly.
“Caleb and I have been friends since childhood. He’s been incredibly supportive.”
”Just friends?” The reporter pushed.
“I don’t discuss my personal life publicly.”
”But you were married, weren’t you?
To Damien Blackwell?”
There it was.
The question I’d been expecting.
I kept my smile firmly in place.
“I was. Briefly. That chapter of my life is closed.”
”Mr. Blackwell is here tonight.
Have you spoken to him?”
”No, and I don’t intend to.” I placed my hand on Caleb’s arm.
“Now if you’ll excuse me, I have other guests to greet.”
We walked away and Caleb’s hand moved to the small of my back.
“Well look at you, all grown up,” he said, impressed.
I bumped my shoulders to his, laughing softly.
We circulated through the gala, me smiling and shaking hands, accepting congratulations and fielding business inquiries.
But I was also aware of eyes watching me.
Damien hadn’t left again.
He was still here, somewhere in the crowd.
Watching me.
“Elena?” A timid voice said behind me.
I turned and nearly dropped my champagne.
Victoria stood there, looking terrified.
“Can we talk?” she asked.
“Please? Privately?”
Every instinct screamed at me to refuse.
To ignore her.
But something in her expression made me hesitate.
“Five minutes,” I said.
“Adrian, Caleb, I’ll be right back.”
”Elena, I don’t think…” Adrian started.
“Just five minutes,” I said to him.
I followed Victoria to a quiet corridor outside the ballroom.
“What do you want, Victoria?”
”To apologize.” She was actually crying.
“For everything, for coming between you and Damien. For letting myself be… used.”
A cold knot tightened in my stomach.
“Used by who?”
She shook her head quickly, frantically.
“I shouldn’t talk about it here.”
I studied her.
Her hands trembled, and she kept glancing past my shoulder as if someone might be listening.
“Elena.” She grabbed my arm desperately.
“You shouldn’t be here. There’s someone… someone who wanted you gone from the beginning, someone who paid me…”
”Margaret.
I know.
She hired you to destroy my marriage.”
Victoria’s face went even whiter.
“How did you…”
”I’m not stupid, Victoria.
I figured it out.”
”That’s what you don’t understand.” Victoria was shaking now.
“You think Margaret was the only one who didn’t want you in that family? She wasn’t. Tonight was supposed to… God, I can’t believe I agreed to this.”
”Agreed to what?”
”I have to go.” Victoria backed away.
“Just… be careful. Please. And watch your back.”
She ran before I could stop her.
I stood alone in the corridor, my heart pounding.
What the hell had that been about?