The late evening shrouded the Hayes Enterprises offices in shadow, long corridors only occasionally lit by overheads. The IT room was dimly lit; Roman paced outside and raked a hand through his hair before staring at the computer screen that glowed on a desk in front of him. Talia stood next to him, heart racing, watching the hall to make sure that no surprise visitor interrupted their quiet hacking session.
He had just discovered a trove of encrypted emails hidden in the company's backup server. He squinted, muttering, "This is huge." The messages alluded to secret deals, code words for wire transfers, and secret promises of power. Talia's stomach curled with dread when she saw the signatures: one for Soren, the other for Sterling Price. She swallowed. "We've been undergoing a corporate coup," she whispered, her voice taut with alarm. "Soren's making investments in sabotage, and Sterling is going behind the gates and crippling Caspian from within the board.'
Roman's jaw clenched as he read on. "Soren's pouring money into Sterling," he said, his tone strained. "He's greasing the palms to influence key votes, muck best Caspian's reputation. We speculated about things — it's worse than we thought." His eyes flitted over lines referring to "Project Fall" or "Discredit Initiative," each phrase smelling of conspiracy. Outrage flared in Talia's chest at the perfidy of Soren's duplicity. Her father, Sterling, had pretended to stand apart, but he was deeply intertwined in this.
The sound of footsteps in the corridor approached. Talia and Roman stiffened, exchanging a look. When silence followed, Talia let out a shaky breath. "We need to get these emails to Caspian," she said, voice low. "He is already on shaky ground with the board. This proof may be the weapon he needs to fight back."
Roman transferred the files to a tiny thumb drive. "I'm going to get my notes, get them coherent. We need to demonstrate the way Soren funded Sterling's penetration —" He stopped at the last email, reading it closely. "It appears Sterling's become cautious. "If you fall, I'm not falling with you," he wrote." He slowly turned to Talia. "They're starting to turn on each other."
She remembered her father's calculating stare and how he only played ball with those who advanced his interests. A spurt of grim satisfaction shivered its way through her. "So they rotting from within in their alliance." But dread knotted her brow, picturing how dangerously cornered Soren might grow. A man like that, who would feel himself threatened on all sides, could retaliate with a savage finality.
Roman ejected the drive and stowed it safely. Shakily, Talia stood guard as she powered the computer down, her nerves aflame with tension. They crept into the corridor, every step and sound weighed down by the fact they were carrying the missing piece that could free Soren's grip — or the thing that would make him lash out with everything he had. They disappeared into a maze of offices , and as they did so, the hush of late hour pressed in around them, deserting and foreshadowing the turmoil that was about to explode in the upper boudoirs of Hayes Enterprises.
In the mansion's high-arched entryway, the air was thick with charged stillness. Celeste had only just come back home from a long and tiring day of damage control at Hayes Enterprises when she found Soren standing in the quiet foyer waiting for her. With an almost civilized gesture, he summoned her aside, though his eyes turned cool, revealing sinister plans behind the sunny demeanor. Her stomach twisted, remembering every threat he'd hissed behind closed doors before. But she smoothed her features, resolved not to flinch.
He brought her into a small sitting room with muted colors, the room seeming a sort of well-furnished cage. When he talked, his voice was low, every word carrying a ripple of menace. "You've interfered long enough," he said softly. "Your loyalty to Caspian stops here. If you refuse to step away, I'll make sure he and your weak little world both fucking burn." He stopped, watching her face. "I have enough financial knowledge—give me a few strings to pull, and Caspian's pretty illusions of power evaporate." You're going down, and you'll be left in the rubble."
Celeste's insides twisted. Her thoughts flitted to the mortgage mess, how close she had come to losing her parents' home. She hated the fear that dogged her every step, but she wasn't going to fold easily. "Why threaten me?" she demanded, voice shaking but resolute. "Caspian's well enough to take you on."
Soren's lips curled into a cold smile; the handsomeness of his boyish features turned cruel after years of being called smart and clever. "You underestimate me. Leave him, I mean to lose yourself, no more wedding farce, no more feigned wifely devotion. Keep the struggle up, and you'll discover how petty your affection is when I burn his business reputation to the ground."
She swallowed the bile that tightened in her throat, loathing how he played with lives. Before she could snap back, footfalls echoed beyond the door. Caspian's voice, half-drowned in echo, filtered through. Soren's gaze sharpened. He leaned closer, whispering with deadly calm, "Decide what means more: your pride or your survival."
The door edged open a little, allowing Caspian a glimpse of Celeste's horrified face. He took in frozen silence, only her brittle silence answering Soren's threat. The implication made his heart lurch. Was Celeste intending to fold under Soren's demands?
All at once, Soren pulled away, learned composure coming back. With his pulse hammering, Caspian backed from the door, an assortment of wretched assumptions tangling in his mind. Celeste froze fury and fear battling in her breast. Just when Soren pulled out, the way his eyes glided over her held a shard of victory, something worse to come if she fought this. And then he was gone, footsteps ringing across the marble floor.
In the silence that remained, Celeste clutched the parlor's mantel, battling the impulse to howl. She caught a glimpse of Caspian's retreating silhouette through the half-open door — he'd left before she could explain. Guilt sliced through her at the thought of how quickly Soren's manipulations had the potential to ruin anything.
By the time Celeste located Caspian in his upstairs study, night had draped its brooding cloak over the mansion. He faced out with his shoulders stiff, his back turned, his eyes trained on the window, and the lights of the city glimmering in the distance. He was silent, and that silence rippled with tension. She caught a glimpse of his face in the glass: fatigue and doubt and a flash of naked hurt.
She stepped forward tentatively, her breath stuttered. "Caspian," she said in a hush. "I can explain." He turned around, eyes full of accusations. "Explain what?" he demanded. "How you and my father were in a parlor together, whispering, while I was hearing nothing but your silence? Why not argue against him right there? Unless you took his ultimatum seriously."
The agony in his voice tightened her heart. "It's not what you think," she said, lacing calm into words that almost quivered. "He ordered that I turn my back on you. He's using everything he has to rip us apart." She winced in pain. "I was too stunned to speak."
Caspian breathed heavily, his chest heaving, shadows of insomnia settling under his eyes. "And these photos … from an anonymous envelope." He pointed to a series of pictures on his desk, all showing Celeste, Talia, and Roman in private conversations. They seemed secretive as if plotting behind Caspian's back. He spoke haltingly, filled with new betrayal. "Are you three conspiring behind my back?"
In the blatant manipulation, fury sparked in Celeste's chest. "He's twisting every angle. Talia and Roman have been giving me a hand collecting evidence. Nothing more." She took a step, resenting the gulf opening up between them. "Please, you know I would never betray you."
His eyes burned with contradictory feelings: love, resentment, fatigue. "We're drowning," he gasped, his voice hoarse. "But you know, he threatens me with bombs and makes you think that you're some kind of schemer. I'm suffocating, Celeste." She registered the crack in his voice, the note of abject failure.
Before she could answer, Talia burst in, out of breath. "Turn on the news," she said, her eyes shimmering with fear. "They've heard Soren's accusations—that Celeste is using Caspian to gain control. It's on every tabloid site." Talia's voice wavered. "They're spreading the story that Celeste faked foreclosure drama for sympathy and control."
A wave of anger and desperation surged through Celeste. She threw Caspian a glare of furious resolve. "We aren't going to let him turn my life into a scandal," she hissed, and her mind was churning for a solution. "He's putting us to battle on every front." Caspian's jaw clenched, his shoulders shaking. The frail tie connecting them was on the verge of breaking from Soren's constant machinations. But a spark of united defiance remained in their eyes. Despite the fractures in their trust, neither one was in the mood to roll over and concede. They prepared for the next wave of chaos, poised to protect each other from Soren's corrosive vendetta.