Chapter 44 Something's Coming
Elena’s POV
The apartment was too quiet for midday, the kind of quiet that pressed in on you, thick and airless, like the walls were listening.
I lay sprawled across the living room couch like I’d been dropped there. One arm was draped over my eyes, shielding me from the brightness, the other resting across my stomach as if holding myself together required physical effort.
My robe had loosened at the collar, the fabric twisted slightly around my waist from hours of restless shifting.
My hair—God, my hair.
It was probably the most honest thing about me right now.
Once, it would’ve been sleek, brushed, pinned into something sharp enough to match the Elena Vale the world expected.
Now it tumbled across the throw pillow in loose, messy waves, slightly flattened on one side. I hadn’t looked in a mirror all morning. I didn’t want to see what I already felt.
My phone buzzed but I ignored it.
The remote lay on the floor where it had slipped from my hand earlier. The TV had been on at some point, I thought or maybe I’d just stared at the black screen, pretending I was watching something.
My phone buzzed again, but I didn’t move.
Another call, another email, another notification filled with urgency that I couldn’t bring myself to absorb.
The world wanted answers from me, Vale Corp wanted direction, the board wanted control, and Damien even though he's silent, wanted chaos.
And I… just wanted silence.
Jack had left earlier.
He’d hovered for a while this morning, like he didn’t trust leaving me alone in this state. Like he thought if he stepped out, I might shatter completely.
“I need to go check on my father,” he had said quietly near the doorway.
“I won’t be long,” he promised.
I hadn’t answered with anything meaningful except with a small nod and a faint sound.
Because what was there to say?
The apartment had felt emptier the second the door clicked shut behind him.
Now, the only company I had was the soft hum of the refrigerator and the relentless buzzing of my phone.
It buzzed again and then again.
I squeezed my eyes shut beneath my arm.
Stop... please just stop.
And then the doorbell rang.
The sound was sharp and unexpected, almost violent in the stillness.
I froze.
For a moment, my mind scrambled uselessly.
Jack?
No, he knew the pass code.
The doorbell rang again, more insistent this time.
With a groan that felt like it came from somewhere deep in my bones, I pushed myself upright. The room tilted slightly from sheer exhaustion.
I swung my legs off the couch, bare feet touching the cool floor.
I padded toward the door slowly and clutched my robe tighter around me.
Another ring.
“I’m coming,” I muttered, my voice rough.
I reached the door and looked through the peephole.
It was Layla and without thinking, I unlocked it immediately and pulled it open.
Layla stood there with her hair pulled back, eyes alert, her posture tense like she’d been holding herself upright through sheer will. She had a bag over one shoulder, and her gaze swept over me in one quick glance.
“Elena.”
The way she said my name—soft, relieved—hit something in my chest.
“Layla,” I breathed.
Before I could stop myself, I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around her.
She stiffened for half a second, surprised, and then her arms came around me.
“You’re here,” I murmured into her shoulder.
“Of course I am,” she said quietly. “I’ve been calling.”
“I know.” My voice cracked slightly. “I just… I couldn’t—”
She pulled back just enough to look at me properly, her brows drawing together.
“You look like you haven’t slept in days.”
I gave a humorless laugh. “It’s that obvious?”
“Elena, you look like you’ve been run over by the entire Vale Corp board.” She added.
I stepped aside quickly. “Come in. Please.”
Layla entered, and the apartment swallowed her up with its stillness. She glanced around like she could feel it too—the unnatural quiet and the heaviness hanging in the air.
“You’ve just been lying here in the dark?” she asked, disbelief creeping into her voice.
“I wasn’t in the dark,” I muttered weakly. “The sun is very aggressively present.”
Layla’s eyes flicked toward the pale rectangles of light on the floor, then back to me.
“That’s not what I meant.”
I knew what she meant.
I closed the door behind her and leaned against it for a second, suddenly overwhelmed by how relieved I was to see another human being.
“I’m happy you’re here,” I admitted, the words slipping out before pride could catch them.
Layla’s expression softened.
“I’m happy to see you too,” she said. “I was starting to worry you’d locked yourself away completely.”
I shrugged faintly, forcing a small smile. “Only halfway.”
She set her bag down near the entryway, then turned to face me fully.
“What happened?” she asked. “When you left the office yesterday, Jack looked like he was about to punch through a wall.”
My throat tightened at the mention of Jack.
“He went to the hospital this morning,” I said quietly.
Layla blinked. “Hospital?”
I nodded once.
“His father.”
Her eyes widened slightly. “Julian Roman.”
The name sat between us like a loaded weapon.
Layla exhaled slowly. “Jesus.”
I motioned toward the couch. “Sit. Please.”
She followed me into the living room, but she didn’t sit right away. Instead, she hovered, arms crossing over her chest as if she couldn’t relax.
I, on the other hand sank onto the couch first, suddenly feeling the weight of my own body again.
Layla finally sat across from me, leaning forward.
“I didn’t come just to check on you,” she said.
I looked at her. “Then what brings you by?”
Her jaw tightened.
“Elena…” she began slowly and carefully, “I can’t shake this feeling.”
My stomach twisted.
“What feeling?”
She hesitated, as if choosing her words was dangerous.
“Conrad, your father.” she said finally.
The name alone made my spine stiffen.
Layla’s eyes sharpened, intense.
“He’s definitely up to something dangerous, Elena.”
When hasn't he been upto something?
I let out a slow breath. “That’s not exactly new information.”
“I know,” she said quickly, frustration flashing. “But this is different. It’s… bigger. I can feel it.”
I stared at her.
Layla wasn’t the kind of person who spoke in vague instincts. She was the kind that was precise and grounded.
So the tension in her voice unsettled me more than I wanted to admit.
“I can’t place it,” she continued, shaking her head. “That’s what’s driving me insane. It’s like… like there’s something moving under the surface and I can’t see it clearly yet.”
I swallowed hard.
“What did you find?”
Layla’s lips pressed together.
“I’ve been looking into the board’s sudden silence. The way they didn’t show up, the way they’ve been dodging you.”
My chest tightened again.
“And?”
Layla leaned closer, voice dropping.
“It’s coordinated, and being your father's assistant—well, not that he lets me in on anything major but I noticed he's been smiling a lot lately."
A chill crept over my skin as I forced a shaky breath.
“He always smiles when he thinks he’s winning, besides, Mark has indirectly announced himself as an executive because he's his son and part of the family.”
Layla nodded sharply.
“Exactly. Then again, I don’t know what his endgame is this time, but I swear to you, Elena, something is coming... And I'm scared.”
I stared at her, my pulse slow and heavy.