Chapter 65 The One Who Stayed In Ashes
I just stood there staring at my own reflection in the brushed steel. I looked… composed, and it almost felt insulting.
The tears that had been threatening finally blurred my vision, and I wiped them away quickly with the back of my hand before they could fall.
“Pull yourself together,” I whispered under my breath.
Then the elevator began its descent, smooth and mechanical, and the quiet hum filled the space. The silence without Jack in front of me was suffocating, the silence without the boardroom noise, without my father’s voice slicing into me, and just then everything came rushing back at once.
I clutched my chest.
It actually pierced like someone had wrapped a band around my ribs and was deliberately pulling.
“Breathe, Elena.” I told myself. “Just breathe, you'll be fine.”
I leaned back against the mirrored wall, pressing my palm harder against my sternum as if I could physically steady my heart. My reflection stared back at me—my eyes were red at the edges, and my shoulders squared in stubborn defiance.
This was supposed to be my building, my empire.
But I've been pushed out of it.
The doors slid open to the lobby as the security nodded stiffly like I was bowing out of a stage.
The large glass doors ahead reflected the outside chaos before I even stepped through them. And when the doors opened, It hit me all at once—camera flashes and shouting.
A wall of bodies surging forward.
“Elena! Over here!”
“Is it true you’ve been voted out?”
“What do you have to say about Jack Roman becoming partner?”
“Were you forced out by your father?”
“Is your marriage over?”
For a second, I couldn’t move like the world became white bursts of light and overlapping voices. Microphones were pushed toward me, cameras and phones were lifted for recording.
I stood there, rooted and spellbound.
Although, It felt unreal like I was watching it happen to someone else and then through the chaos, I heard my mother's voice in my head.
"Remember who your father is."
The words settled over the noise like a veil over me.
My fingers curled into the fabric of my blazer again, gripping a handful of it near my waist like it was the only thing keeping me upright.
Was this it?
Was this the end of my reign?
Was this how it ended — not with a fight, not with a dramatic collapse, but with cameras documenting my fall?
“Elena, did you lose your position because of internal conflict?”
“Is it true your husband orchestrated this?”
“How do you respond to allegations that you were unfit to lead?”
Unfit?
The word echoed louder than I cared to admit. I could feel my throat tightening again, but this time it was humiliation.
The flashes kept coming, they were rapid and blinding but I straightened myself because If I broke here, they would replay it in tabloids forever.
“Ms. Vale! Is this the end of your leadership at Vale Corp?”
Another microphone was shoved closer in front of me.
“Did Jack Roman betray you?”
That one almost made me flinch but I kept my face neutral.
Then my mother’s voice resurfaced again:
"Never let them see you bleed."
Then my hand loosened from my clothes slowly before I inhaled slowly.
The noise swelled again, relentlessly.
“Elena! Say something!”
I soon realized they were waiting for the disgraced CEO to fall apart.
I won't, but I couldn't deny that it was overwhelming. And for a second, the ground didn’t feel steady beneath my heels anymore.
Voices continued to overlap.
“Elena! Are you stepping down permanently?”
“Is your marriage legally over?”
“Did your father orchestrate this?”
My vision narrowed at the edges and the noise became distorted, like I was underwater.
That was when I swayed, and then suddenly there was darkness, not a complete darkness but just something heavy dropping over me. I soon realized it was a jacket and then I felt firm hands at my shoulders.
“Enough! Back off!” Mark’s voice cut through the frenzy, sharp and commanding in a way I hadn’t heard from him before.
“Give her space!”
I felt his arm come around me in a protective manner and my first instinct was to pull away, but then a camera shutter clicked right next to my face and I realized exactly what it would look like if I shoved him off. My actions would be plastered on the headlines:
DISGRACED CEO ATTACKS NEWLY APPOINTED EXECUTIVE.
And then I'd be seen as emotional and unable. So I had to force myself to stay still.
Mark leaned closer, lowering his voice so only I could hear him.
“Just let me do this,” he murmured. “For once, let me act like your stepbrother.”
If not for the seriousness of the situation, I would have scoffed.
Stepbrother?
I didn’t respond but I didn’t push him away either.
He only tightened his hold just enough to shield my face from the cameras, and his jacket draped over my head like a barrier between me and the world.
“Move!” he snapped at the reporters. “You’ve got your shots. That’s enough.”
“Elena, are you okay?”
“Mark, does this confirm internal instability?”
“Is she unwell?”
I bit down on the inside of my cheek. Fortunately, through the haze of noise and fabric and humiliation, Mark guided me carefully down the steps. I could hear his ragged breathing like he'd run quite a distance before showing up.
The car door opened as he maneuvered me into the passenger seat quickly, shielding me until the door was shut. The noise dulled instantly.
He circled around to the driver’s side and slid in, shutting his door firmly. The outside chaos became a muffled roar.
For one minute, neither of us spoke.
I pulled the jacket off my head slowly and folded it in my lap as my hands trembled.
I blinked back because the tears were there again, then I tilted my face slightly toward the window, forcing them back.
Mark started the engine but didn’t pull away yet.
“You almost fainted,” he said quietly.
“I didn’t,” I replied automatically.
He gave me a look. “You did.”
I didn’t argue.
He shifted the car into drive. “I’ll take you home.”
The lump in my throat felt like it might choke me if I didn’t say something soon.
“Just take me to the cemetery,” I said.
His hands tightened slightly on the steering wheel. “What?”
“The cemetery,” I repeated, my voice steadier than I felt. “I want to go there.”
“Elena…” His tone softened. “You should rest.”
“I don’t want to rest.”
Silence filled the car for a few seconds, broken only by the faint hum of traffic outside.
“I need to see my mother,” I added.
He glanced at me briefly. “Your mother?”
I nodded.
He hesitated. “It’s been a long day.”
“I know.”
“You’re exhausted.”
“I know.”
He exhaled slowly at my response but I could see the conflict on his face.
“Why now?” he asked gently.
Because she would remind me who I am.
But I didn’t say it to his face.
“I just need to,” I whispered.
He looked at me again for a moment longer.
“Okay,” he said quietly.
I leaned my head back against the seat and closed my eyes briefly, but the tears slipped out anyway but I wiped them away quickly before he could see even though I had a feeling he already knew.
Neither of us spoke again as the city blurred past.
I'd lost everything, and now I was on my way to stand in front of ashe s that was left of the only person who had ever truly understood me.
I folded Mark’s jacket tighter in my hands and swallowed the lump at the back of my throat.
“Just take me there,” I murmured.