Chapter 169
Caleb's POV
The hallway outside the executive suite felt like a stage set for disaster. I'd barely stepped out of the elevator when I saw him—Damon, standing outside the conference room.
Around us, employees slowed their pace. Conversations died mid-sentence. I could feel their stares, hear the whispered recognition: "That's Damon Vance and Caleb Vance..." The gossip mill was already spinning, hungry for another chapter in the Vance family drama.
I kept my expression blank, my eyes meeting his without flinching. The temperature in the hallway seemed to drop. Damon's jaw was tight, his fists clenched at his sides. Whatever he'd come here for, it wasn't a friendly chat.
Before the tension could escalate into something the entire floor would witness, Hector appeared at my elbow. "Caleb," he said, his tone deliberately casual but his grip on my arm urgent. "About that data analysis from last week—I need to confirm some details with you. Now."
He didn't wait for my response, practically dragging me toward the small conference room. I let him, avoiding a confrontation with Damon in the company.
The door clicked shut behind us. Hector immediately dropped the pretense, his voice low and tense. "What the hell is he doing here? Did you see the way he was looking at you? Like he wanted to rip your throat out."
I moved to the window, putting distance between myself and the door. "I don't know."
"I think he's here to start something," Hector's concern was palpable. "Maybe you should—"
"I'm not hiding from him." The words came out sharper than intended. I forced myself to breathe, to push down the defensive anger that always surfaced around Damon. "This is my workplace. If he wants to talk, we'll talk."
Hector studied me for a moment, then sighed. "Could Marcus be bringing him into the company? Or maybe he's here to... I don't know, mark his territory? Remind everyone this is still technically Vance family property?"
I turned back to the window, watching the city sprawl below. "Maybe. Or maybe he just needs someone to blame for his own mess." I checked my watch. "Either way, I have work to do. I'm not going to let him disrupt that."
"You could wait him out," Hector suggested. "Let him leave first, then—"
"No." I met his eyes, letting him see the steel beneath my calm exterior. "This isn't the old days, Hector. And this is a workplace, not a battlefield."
---
I headed back to my office. My assistant was hovering near the door, her expression somewhere between worried and apologetic. When she saw me approaching, she quickly stepped forward.
"Mr. Vance," she said quietly, her eyes darting toward my office door. "Damon Vance... he went in. I tried to stop him, but he said it was family business and—"
"It's fine." I kept my voice steady, professional. "Thank you for letting me know."
She nodded, clearly relieved to be dismissed from the awkward situation.
I pushed the door open.
---
Damon's POV
The office was exactly what I'd expected—sleek, modern, impersonal. Awards lined one wall. Project displays on another. Everything screamed success, achievement, look what I built without you. My hands clenched into fists before I forced them to relax.
I wanted to smash something. Wanted to grab him by the collar and demand answers. But I couldn't. Not if I wanted to keep what little standing I had left in this family. Father had made that crystal clear.
So instead, I stood there, waiting. Listening to my own heartbeat thunder in my ears.
When the door finally opened and Caleb walked in, I felt my wolf surge forward—territorial, angry.
"We need to talk," I said. My voice came out rougher than I intended.
Caleb calmly set down his briefcase, moving behind his desk like he was creating a barrier between us.
"About what?" His tone was flat, uninterested.
About her. About the fact that you stole what was mine. About how you've always been there, lurking in the shadows, waiting for your chance to take everything I had.
But I couldn't say that. Couldn't let him see how deep this cut.
"About Elena," I managed.
His amber eyes flickered with something—annoyance? Amusement? It was gone too fast to read.
We stood there, two wolves circling each other, neither willing to make the first move. The silence stretched between us, heavy with unspoken resentment.
I thought about all the times we'd been in the same room and barely exchanged a word. All the family dinners where he sat at the far end of the table, ignored.
Memories flickered through my mind, unwanted and sharp. Caleb at ten, newly arrived at the manor, barely speaking. I'd thought he was mute. Or just pathetic.
I remembered knocking over his water glass once, watching it soak his shirt. He'd just... cleaned it up. Didn't say a word. Didn't fight back. I'd laughed, called him weak.
"Caleb never hurt you. He never did anything to you. So why did you make his life hell?"
Elena's words from that night echoed in my head, making my chest tight. I shoved the feeling down. I wasn't here to feel guilty. I was here to fix this.
"I know you probably don't want to see me," I started, my voice harder than I meant it to be. "But we need to clear some things up. About Elena."
Caleb's expression didn't change. He just watched me with those unsettling amber eyes, waiting.
"Look," I said, frustration bleeding into my tone. "I get it. You don't like me. Fine. But Elena—she's innocent in all this. Whatever issues you and I have, leave her out of it."
Still nothing. Just that infuriating calm.
"I know what you're doing. You're using her to get back at me."
Finally, he moved. Looked at me directly.