Chapter 208: Chapter 208

Violet

He wasn’t watching now and I waited until the attention shifted away from me and I could slip away without causing a scene.

Then I moved, climbing two steps at a time to where I knew Elijah would be waiting.

His office door was at the end of a long hallway, glass walls offering a view of the city lights beyond. I could see his silhouette inside, standing with his back to the door, looking out at the skyline.

I didn't knock, just grabbed the handle and shoved the door open hard enough that it banged against the wall.

"What the hell was that?" My voice bounced off the walls as I shook with rage I'd been suppressing for the past half hour. "What the hell is all of this? Why are you doing this?"

Elijah didn't turn around. He didn't even acknowledge my entrance. He just stood there with his hands in his pockets, perfectly still and calm.

It made my anger spike higher.

"Answer me!" I demanded, moving further into the office. "You threaten Dane, you force me to come here, you create some fake position and throw a party like I actually agreed to any of this. What kind of sick game are you playing?"

Still he offered no response.

"Elijah!" I was shouting now, all pretense of composure gone. "Turn around and look at me when I'm talking to you!"

He raised one hand slowly, making a show of checking his watch. When he spoke, his voice was maddeningly calm.

"Five minutes."

"What?"

"There are five minutes left," he said, still not turning around. "Until the deadline I gave you. You made it just in time."

My hands clenched into fists at my sides. "I don't care about your deadline. I don't care about any of this. Just tell me what you want so we can end this insanity and I can get out of here."

"What I want," Elijah said, finally turning to face me, "is for you to sign the appointment letter."

His face was different somehow. The same features I'd memorized, but something about the expression was off, colder and more distant like he was looking at a stranger rather than someone who'd been under his skin.

He pointed to his desk, where a crisp document sat beside an expensive-looking pen. "Sign it. That's all you have to do."

"And if I don't?" I challenged, even though we both knew the answer.

"Then Dane's company faces the consequences I outlined." His tone was businesslike, detached. "Financial audits. Contract cancellations. Reputation damage. I have the resources to make his professional life very difficult."

"You're blackmailing me."

"I'm offering you a position." He walked slowly toward the desk, movements controlled and deliberate. "Director of Design and R&D. It comes with an excellent salary, full benefits and your own team. You will have the creative freedom to develop whatever projects interest you. Most people would consider this an opportunity, not a punishment."

"Most people aren't being forced into it through threats and manipulation," I shot back.

Mild irritation flickered across his face but it was gone as quickly as it came, replaced by that same cool professionalism.

"Sign the letter, Violet."

I wanted to refuse, wanted to tell him to go to hell but I couldn't let an innocent man suffer because Elijah was playing whatever twisted game this was.

I grabbed the pen, my hand shaking with rage.

The appointment letter was written in formal business language, outlining my role and responsibilities and compensation. Everything looked legitimate, and official, like this was a real job offer and not a hostage situation.

I signed my name at the bottom with more force than necessary, the pen nearly tearing through the paper.

"There," I said, throwing the pen down. "Happy now? I've signed your damn letter. Can I go?"

He came to stand directly in front of me, close enough that I could smell his cologne, close enough that I could see the slight shadow of stubble on his jaw.

We stood there, barely a foot apart, and I waited for him to finally say something about the wedding, about Nicole's revelations, about the three weeks of silence between us.

This had to be some cruel, terrible joke. Had his mother made him do this or was his father behind this silly game?

Because I refused to believe three weeks could change him that much.

And some part of me waited for him to touch me the way he used to, to cup my face, to thread his fingers through my hair, to close the remaining distance and kiss me like the world was ending.

To fall to his knees and apologize like he truly feared losing me, not this cold and calculated businessman that threw a cheque at me as if that was the solution to everything.

I waited for a lot of things to happen but he just raised his hand.

I held my breath, my body tensing in anticipation.

His hand came up between us, reaching toward my face but it moved past my face entirely, grabbing the appointment letter from the desk behind me.

He lifted the document to eye level, examining my signature like he was simply reviewing any business contract.

I stood there frozen, feeling like an idiot. I'd actually thought he was going to touch me, had anticipated it, maybe even wanted it despite everything.

But he hadn't come close, hadn't even looked at me like he wanted to.

I studied his face while he examined the letter, searching for some sign of the man who'd fought his father for me. The man who'd taken a brutal beating rather than stay away from me. The man who'd kissed me breathless in a corridor right before the wedding and promised we'd leave together.

What had changed? What had happened in three weeks to transform him into this stranger wearing a familiar face?

A flash of red caught my attention. I blinked, thinking I'd imagined it. But there it was again—a flare of deep red in his left eye, like a half-moon glowing against the darkness of his iris.

My breath caught but then he blinked and it was gone, replaced by his normal dark eyes staring at the letter in his hand.

I wondered again if I had imagined it, if I had seen something that wasn't there because I was exhausted and angry.

"Welcome aboard," Elijah said "I look forward to working with you. Report tomorrow morning at eight. HR will handle your orientation."

He turned and walked away. Not toward me, but past me, heading for the door without so much as a backward glance.

"That's it?" I called after him, my voice cracking slightly. "You force me here, you manipulate me into signing your letter, and now you just walk away?"

"I got what I needed for now. Good night, Violet"

Then he left, leaving me standing alone in his office with my mind spinning with questions I couldn't answer.

"Something is different about him," Rain whispered in my mind.

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

"I don't know," she admitted. "But he's not the same."