Chapter 26 Wanting control while losing emotional ground.
Isla's POV.
By mid morning, the office was quiet. It was too quiet for the kind of noise that pulled inside my head.
I sat at my desk outside the office, my fingers moving steadily across the tablet, sorting secrets, confirming schedules , and answering emails without rereading them.
Whoever was watching would’ve thought that I was fine. I looked the same, and worked the same, nothing seemed different.
Apart from my focus.
I couldn’t focus for too long as I was pulled away by thoughts I didn’t know where it came from and fears that kept my heart racing.
Every time my phone buzzed, my mind would jump. And every time I decide to stay silent for a while too long, it gets worse.
Josie hadn’t called yet. That doesn’t mean she was safe, she was just being too careful.
I forced myself to breathe in and out and started working.
I would never give my father the chance of seeing me unravel, even from a distance. He had always known how to put pressure on me effortlessly.
Iris was fill in his grip and that alone was enough to make us obey him even when we didn’t want to.
Across the glass wall, Damian stood, having a conversation with two executives.
His posture was relaxed but alert. His attention divided without ever fully leaving the conversation in front of him and I knew better than to mistake that calm for distance.
He noticed everything. He always did.
At some point, his eyes lifted for a moment and found me.
Just a glance. Nothing too obvious. Still, I felt it.
I straightened instinctively, adjusted the tablet in my hand, and returned my attention to the numbers on the screen.
The meeting ended and the executives left with polite nods. Damian remained inside, speaking into his phone in a low voice I couldn’t hear.
I didn’t try, privacy mattered here and I shouldn’t prey into it.
My phone vibrated again. Josie.
I stood from my chair and walked toward the corridor without thinking too much about it, answering before the call could cut off.
“Are you okay?” I asked quietly.
“Yes,” she said, voice sharp. “For now.”
I pressed my back against the wall, my hand curling into the fabric of my skirt. “Has he said anything else?”
“He’s waiting,” she replied. “And waiting. He hasn’t chosen a date yet but he’s making calls. He thinks that if he keeps me uncertain, I won't fight.”
Anger flared up in me, sharp and sudden, then settled into something colder. “Don’t let him see fear. That’s what he wants.”
“I know,” Josie said. “I’m trying.”
I closed my eyes briefly. “I’ll handle this. I promise. Don’t just agree to anything. No matter what he threatens.”
“Iris,” Josie whispered. The name landed hard in my chest.
“I know,” I said. “That’s why I need time.”
The call ended before I could say more.
When I turned around, Damian was standing in the doorway of his office, watching me with an expression that was unreadable but intent.
He didn’t ask who had called. He didn’t comment on the tension in my shoulders or the way my grip tightened around my phone.
He only said, “Come inside.”
It wasn’t a command but that made it worse.
I followed him into his office and took my usual seat, arranging my face to normal. He returned to his desk reviewing documents, speaking about schedules, and the upcoming meeting as if nothing was wrong.
I answered when needed, nodded and kept my voice steady.
Still, I felt him watching me. He was deeply observing.
At one point, he stopped and looked up fully. “Looks like you’re handling everything well.” He said.
The words came out simple, but they disarmed me more than criticism would have.
I hesitated for a while, then replied. “I don’t want to be a distraction.”
“You’re not,” he said. “But you’re carrying something.”
I met his gaze. “I don’t want help.”
“I didn’t offer it,” he answered evenly. And the honesty unsettled me.
The rest of the day passed without any incident. Meetings flowed, decisions were made.
I stayed in the room, present and composed, even when my thoughts slipped to Josie and Iris and the danger closing in slowly around them.
Only Damian noticed when my attention slipped.
When the office finally emptied and the lights dimmed, I gathered my things and prepared to leave.
Damian walked with me down the hallway, our steps quiet.
“You don’t trust easily,” he said.
I glanced at him. “Neither do you.”
He accepted that without any argument. “Trust doesn’t mean surrender.”
“No,” I agreed. “It usually comes with a cost.”
We stopped near the elevators. The space between us suddenly felt small, the silence was thicker than it had been all day.
“I won’t force you,” he said. “But I won’t pretend I don’t see you either.”
My breath caught, just slightly.
“I need to do this anyway,” I said. “If I don’t, it won’t stop. He’ll always find another angle.”
Damian stepped closer, but not touching, just enough that I could feel his presence fully.
“I respect strength,” he said quietly. “Especially when it doesn’t announce itself.”
Something inside me shifted. Like a line was bending instead of breaking.
I looked up at him then, really looked, and for a moment, the distance between us vanished. There was no calculation in his expression.
Only certainty. I didn’t move away, and neither did he.
The kiss wasn’t planned and it wasn’t gently either. It was just brief and intense.
Like it was born from a tension held too long and released without permission. His hand brushed my arm, grounding, steady, and for one dangerous second I forgot everything else.
Footsteps approached down the hall.
Voices followed.
We separated too late, the air still charged between us and my heart kept racing as reality crashed back into place.
Someone was close. Close enough to see.
And I knew with a sudden clarity, that whatever I was risking now could no longer be undone.