Chapter 34 Chapter 34
Chapter 34 Chapter 34
The moment we stepped into the ballroom, I felt it.
The shift.
Conversations faltered. Heads turned. Eyes followed.
Blake Holdings’ charity gala glittered with polished marble floors, crystal chandeliers, and people dressed in power and money—but none of that was what made my pulse spike. It was the sudden awareness that I no longer felt invisible.
Adrian’s hand rested lightly at my lower back, not possessive, not performative—just enough to remind me I wasn’t alone. I straightened my spine without thinking.
“Breathe,” he murmured near my ear. “They’re watching, not judging.”
Easy for him to say.
I scanned the room instinctively, and then I saw him.
Daniel.
He stood near the bar, a champagne glass in hand, laughing too loudly at something someone said. Mandy was beside him, her hand looped through his arm, dressed in white like she was already playing wife.
My chest tightened.
Adrian felt it immediately.
“You don’t have to look at them,” he said.
“I want to,” I replied quietly. “Just… give me a second.”
Daniel’s laughter faded as his eyes lifted.
And locked onto me.
The glass in his hand paused mid-air.
For a heartbeat, the room disappeared. It was just us—me standing beside the man he’d spent years trying to destroy in business, and him staring like he’d seen a ghost walk out of his grave.
Mandy followed his gaze.
Her smile froze.
I didn’t smirk. I didn’t wave. I simply met her eyes and looked away first.
That was enough.
“She sees you,” Adrian said calmly.
“Good,” I answered. My voice didn’t shake. That surprised me. “Let her.”
We moved deeper into the room. People approached Adrian—board members, investors, politicians. I stayed beside him, listening, nodding when necessary, saying little.
And yet, I felt Daniel’s stare burning into my back the entire time.
“You’re doing well,” Adrian said once we were briefly alone near the balcony doors.
“I feel like I’m going to shatter.”
“You’re not,” he said. “You’re holding.”
I exhaled slowly. “When did you get so good at this?”
“At reading people?” His lips curved faintly. “When I learned silence says more than anger.”
Before I could respond, a familiar voice cut in.
“Elena?”
I turned.
Daniel stood a few steps away, confusion and something darker battling on his face. Up close, he looked… smaller. Less certain.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
I didn’t answer him.
Adrian did.
“She’s here with me.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened. “I wasn’t speaking to you.”
“And yet,” Adrian said calmly, “you’re standing in my way.”
The air between them felt charged, old rivalry crackling beneath polished smiles.
Daniel’s eyes flicked back to me. “You didn’t mention you were seeing someone.”
I tilted my head slightly. “You didn’t ask.”
Mandy appeared beside him, her smile brittle. “Elena, this is… unexpected.”
I met her gaze evenly. “Life has been full of surprises lately.”
Her eyes dropped—briefly—to my hand resting against my stomach, then snapped back up.
I saw the calculation there.
The fear.
“Enjoy the evening,” Adrian said, already guiding me away.
As we walked off, my legs trembled—but I didn’t stumble.
Once we reached the balcony, cool night air wrapped around me, and I finally released a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.
“That,” I said softly, “was terrifying.”
Adrian turned to face me. “And you survived.”
I laughed quietly, the sound shaky but real. “You were supposed to be a distraction.”
“I was,” he replied. “They didn’t see anything else.”
I looked up at him then. Really looked.
“You didn’t have to do that,” I said.
“I wanted to,” he answered simply.
The honesty in his voice unsettled me.
“Adrian,” I began, then stopped. I didn’t know what I was about to say—and that scared me more than silence.
His gaze softened. “We’ll talk later. Tonight, just let yourself exist.”
He offered his arm again.
I took it.
And as we re-entered the ballroom together, something shifted deep inside me.
This wasn’t just about revenge anymore.
This was about reclaiming myself.
And Daniel Carter was finally beginning to understand what he’d lost.