Chapter 10 010
Alejandro's POV
I rubbed the bridge of my nose, the blue light from the monitors starting to make my head throb. Moving the needle at Alvarez Advanced Technology was like trying to steer a sinking ship in the dark.
I'd spent the last six hours buried in spreadsheets and messy HR files, trying to scrub the "Harlan" out of every corner of this building.
I bought the place to fuel my vendetta against Rhea. That was no secret. But I wasn't about to let it tank just for the sake of a grudge, let my investment bleed out.
My money, my empire—those were the foundations of everything I'd built, and they mattered just as much as the girl.
This company wasn't just a cage for her; it was a weapon for me.
If I was going to ruin her, I was going to do it from the top of a thriving empire, not a failing project.
I leaned back, my neck popping as I stared at the darkened skyline outside. I wondered if she was at Lisa's, staring at the same stars and regretting the day she walked back into my life.
I leaned back in my chair, staring at the darkened skyline of the city.
I still couldn't believe she actually bolted.
The second the words left my lips, the moment I laid out the "proposal"—she looked at me like I'd grown a second head and vanished into the night.
I could've stopped her. I could have hauled her back and made her listen, but I didn't move. I knew the world outside wasn't kind, and eventually, it would corner her.
I was betting everything on the fact that she'd have to come back to me, even if it was on her knees.
I'd put a tail on her the second she hit the sidewalk. Nothing intrusive, just one of my bodyguards keeping enough distance to stay invisible.
I told myself it was about control, a way to ensure she didn't vanish again, but there was a deeper, more annoying instinct at play: I needed to know she was safe.
She'd ended up at Lisa's place. It was a relief, honestly. Rhea didn't do "friends" anymore, and seeing her trust someone was a rare glimpse of the girl I used to know.
I remembered the exact moment she'd started building her walls. After her freshman year, she'd crawled into a shell and stayed there.
First, she lost a close friend to a fire accident in their dorm.
Rhea was the only survivor in her room, and she'd walked out of those flames carrying a mountain of survivor's guilt that I'm pretty sure still haunts her dreams.
Then came Jenna.
Jenna was the kind of "friend" who was really just a predator in wait. She'd spent months trying to poison my mind, pulling out every trick in the book to seduce me and make me forget Rhea even existed.
Rhea was blissfully unaware of the snake in her grass until that frat party. Jenna had orchestrated the whole night just to tear her down, and when the trap finally sprung, the public humiliation nearly leveled Rhea.
She stopped trusting people after that. She cut everyone off, retreating into a silence that only I was allowed to break.
I became her entire world, her only friend, her only confidant, her first everything.
Even after I graduated, I'd drive back to campus and sit in the back of her lectures just so she wouldn't have to be alone for a single second.
We had a connection I thought was written in stone.
Then it cracked. The water rushed in, and I spent three years drowning in the wreckage while she moved on. Or so I thought.
A soft knock pulled me from the wreckage of my memories. My brows furrowed as I glanced at the clock.
It was late; the floor should have been empty.
Another knock came, more insistent this time.
With a weary groan, I hit the remote on my desk, and the heavy glass doors hissed open.
Lisa stood there, looking like she'd been dragged through a hedge backward.
She was in her pajamas, her hair a bird's nest, and her eyes were raw and red-rimmed.
Before I could even find my voice, she blurted out.
"Sir, I'm so sorry for the intrusion. It's Rhea."
My ears perked, and my heart slammed against my ribs. But I forced my expression to stay dead and neutral.
"What happened?"
"She was arrested this evening. Her brother-in-law... he started something online, a scandal, and now the police..."
I didn't need the rest of the sentence. I surged to my feet, the heavy executive chair skidding across the floor as I snatched my keys and phone.
"Which station?"
"The 5th Precinct," she stammered.
"Lock up my office," I barked over my shoulder, my strides eating up the hallway.
In the elevator, I dialed contacts—pulling strings, calling in favors from high places.
If anything touched a hair on her head, Owen would cease to exist. I'd see to it personally. I'd make sure his end was slow, quiet, and agonizing.
I climbed into my car, but before I threw it into gear, I forced myself to watch the video.
My jaw tightened until it felt like a bone might snap as I listened to that snake spin his lies.
I scrolled through the comments to find thousands of strangers crucifying her, calling for her blood.
"Bastards," I sneered, and revved the engine to a roar.
My phone buzzed on the console. It was my lawyer, the best in the country, a man who didn't know how to lose and didn't care who he stepped on to win.
I picked up, my eyes fixed on the road as I tore out of the garage.
"I'm ten minutes out," I told him, cutting off his greeting. "And bring the contract I had you prepare."
I didn't wait for his reply. I tossed the phone onto the passenger seat and gripped the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white.