Chapter 111 Lose My Shit

Chapter 111 Lose My Shit
Danika's Pov

"And why the hell do you trust me enough to help you with this case?" I demanded, the sheer absurdity of it finally breaking through my shock. I threw my hands up, pacing the length of the kitchen island. I was absolutely losing my shit but Lysander looked and seemed even more calm than ever which made me lose my shit even more.

"Lysander, look at me! I know absolutely nothing about high-stakes corporate law, let alone a federal investigation! I've been your assistant for only a few days. A few days. I can barely navigate the internal database without asking where the encrypted files are kept almost every time and you want to hand me your entire defense? Aren't you trusting me a bit too much? No... It's like you're trusting me with your life when there's a bullet right in front of you. No, no I can't do this. I absolutely can't."

Lysander shrugged, entirely unbothered by my outburst. He picked up a serving platter and began neatly arranging the rested steaks alongside the glazed vegetables, very nonchalantly I might add.

"Then take it as your first major work," he said casually, not even looking up from his plating. "Consider it a trial by fire."

"A trial by fire usually involves a presentation in front of the boardroom which I am actually probably not very prepared for, not potential prison time!"

"Truthfully, Danika," Lysander continued, his tone shifting into something a bit more serious as he set the platter down and looked up at me, "you can use this opportunity to show the executives that your position is well deserved."

I stopped in my tracks, the defensive retort dying in my throat. His words struck a nerve I had been actively trying to ignore all week. I quieted down, my gaze dropping to the polished marble floor. To be completely honest, I wasn't deaf. I had caught the hushed whispers in the breakrooms. I had seen the lingering, heavily skeptical looks from the senior department heads whenever I walked past. I knew exactly what people were saying behind my back, that I was nothing more than a blank-canvas civilian who had probably slept her way into the company, and got the position solely because I was the CEO’s wife.

Part of me hadn't really cared because, at the end of the day, their words had some truth. Lysander had handed me this job on a silver platter to pull me out of the wreckage of my past. But hearing him say it out loud made me realize that he was entirely right. If I just sat behind his desk handling normal stuff, I would always be viewed as a helpless extension of him. This was a chance to actually prove myself. Even if it was a very scary and brutal way of proving myself.

Even so, a heavy layer of dread settled deep into my stomach. "But... what if I make a mistake?" I whispered, looking up at him, my vulnerability completely laid bare. "What if I miss a detail, or push a boundary too far, and it ends up blowing back on you? If I fail, the consequences aren't just a bad quarterly review, Lysander. It’s your life."

Lysander closed the distance between us in two slow, deliberate strides. He reached out, his large, warm hands gently cup-ping the sides of my face, forcing me to look directly into his dark, unwavering eyes. The absolute certainty radiating from him was staggering.

"You won't fail," he murmured, his voice deeply grounding. "And even if you stumble, I am right behind you. I'm not going anywhere, Danika. I will be shadowing every piece of data you look at, checking every move you make before it’s executed. Nothing is going to happen to you, and nothing is going to happen to this company. Let me carry the weight of the risk while you focus on proving your husband's innocence.”

The fear in my chest didn't vanish completely, but his words injected a fierce, much-needed surge of courage directly into my veins. If he was willing to bet his entire company on me, the least I could do was stand straight and fight.

"Okay," I said, my voice finally hardening with resolve as I stepped back out of his touch, my mind immediately pivoting into logistics. "If I'm doing this, I can't do it entirely alone. I'm going to need help. I need an assistant, someone sharp, completely trustworthy, and who can also act as a private investigator on the side. I can't have standard corporate suits tailing Victoria or digging into loan sharks without me knowing anything that they're going to do."

Lysander’s lips curved into a proud, knowing smile. He unknotted his pink apron, tossing it onto the counter. "The moment we come back from Jared's trial tomorrow, I'll introduce a person to you. They're already on my private payroll and excel at exactly that type of work.”

My breath hitched, my eyes widening in shock. "Wait... you're still going to attend the trial? Tomorrow?!"

"Of course," Lysander said, shrugging his shoulders as if we hadn't spent the last ten minutes discussing a federal raid. "Nothing is going to make me miss that. Jared needs to be put away permanently, and I intend to be sitting in the front row when the judge reads the verdict."

"Lysander, the police are actively looking for you.."

"And my legal team is already handling a temporary deferment for the questioning until Monday morning," he interrupted smoothly, gently taking my arm and steering me toward the dining room table. "I told you, I have everything under control. Jared's chapter closes tomorrow, and Victoria's opens right after."

He pulled out a chair for me, pressing a soft kiss to the top of my head as I sat down. "Now, eat your dinner, and then go straight to bed," Lysander murmured, his thumb lightly grazing my shoulder. "We have an incredibly long day ahead of us, sweetheart."