Chapter 27 Strike
The hallway outside the boardroom had barely quieted when Adeline walked toward her office. The tension of the meeting still sat heavy in her chest, but she kept her face calm as she moved through the corridor. Employees glanced up from their desks as she passed, clearly aware that something important had just happened, but none of them spoke.
Adeline ignored the looks. She had spent too many years inside this building worrying about real battles to care about office gossip. When she finally reached her office door, she pushed it open and stepped inside, already reaching toward the desk where she had left several files before she had to go into hiding. The room felt the same as it always did, clean, quiet, and orderly with large windows that stretched across the far wall, letting sunlight into the space. Everything was exactly where she had left it.
It wasn’t until the door shut behind her that she realized she wasn’t alone.
She turned slightly and saw Nathan standing there, only a few feet away. His face was red with anger, and the look in his eyes made it clear he had followed her from the boardroom. For a moment, she simply stared at him, confused about why he would bother coming here instead of leaving the building like most people would after such a humiliating meeting.
“What the hell are you doing in my office?” she began to ask.
She never finished the sentence.
Nathan’s hand moved before she had time to react. His palm slammed across her face with a sharp sound that echoed against the walls of the office, and the impact was so sudden that Adeline didn’t even move right away. Her head turned slightly from the force, and the sting spread across her cheek like fire. For a few seconds, the world seemed to pause around her.
She slowly lifted her hand to her face, touching the spot where he had hit her. The shock of it was almost worse than the pain. Nathan had always been arrogant and cruel, but this was something else entirely.
When she looked up again, his eyes were still burning with rage.
As if the slap wasn’t enough, he stepped closer and began poking the side of her head with his finger. Each jab was hard and insulting, and his voice was filled with the kind of anger that made it clear he had lost control of himself.
“You stupid bitch,” he snapped. “How dare you try to humiliate me like that?”
He jabbed her head again, harder this time. “You think bringing up my affairs had anything to do with you sleeping with the enemy?” he continued. “You’re the one dragging this family’s name through the dirt, not me.”
Adeline was still holding her cheek, trying to process what had just happened. Slowly, the shock faded and something colder took its place. When she finally spoke, her voice was low but steady.
“Did you just hit me?” she asked, giving him a chance to realize the seriousness of what he had done.
Nathan gave a short, mocking laugh as if the question amused him. “Yeah,” he said without hesitation. “I did.”
He leaned closer, the anger in his face twisting into something uglier. “What are you going to do about it?” he added.
Before she could respond, he poked her head again with his finger. “You useless bitch,” he continued. “You shouldn’t have even been born. You’ve spent your whole life refusing to know your place.”
For a moment, Adeline simply stared at him. The disbelief in her eyes slowly faded, replaced by something far more dangerous. She lowered her hand from her cheek and took a quiet breath.
Then she turned away from him. Without saying a word, she walked toward her desk.
Nathan frowned in confusion, clearly not expecting her to walk away in the middle of his rant.
“Hey!” he barked. “Where the hell do you think you’re going?”
Adeline didn’t answer. Her mind was already racing as she reached the desk and scanned the items sitting on its surface. Papers, a laptop, a glass paperweight, and a few decorative objects she had never paid much attention to before.
Behind her, Nathan stomped forward, his voice growing louder. “Don’t you dare walk away from me when I’m talking!” he shouted. “Have you lost your mind?”
She could hear him getting closer, his footsteps heavy and careless. The anger inside her had reached a point where thinking clearly was becoming difficult. All she knew was that he had crossed a line that could never be undone.
Nathan reached toward her just as she grabbed the first heavy object her hand touched.
It was a thick glass award plaque that had been sitting on the corner of her desk. It was heavy enough to feel solid in her grip, and in that moment she didn’t stop to consider the consequences.
She turned around and swung it, and the glass struck Nathan’s head with a loud crack. The sound was loud and violent, echoing through the office like something breaking. Nathan stumbled backward immediately, his hands flying up to his head as pain exploded across his face.
Blood began to run down his temple almost instantly, and he lost his balance and collapsed to the floor with a groan, clearly stunned by the blow.
The glass plaque slipped from Adeline’s hand and landed on the carpet with a dull thud. For a few seconds, the room was completely silent except for Nathan’s heavy breathing, and Adeline stood over him, her chest rising and falling as she tried to calm herself. The anger in her eyes hadn’t faded.
“If you ever raise your hand to me again,” she said slowly, “I will kill you.”
Nathan looked up at her from the floor, his face pale and his eyes wide with shock. Blood continued to drip down the side of his head, staining the collar of his shirt.
“And I’ll make sure to dump your body somewhere no one will ever find it,” she added coldly.
Nathan’s hands trembled as he pressed them against the wound on his head. Panic quickly replaced the anger that had filled his face only moments earlier.
“You’re insane,” he muttered.
Then his expression twisted again, and his voice rose in a furious shout. “I’m calling the police!”
He struggled to his feet, swaying slightly as he pointed a shaking finger at her. “You just tried to murder me,” he yelled. “I’m not letting you get away with this!”
Adeline crossed her arms slowly, her expression calm again now that the rage had burned itself out.
“Go ahead,” she said.
Nathan blinked in confusion.
“Call the cops,” she repeated.
Then she lifted her hand and pointed toward the corners of her office. Nathan followed her gesture. Small security cameras were mounted near the ceiling, watching the entire room.
“They caught everything,” Adeline said calmly. “You slapping me, you pushing me, and you threatening me.”
Nathan’s face twisted with fury as he realized what she meant. “So if you want to report me for attempted murder,” she continued, “I’ll be more than happy to report you for assault, bullying, and harassment.”
Nathan looked around the office again, his breathing growing heavier as the reality of the situation settled in. Blood continued to run down his face, dripping to the floor.
For a moment, it looked like he might say something else. Instead, he glared at her with pure hatred.
“You’re going to pay for this,” he growled.
Adeline didn’t move.
Nathan wiped some of the blood from his forehead with the back of his hand before turning toward the door. As he reached it, he paused and looked back at her one last time.
“You think you’ve won today,” he said bitterly. “But this isn’t over.”
Then he yanked the door open and stormed out into the hallway. The door slammed shut behind him, and the office fell silent again.
Adeline stood there for several seconds, staring at the closed door while the sting on her cheek slowly faded into a dull ache. The glass plaque still lay on the floor near her feet, a small smear of blood marking the spot where it had struck Nathan’s head, and she exhaled slowly.
The war inside her family had just crossed a line that could never be taken back.