Alex didn’t sleep anymore. She barely ate. Her world had shrunk into a singular focus: saving her family’s legacy and exposing Zade Hale for who he really was.
Studying was out of the question. University classes came and went, notifications buzzing in the background like gnats. She skimmed the readings, submitted half-hearted assignments, and ignored the mounting emails from professors. It was all white noise now. Only one thing mattered.
Michael had texted her again two days ago.
"Can we talk? Without Zade this time? Please?"
She read the message. Left it unanswered. Then finally replied:
"Not until the rumors die down. I don’t want to add fuel."
And that was that.
She stayed late at Steel Industries, often until dawn, working in her father’s glass-walled office. Her shoulders ached from hunching over spreadsheets. Her vision blurred from screen time. Her fingers were numb from editing contracts, analyzing competitor reports, and cross-checking every company with even a shred of interest in partnership. She hadn't seen her bed in four nights. Home was the leather couch under the frosted boardroom windows.
But the silence of the building at night was her weapon. No distractions. No expectations. Just focus.
And finally, it paid off.
A company named Marlois International caught her attention. Not too big, but not small either. Quietly growing, under the radar, but with strong potential and recent breakthroughs in AI-enhanced data storage—something Steel could benefit from tremendously. Best of all, they weren’t aligned with Hale Enterprises. Yet.
She ran background checks, cross-referenced board members, studied every published paper, and even personally called their previous partners for feedback. Everything came back clean. It was perfect. Maybe too perfect, but Alex didn’t have the luxury of doubting herself anymore.
So, she made the call. A few emails later, the meeting was set for Friday morning.
The days leading up to it blurred. She hardly left the office. Her reflection in the mirrored elevator doors became unrecognizable—dark circles, hollow cheeks, eyes too sharp to be sane. Even the staff stopped asking if she was going home.
By the time Friday arrived, Alex was a storm contained in high heels and a navy suit. Her documents were clipped, annotated, and triple-checked. She wore her mother’s brooch. Her father’s old steel watch. War armor.
The meeting was held in Steel’s executive conference room. She shook hands with Marlois’ representatives, smiled through exhaustion, and began presenting. Her voice barely shook. They asked the right questions. She gave the right answers. The energy shifted. It was working.
Halfway through the discussion, they were already signing preliminary drafts. She could see the future now—a real shot at independence from Zade Hale, a step forward for her father’s company, a blow to every manipulative move that had cornered her.
Until the door burst open.
Zade.
He stormed into the room like a storm about to strike, dressed in all-black, expression unreadable but furious. Alex froze.
"Get out," she snapped, standing abruptly.
Marlois’ representatives looked confused, even alarmed.
Zade ignored her. Walked straight up to the table, grabbed the contract, and scanned it. Then, to everyone’s horror, he ripped it in half and dropped the pieces on the table.
"We’re done here," he said coolly.
Alex's voice dropped to a growl. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
Zade didn’t answer. He grabbed her wrist, gently but firmly, and began dragging her out of the room.
"Excuse me," one of the Marlois men protested. "This is highly unprofessional—"
"So is fraud," Zade bit out, not even glancing back.
"Zade! Let go of me!" Alex hissed, trying to twist her arm free as they left the room and stormed down the hallway. "Have you finally lost your goddamn mind?"
He stopped only once they reached the end of the corridor near the private stairwell. Then he turned to her, eyes glinting with sharp fury.
"You really don't check thoroughly, do you?" he snapped. "You were about to hand Steel over to a company flagged by Interpol last year for financial sabotage."
She froze. Her breath caught.
He reached into his coat and slammed a stack of printed documents into her hands. "Internal embezzlement. Falsified growth data. Hidden bankruptcy settlements in Eastern Europe. They’re a sinking ship dressed in new paint. Aligning with them would have destroyed your family’s name."
Alex stared down at the pages. The names matched. The logos. The financials. Her stomach churned.
"You... you could've emailed this. You didn’t have to—"
"Crash your meeting?" he said sharply. "If I had, you would've dismissed it. Signed anyway. Out of spite. Because that’s what you’ve been doing."
"You don’t get to psychoanalyze me," she snapped.
"And you don’t get to be reckless with an empire," Zade replied coldly. "You think you’re fighting me, but what you’re actually doing is swinging blindly in a room full of knives."
Alex felt the heat rise to her face. "You’ve been the one cutting me from the start! You manipulated my father, you inserted yourself into my life like a parasite, and now you’re sabotaging every move I make!"
His eyes didn’t flinch.
"You think this is about you?" he said softly, dangerously. "If I wanted to destroy you, Alex, you’d already be gone."
She blinked. Taken aback by the venom in his tone.
"Then what do you want, Zade? What is this?"
He stepped closer, eyes locked on hers, voice low. "I want you to stop. Before you burn everything down trying to prove you’re fireproof."
She stared up at him, chest rising fast, the papers trembling in her grip.
"You think you know me?"
"I know you're too proud to ask for help," he said. "Too stubborn to admit you don’t know everything. And too desperate to realize you’re becoming the very thing you’re trying to save."
She clenched her jaw. Her voice shook. "You have no right to say that."
He met her glare, unwavering. Then said the words that hit her like ice:
"Stop it, Alex. You're gonna be your own end while trying to save yourself from me."
For a moment, silence pulsed between them like a third presence. Then Zade turned and walked away without another word, leaving Alex in the hallway, fists clenched around the crumpled truth.
And for the first time in weeks, she didn't know what to do next. Because as much as she hated it, deep down, she knew Zade was right.