Adison’s POV
A week of silence. Damn you, cowboy!
Jake's only message arrives twelve hours after his plane lands: Home safe.
Two words. That's what I'm worth now. Two words and nothing else.
I respond immediately, fingers trembling against the screen: How was the journey? How's Tommy? How's Bear?
Nothing. No more messages, no calls, no photos. Nothing!
I check my phone obsessively for three days. Four. Five. The silence becomes its own answer, louder than any words he could have chosen.
So I stop waiting. Stop hoping. Stop being the woman who checks her phone every thirty seconds like a lovesick teenager.
I become something else instead.
Every boardroom battle, every negotiation, every power play—I attack with precision sharpened by betrayal. The hurt hardens into fuel, and I burn through obstacles like they're made of paper.
Today, the board convenes to sign documents making me interim CEO.
The conference room feels different this time. Smaller somehow, despite the same mahogany table and crystal water glasses. Maybe because I'm not the outsider anymore. Maybe because the people sitting around this table are about to make me their leader.
Noel Henderson's investment sealed the deal. His signature on the dotted line brought three other investors with him, all of them charmed at the gala, all of them betting on the woman who surprised them.
The crown is finally mine.
Gideon Willis doesn't bother hiding his displeasure. His jaw is tight, his fingers drumming against the table in a rhythm that screams frustration.
"Before we proceed with the vote," I say, keeping my voice level, "there's a matter requiring discussion."
Zachary steps forward, tablet in hand. His expression is professionally neutral, but I catch the glint of satisfaction behind his eyes.
"The elevator incident," he begins. "Our security team completed their investigation."
Gideon's drumming stops. "What investigation?"
"The one that traced the mechanical override to a third-party contractor." Zachary sets his tablet on the table, screen displaying evidence I've memorized. "A contractor with documented ties to your personal assistant, Mr. Willis."
"That's absurd." Gideon's voice rises. "You're suggesting I orchestrated—"
"The video upload," I continue smoothly, "was routed through servers your office has used before. For other projects you'd prefer stayed private."
Victoria Snyder laughs. The sound cuts through the room like a blade.
"Typically pathetic, Gideon." She shakes her silver head, amusement dancing in her sharp eyes. "You should be proud of succeeding at something, even if that something is spectacular failure."
"This is a setup," Gideon sputters. "A coordinated attack on my reputation—"
"Your plan was to scare away Henderson." I lean forward, holding his gaze. "Create scandal. Prove I couldn't be trusted with leadership. Make the board reconsider."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Learn how to lie, you old bastard.
"Noel told me directly what he thinks of your tactics." I let the words land. "He said I have bigger balls than you do."
Jax Palmer mutters something under his breath. I catch enough to understand: "Seems accurate. Terrifying, but accurate."
The room goes quiet. Everyone watching. Waiting.
Juliana Bell speaks for the first time since I've known her. Her voice is measured, deliberate, carrying weight that silences even Gideon's protests.
"There's nothing for a woman to celebrate in being told she has balls." Her dark eyes find mine. "But what it means is that you can handle leadership. That you won't break under pressure designed to destroy you."
She pauses. The silence stretches.
"You have my vote, Miss Ward."
The votes fall like dominoes after that.
Victoria. Yes.
Juliana. Yes.
Jax. Yes, with a nervous glance at Gideon.
Camden Martin hesitates, then sides with Gideon. Expected. Predictable. Irrelevant.
The final tally isn't even close.
"The motion carries." Victoria's voice holds something like pride. "Congratulations, Miss Ward. You are now interim CEO of Ward Enterprises."
Adison Ward becomes CEO.
The words echo in my skull as the board members file out, some offering congratulations, others avoiding eye contact. Gideon leaves without speaking, his face a mask of barely contained fury.
I did it. Actually did it.
Zachary appears at my elbow, his smile broader than I've ever seen. "That was masterful. The timing, the delivery—you destroyed him."
"We destroyed him." I correct automatically. "Couldn't have done it without your research."
"You should celebrate." He touches my arm lightly. "This is a milestone. Something to remember."
I want to share this with Jake.
The thought hits like a punch to the chest. I want to write him. Call him. Hear his voice telling me he's proud, that he knew I could do this, that the distance doesn't change what we are.
But he hasn't reached out. Seven days of nothing. Hasn't asked about my father, hasn't asked about me, hasn't sent anything beyond two words that felt more like goodbye than greeting.
The hurt hardens into something colder. Something that doesn't feel like love anymore.
"Celebrating sounds good." My voice comes out steadier than I feel. "What did you have in mind?"
Zachary's smile shifts. Warmer somehow. More personal.
"There's a bar I know. Quiet. Exclusive. The kind of place where new CEOs can actually hear themselves think."
I should say no. Should go home, call Jake, fight for what we built instead of letting silence win.
But silence already won. He made that choice when he stopped responding.
"A bar." I meet Zachary's eyes. "Tonight."
"Tonight," he confirms.
The conference room empties around us. Manhattan glitters through floor-to-ceiling windows, beautiful and poisonous and somehow less intimidating than it was this morning.
I'm CEO now. I have power. Position. Everything I fought for.
Everything except the one person I wanted to share it with.