Jennifer slapped a hand over her mouth, expression going glossy. “Emma,” she whispered, voice breaking, “this is…”
“Incredible,” David finished for her, awe spilling into every syllable. “Never—in all my years—have I seen anything like this.”
Kevin looked ready to cry. “This is… this is life-changing.”
And then it hit me.
Not a single one of them questioned it. Not a single one doubted that I had done this. Not a single one hesitated to believe I had sat across from Damien Holt and wrestled these terms into existence.
“Sign it,” David said, shoving a pen across the table toward me. “Sign it now.”
Kevin leaned forward, whisper-urgent. “Seriously—before they realize what they’ve done.”
Jennifer moved first, crossing the room in three quick strides. She pulled the door open. “Mr.Holt? We appreciate your patience.”
“No problem at all,” he answered, sauntering back into the room, expression dancing.
I rose gradually, meeting his gaze head-on, trying to convey in one look the enormity of what he’d just handed me.
What he’d handed us.
Jennifer.
Kevin.
David.
Our company.
Our future.
Everything we had built under the Elion roof.
Trying to convey gratitude.
Relief.
Awe.
Trying—desperately—to let him see what he was to me.
What he had become.
And for the briefest moment, something warm and fierce broke through his polished composure—unmistakable joy.
It radiated off him in a slow, controlled wave.
So subtle no one else would notice.
But I felt it.
Like heat against my skin.
“I promise to protect you, care for you, support you… help you reach every goal you set for yourself, and then some.”
His words from the collar ceremony threaded through my mind, striking with perfect, terrible clarity.
The collar around my throat seemed to blaze in answer—heat blooming across my skin, pride surging through me, confidence thrumming through my blood.
