And let myself think.
I'd make the same choice again.
The words had been echoing in my skull for hours. Through the sleepless night in that guest room, the silent packing of my bag, the elevator ride down and the walk through the streets.
He'd said it without hesitation. Without apology. Like it was simple—like lying, forging, rewriting my company's reality was just another box to tick.
Protect Emma. Check.
I tore off a piece of bagel. Chewed without tasting.
Who gave him the right?
The answer came immediately, unwelcome and undeniable.
You did.
I shoved it down. Took another bite.
The collar sat warm against my throat. I'd thought about taking it off this morning—had stood in front of that guest room mirror, tension straining the chain, ready to undo everything.
I'd stood there for five full minutes, staring at my reflection, willing myself to pull.
To take back the promise.
To prove I didn't need him or his protection or any of the things he'd offered me.
The chain had stayed where it was.
Coward, the old voice whispered.You can't even commit to your own anger.
But it wasn't cowardice. Not really.
If he hadn't done it—if he'd let the real numbers come to light, let the merger collapse, let Elion fall—
I would have shattered.
Not cracked. Not bent. Shattered. Into a thousand jagged pieces that no amount of love or patience or devotion could have put back together. Elion wasn't just a company. It was my proof. My evidence that I was more than what my childhood had made me. That I could build something from nothing, something mine, something no one could take away.
And I would have watched it die.
The realization seeped into my bones, heavy and undeniable.
He didn't just save Elion. He saved me.
And in the quiet, rebuilt corners of my soul—the ones he'd mended piece by piece—I knew he always would.
Every time.
I set the bagel down. Pressed my palms flat against the table.
So what now?
The ethical argument was clear. What he'd done was wrong. Fraud. Forgery. A federal crime wrapped in good intentions. If anyone found out—if Nathan ever got proof—it wouldn't just be Damien's career on the line. It would be mine.
He'd gambled with my future without asking permission.
And he'd won.
