Damien had barely slept that night. The hotel bed felt foreign and the ceiling too unfamiliar. His mind refused rest as it faced the endless cycling of every word Luke had hurled at him. When added to every moment Evelyn had slipped through his fingers without begging to return, he felt unease rising to his chest.
Only in the morning did he start to fall asleep when he received the call from the office.
"Sir, the investors wanted to meet today. When are you coming to the office?" Damien held the phone with frustration written all over his face.
"I will be there in an hour. Send a car with a fresh set of clothes in " he cut the call and went to take a bath. But just as he came out draped in the towel, he stopped in his tracks and picked up the call.
How did he not notice earlier, Evelyn did not call him at all even when he did not return the whole night. His lips pursued and he dialled her number.
"Hello.."
"I am in Dark Eclipse, bring me a change of clothes and drive me to the office." he hung up the call after giving orders. And a look of satisfaction gleamed into his eyes. She wanted to go to her new office. He would see how she would find time for it!
Since she believed that she could manage house and work, he would show her how wrong she was. He returned to the sofa and sat there only in his towel. He dialled Aiden again.
"Sir, the driver had already left. He would be there in fifteen minutes."
"Cancel the car and the clothes," he said curtly to his assistant before hanging up.
With a low humorless chuckle, he sank onto the sofa and set a timer on his phone for twenty minutes. That is all she would need. Evelyn might pretend to be distant, pretend she could ignore him, but in the end, she always listened. She would always come.
A smug smile curved his lips as the seconds ticked down. She can fight all she wants. She was the one who said she owed me everything. That doesn't vanish overnight.
Exactly twenty minutes later, the doorbell rang.
He stood up slowly, savoring the moment, imagining her on the other side with a flushed face, maybe breathless from the rush, maybe annoyed but resigned, just the way he liked it.
But when he opened the door, his gaze collided with the driver. His brows furrowed in confusion and he looked around.
"Where is she?" could it be that was still in the elevator and sent the driver first since she was afraid that he would be late. With a raised brow, he peeked outside the door and waited.
The driver was stunned. He stared at the smiling face of his boss yet he felt a chill run down his spine.
"Sir! I am the only one who has come." he said in a stuttering voice. Damien's face darkened instantly.
The driver hesitated under the weight of Damien's silence before forcing himself to speak. "Sir. Madam asked me to bring the clothes. Should I place them on the table?" he wanted to go in but Damien was blocking the door completely and he did not dare to force his way in.
Damien's eyes narrowed and a cold dark cloud loomed over his head. "Why did she not come herself then?" The voice had a hint of danger that made the driver flinch instinctively. But he did not dare tarry and replied hurriedly,
"She said she was getting late for the office."
There was a long beat of silence. Damien's eyes narrowed, voice dropping to a low, dangerous tone with a hint of disbelief, "She didn't come by herself because she was getting late for her office?"
"Yes, sir. She.. she said it was urgent."
Damien snatched the clothes from his hands, the fabric wrinkling under the force. The door slammed shut with a thunderous bang, cutting off the driver mid-bow.
He threw the clothes onto the nearest chair, breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling with fury. So she still joined the new position.
Despite his orders, despite knowing he was waiting, she still chose that damn job.
His jaw clenched, and he ran a hand through his damp hair, droplets flinging across the floor. The towel wrapped around his waist had begun to loosen, but he barely noticed. The sting wasn't just from disobedience. It was from the deliberate choice she had made against him. She chose something else over him. His lips curled into a sneer, but there was no satisfaction this time.
"If she thinks this is over," he muttered, "she is badly mistaken."
—--
His jaw was tight, his tie half-done, and his coat slung over one shoulder as he stepped into the glass-paneled elevator and rode to the top floor of his company's headquarters.
The office doors opened with a soft click but it was not empty like it always is. He stopped in his tracks and glared at the intruder with fire in his eyes.
A young girl stood there and stared at him with her bright eyes. her long hair pinned back neatly, and her hands clutched nervously in front of her. She was sweet-faced and delicate, like she barely belonged in the cold, hard world of boardrooms and suits.
As soon as she saw him, she lit up and quickly bowed. "Mr. Albrecht! Good morning."
He frowned as he stared at her. "Who let you in?"
"I…" she straightened, smoothing her skirt and brushing a strand of hair behind her ear and watching him with flushed cheeks, "I am so sorry to surprise you but I was told to wait here. I just wanted to thank you personally for everything."
Damien stared at her blankly. "Who are you?"
Her eyes widened a little at his bluntness, but she quickly recovered. "I'm Diana. You... you helped me that night outside the club, those men were following me, and you stepped in before anything could happen. You probably don't even remember, but I was terrified."