The Veyra Holdings tower conference room was a gleaming trap of chrome and glass. Reporters were seated in rows, cameras at the ready, recorders blinking red eyes.
Adriana stood in the wings, shoulders straight, face carved from ice. Each rustle of the crowd outside was a reminder: one wrong move, one tremble of weakness, and the Moranos would own the narrative.
Her aide's voice sliced through the drone. "Ms. Veyra, the press is waiting."
Adriana drew in a slow breath, her heart a drum she commanded to silence. She smoothed the silk cuffs of her jacket, every detail flawless.
And then, behind her, a shadow moved.
Damian Hale.
His presence seemed to fill the hallway like smoke. Calm, composed, deadly. He wore his suit like armor, and when his eyes met hers, the world funneled to a point.
"You shouldn't be here," she muttered under her breath.
"You shouldn't have to deal with them alone."
"I don't remember inviting you to my defense."
"You didn't." His lips twitched slightly. "That's why I'm here."
She never got a chance to retort, because the stage manager gestured them forward. Time was up.
Adriana walked onto the stage, every step sharp, every aspect of her commanding control. Flashes burst like lightning as she approached the podium. Damian walked beside her, silent but unyielding, and though she had not requested it, the crowd at once presumed them a team.
She begrudged that it gave her added strength.
The first question cut through like a blade.
Ms. Veyra, what do you say to allegations of fraud in your recent takeover of Laris Biotech?"
Adriana leaned forward into the microphone, her voice silky cool. "I say the allegations are baseless. My people have done everything according to the book, every rule, every regulation. Veyra Holdings built its wealth on integrity, and no level of speculation will shake that foundation.".
Another hand shot up. "But the Morano Group has filed an injunction. Doesn't that suggest their evidence has weight?"
Adriana's smile was razor-thin. "The Moranos thrive on theatrics. This is not evidence—it is strategy. A desperate attempt to slow progress they cannot match."
The room buzzed, pens scratching.
Then a voice from the crowd: "Mr. Hale, if you're here, does that mean Hale Industries is aligning with Veyra Holdings against the Moranos?"
Damian stepped ahead before she could stop him. His presence commanded every lens, every eye, as though gravity bent toward him.
"Hale Industries doesn't endorse easily," he said, voice level, authoritative. "But we recognize strength when we see it. Adriana Veyra isn't just capable of defending her empire she's redefining what power looks like in this industry. Anyone who wagers against her will lose.".
A shudder vibrated through the room.
Adriana's face did not alter, but inside her, the fire churned a mix of anger and something far more dangerous.
He had not defended her. He had crowned her.
The questioning became harder after that, but Adriana employed her answers as knives. Cool. Precise. Uncompromising. With Damian standing beside her, his silence tactical, the press began to falter.
They had come for blood. They encountered fire.
Finally, the moderator called the last question.
A reporter stood up, a doubting tone to her voice. "Ms. Veyra, can you assure your investors that your leadership is steady, despite these challenges?"
Adriana's gaze cut through the crowd, steel on flesh. "Stability," she continued, "is not an absence of challenge. It is the ability to rise above it. My investors would be wise to learn this: I do not break. I do not bend. And anyone who waits for me to fall will wait forever.".
The silence that followed was complete. Then the room erupted into wails, cameras clicking as Adriana spun on her heel, leaving no doubt that the conference was over.
Behind closed doors, silence shattered.
Adriana rounded on Damian the moment the door shut, anger slicing through her poised facade.
"You had no right," she spat. "This was my battle, my message."
"And I amplified it," Damian answered smoothly, unruffled. "You think the crowd would've consumed your power alone? Maybe. But with mine? They'll choke on it."
Her chest rose, fell, flames seething under her skin. "You don't get to use me for your manipulations."
"And you don't get to pretend you didn't need me."
She stepped closer, her heels snapping against the marble like gunfire. "I don't need anyone."
He didn't flinch. "Keep telling yourself that, Adriana. But the world saw something different today. They saw us."
Her breath caught before she could stop it. Us.
The word curled through her like smoke, leaving ash in its wake.
She turned away, hands braced against the table. "This changes nothing. When the Moranos are vanquished, you and I go back to being enemies.".
"Enemies," he echoed, low, stepping closer, his presence breaking over her like heat. "Tell me do your enemies make your heart pound like this?"
Her heartbeat betrayed her again, thudding in her chest. She gritted her teeth. "You're insufferable."
"And yet," he murmured, close enough that the scent of him dark spice, steel, danger wrapped around her, "you let me stand with you today."
For a moment, she almost turned. Almost let the fire consume her.
But she pushed her mask back in place, back straight.
"This is business, Damian. Nothing more."
He smiled, slow and knowing. "Then let business burn."
Hours later, the newsfeeds were ablaze.
"Veyra and Hale: A New Alliance?"
"Power Couple or Power Play?"
"Morano Move Backfires as Rivals Unite."
Adriana scrolled through the headlines from her penthouse, every word a double-edged sword.
She should have been furious. She should have been plotting her next step.
All she could hear, however, was Damian's voice echoing in her head, black and final: They saw us.
And for the first time, she started to suspect that her hardest battle would not be with the Moranos. but with the man who had stepped into the fire with her.
Because if Damian Hale was her friend, then perhaps, just perhaps, he was already something far more dangerous.