DRAKE:
Monday morning I watched Sophia's world start to collapse and did nothing to stop it.
My phone exploded with notifications at eight AM. Industry news sites. Fashion blogs. Trade publications. All reporting the same thing.
Sterling Luxe launches revolutionary collection. Designs identical to rumored Castillo pieces.
Sophia was in the shower. Humming that melody that made my chest ache. She had no idea her Paris collection just became worthless.
I'd given Vanessa those designs three weeks ago. Sophia's sketches, her ideas, her months of work. Handed them over like they meant nothing.
Like she meant nothing.
But she meant everything and I was still destroying her anyway.
"Drake?" Sophia called from the bedroom. "Have you seen my phone?"
"In the kitchen," I called back, my voice steady despite the guilt crushing my lungs.
She appeared wrapped in a towel, hair dripping, completely trusting. Grabbed her phone and her smile died.
"No. No no no."
I watched her face go pale as she read the news. Watched hope turn to horror.
"Sterling Luxe launched my collection. My exact designs." Her voice shook. "How did Vanessa get these? Nobody outside my team has seen them."
Because I gave them to her. Because I'm the leak you've been looking for. Because every secret you shared became a weapon I used against you.
"Maybe it's coincidence," I lied.
"Coincidence? Drake, look at this." She shoved her phone at me. "The settings are identical. The stone cuts match my specifications exactly. Someone stole my work."
"You'll figure out who," I said, hating myself more with every word.
"The Paris presentation is in two weeks. They'll think I copied Vanessa." Tears filled her eyes. "This will destroy the contract. Destroy everything."
She was right. The Paris contract announcement was scheduled for this afternoon. My company would win using her exact proposal strategy. Another nail in her coffin.
"I need to call my lawyers," Sophia said, already dialing. "Find out who leaked this. Sue Vanessa for theft."
She paced the kitchen in her towel, making calls, trying to save a company I was actively destroying. Brilliant and fierce even in crisis.
I wanted to tell her the truth. Wanted to confess everything and beg her to run.
Instead I made coffee and let her think she could fix this.
The Paris contract announcement came at two PM.
Sophia was at her office, dealing with the Sterling Luxe disaster. I was alone in the penthouse when the email arrived.
Paris Luxury Hotels has awarded the exclusive jewelry contract to Harrington Industries.
Fifteen million dollars. Should have been Sophia's. Would have saved Castillo Designs' quarterly numbers and proved she was brilliant.
Instead it proved I was a monster.
My phone rang. Evander Cross, my business partner and closest friend.
"Tell me you didn't just steal that Paris contract from your girlfriend," he said without preamble.
"It's not stealing. It's business."
"It's sick is what it is." Evander's voice was hard. "I know what you're planning, Drake. The hostile takeover. The public humiliation. This has gone too far."
"My father died because of her family."
"Your father died because he couldn't handle failure. That's not Sophia's fault. She was a child when whatever happened between your fathers went down." Evander paused. "You're in love with her. I can hear it in your voice. So why are you doing this?"
Because I spent fifteen years planning revenge. Because my father's suicide note is burned into my memory. Because stopping now means admitting I was wrong about everything.
"Stay out of this," I said.
"She doesn't deserve what you're doing to her."
"The Castillos don't deserve their fortune. It's built on stolen innovation."
"Maybe. Or maybe the story is more complicated than you think. Either way, destroying an innocent woman won't bring your father back." Evander's voice softened. "Drake, I've known you since college. You're not this cruel. Don't become the villain in your own revenge story."
"It's too late. Everything's already in motion."
"Then stop it. Call off the board meeting. Tell Marcus the deal is off. Choose love over hate."
I looked around the penthouse Sophia had filled with her presence. Her sketches on the coffee table. Her jewelry tools in the corner. Her laughter still echoing in my memory.
"I can't," I said.
"You mean you won't."
Evander hung up.
I sat in silence, staring at the Paris contract email. Tomorrow at ten AM, Sophia would walk into that board meeting. Marcus would reveal the share sale. I'd announce I owned controlling interest in Castillo Designs.
She'd realize every moment between us was calculated betrayal.
The look on her face would destroy me. But I'd earned that destruction.
Sophia came home at seven, exhausted and devastated.
"The Paris contract went to Harrington Industries," she said, dropping her bag. "They used my proposal. My exact strategy. Someone's been leaking everything."
I pulled her into my arms, this woman I was systematically destroying.
"We'll figure it out," I lied.
"I don't understand who would do this. Who hates me enough to sabotage everything?" She looked up at me with those amber eyes. "Julian thinks someone close to me is selling information. But everyone I trust wouldn't hurt me like this."
Everyone you trust is hurting you. The man holding you is your enemy.
"Maybe it's corporate espionage," I suggested. "Competitors hiring hackers."
"Maybe." She didn't sound convinced.
I should tell her the truth. Should warn her about tomorrow. Give her a chance to protect herself.
But my father's voice whispered in my head. Make them pay.
"I'm cooking dinner," Sophia announced, pulling away. "Pasta. Your favorite."
She moved through our kitchen like she belonged there. Chopped vegetables, boiled water, hummed that melody I'd memorized. Completely unaware tomorrow would shatter everything.
"I've been thinking," she said while cooking. "About expanding into European markets. Building Castillo Designs into a global brand. With your business expertise and my design vision, we could create something incredible together."
Together. She kept using that word. Like we were partners. Like we had a future.
"That sounds ambitious," I managed.
"I'm tired of playing small. My father built this company from nothing. I'm going to make it legendary." She smiled at me, eyes bright with dreams. "And I want you beside me for all of it."
The guilt was suffocating. She was planning our future while I finalized her destruction.
"Sophia," I started, then stopped. What could I say? I'm sorry I'm about to ruin your life? I'm sorry every kiss was part of destroying you?
"What?" She came over, touched my face with gentle fingers. "You look sad."
"Just thinking about how lucky I am. To have you."
"I'm the lucky one." She kissed me softly. "You saved me from being alone. Gave me hope that good things can last."
The words were knives in my chest. Tomorrow I'd prove that good things don't last. That hope is just another weapon.
We ate dinner together. Sophia talked about design ideas and business strategies. Laughed at my bad jokes. Looked at me like I hung the moon.
I memorized everything. The way candlelight caught her hair. How her eyes crinkled when she smiled. The sound of her happiness.
Tomorrow I'd kill that happiness. Murder it in front of witnesses. Make sure she knew it was deliberate.
After dinner, we stood at the window overlooking Manhattan. The city glittered below us, full of people who weren't about to commit unforgivable betrayal.
"I love you," Sophia said, leaning against me. "I know it's fast, but I've never been more sure of anything. You're my person, Drake. My future."
The words hit like bullets. Each one finding its target. Destroying what was left of my justification.
"I love you too," I said.
And I meant it.
That was the worst part. I wasn't lying anymore. Somewhere between the first kiss and now, the fake feelings became real. The woman I planned to destroy became the woman I couldn't live without.
I loved Sophia Castillo completely.
And in fourteen hours, I was going to break her heart, steal her company, and prove that everything she believed about us was a lie.
I'd become the monster I was always meant to be. Not because I had to. Because I chose revenge over redemption. Hate over love. My father's ghost over the woman in my arms.
Sophia fell asleep against my chest, trusting and safe.
I stayed awake, holding her, knowing these were our last hours of peace.
Tomorrow at ten AM, I'd walk into that board meeting and destroy the only good thing in my life.
The really unforgivable part?
I loved her, and I was going to do it anyway.