Elisa's POV
The air was crisp, carrying the distant scent of late-night jasmine as I left my apartment building. I was headed to the university library, a quiet ritual of mine for focused late-night work. The street was mostly deserted, the campus lights casting long shadows. My phone buzzed in my hand – a message from Felix, a brief, reassuring "Almost done. See you soon." I smiled, feeling a familiar warmth spread through me.
Just as I reached the corner, a sleek, dark sedan, unassuming in its luxury, pulled up beside me. The back window glided down, revealing a man in a dark suit. "Miss Reyes?" he asked, his voice calm, almost polite. "Urgent matter with the Thorne Foundation. Mr. Thorne needs you at the main office immediately." He gestured to the open door. My brow furrowed. Felix hadn't mentioned anything. But the man's demeanor was professional, the car unidentifiable but clearly high-end. Urgent matters weren't unheard of.
Before I could fully process the oddness, a second man, equally composed, appeared from behind me, gently but firmly guiding me towards the open car door. My phone was smoothly taken from my hand. A jolt of ice shot through me. This wasn't right.
"What is this?" I demanded, my voice sharp, but the men simply ushered me inside. The door clicked shut with a muffled thud, the locks engaging. The car pulled away, silently accelerating into the night. My heart hammered against my ribs. My initial confusion rapidly morphed into a chilling realization: I wasn't going to the Thorne Foundation.
The drive was short but disorienting. We pulled up to a secluded, imposing mansion, its windows dark and uninviting. I was led through hushed corridors, every step filling me with a growing dread. Finally, I was ushered into a dimly lit sitting room. And there, perched elegantly on a velvet armchair, a half-finished cup of tea steaming on a low table beside her, was Victoria Sterling.
Her smile was as perfectly composed as her impeccable attire, yet it held no warmth. "Miss Reyes. So glad you could join me," she purred, her voice a silken threat. "Though I apologize for the unconventional invitation. Felix can be so... particular about his schedule."
My fear crystallized into cold defiance. "What do you want, Victoria?"
She laughed softly, a delicate sound that grated on my nerves. "Just a candid conversation. Let's be clear, Miss Reyes. Felix has made... regrettable choices. He's veering off course from the path laid out for him. And you are the variable. You simply don't fit. You're a temporary fascination, a momentary diversion for a man who carries the weight of a dynasty." Her eyes, cold as glaciers, pierced through me. "The Thorne name demands consistency. For everyone's sake, you need to understand your place. And that place is not by Felix's side. Disappear, Miss Reyes. Fade back into obscurity. Or things will become far more... complicated for you. For your family. Your scholarship. Your future endeavors. My family has very long arms, and very effective ways of ensuring discretion."
My breath hitched at the veiled threat against my family, against everything I'd worked for. Fear coiled in my stomach, but anger ignited a fire within me. "You underestimate Felix," I stated, my voice shaking slightly, but firm. "And you underestimate me. I am not a variable, Victoria. I am his partner. And I will not disappear."
Victoria's smile tightened, her eyes flashing with a predatory gleam. "We shall see."
Felix's POV
Elisa missed our scheduled call. Then her phone went straight to voicemail. At first, I dismissed it as her deep focus on a project, but a cold, hard knot began to form in my gut. Elisa was meticulous. She wouldn't miss a call without a text. And she certainly wouldn't be unreachable.
My internal alarm bells didn't just ring; they shrieked. My instincts, honed by years of navigating my family's treacherous social and business landscape, told me something was profoundly wrong. This wasn't a missed call. This was an event.
Within minutes, my personal security team, the discreet network I maintained independently of the Foundation, was activated. I pulled up her apartment building's external security feeds. I watched the last moments before her disappearance: the dark sedan, the two men, the unsettlingly smooth way they took her. Unmarked. Professional. And the signature, chillingly, was Victoria Sterling's. Only she would dare to be so brazenly subtle.
A cold, lethal fury settled over me. Not the hot, explosive rage of a man losing control, but the chilling, precise anger of a predator whose most valuable possession has been threatened. Victoria had crossed a line that, even in my world, was sacred. She had touched mine.
I didn't call her. I didn't send a message. I didn't warn her. I moved. My resources were vast, my network deeper and far more ruthless than Victoria could ever comprehend. Within the hour, I had her location pinpointed: an isolated Sterling family retreat, deep in the countryside, a place designed for discretion.
I arrived unannounced, my presence a chilling disruption to the estate's quiet facade. I found Victoria in the main drawing-room, her face pale, the false calm she presented to the world beginning to crack. Elisa was there too, looking shaken but defiant, her eyes flashing with a raw courage that only fueled my resolve.
My gaze bypassed Victoria, focusing solely on Elisa. "Are you alright?" I asked, my voice low, controlled, but carrying an unmistakable undertone of steel.
"I'm fine, Felix," she replied, her voice steady.
Then, I turned to Victoria. My voice dropped, becoming a low, dangerous growl that cut through the silence. "You made a grave mistake, Victoria." There was no "darling," no pretense of civility. My eyes, usually analytical, were now cold, predatory. "A line was crossed tonight that you will regret until your dying day."
Victoria's composure shattered. Her face blanched, a tremor running through her. "Felix, I... I merely wanted to explain things to Miss Reyes. To protect you from..."
"Silence," I cut her off, my voice a whip-crack. "Elisa is not a variable, Victoria. She is not a project to be managed. She is not an inconvenience to be removed. She is an integral part of my life. And if you ever, ever attempt to touch her again, or even breathe in her direction, I will dismantle everything you hold dear."
I stepped closer, my presence overwhelming her. "I know about the Sterling family's offshore holdings in the Cayman Islands. I know about the irregularities in your father's recent land acquisition deals. I know about the discreet loans from your mother's foundation that have never been accounted for." I watched her face crumple, knowing I had hit every vulnerability. "I will expose every single one. I will cripple your family's assets. I will burn your reputation to ashes in this city. You will cease to exist in any meaningful way in this social sphere. You will have nothing."
Her eyes were wide with terror. "Felix... you wouldn't."
My lip curled, a chilling smile that never reached my eyes. "Try me." I turned away from her, my gaze sweeping to Elisa. "Let's go." I offered my hand to Elisa, who took it, her fingers firm in mine. We walked out, leaving Victoria Sterling alone, shivering in the opulent room, her perfectly constructed world finally crumbling around her. I had shown her the true, ruthless power of a Thorne when provoked. And I would make sure she never forgot it.
A flash back to Gala
Elisa's POV
The alumni mixer was a far cry from the glittering grandiosity of the Thorne Gala, but it was no less refined. Held in the university's exclusive faculty club, the atmosphere was more subdued, the conversations quieter, yet still laden with the unspoken history and influence of old money and established legacies. I felt more at ease in my simple, yet elegant, navy dress, no longer a beacon of newness but still undeniably an outsider. Felix, as always, was a natural, effortlessly holding conversations with professors and alumni, his hand subtly resting on the small of my back, a constant, comforting presence.
We were discussing a new sustainable energy project with a renowned engineering professor when I felt a subtle shift in the room's energy. A ripple of recognition, a few heads turning with a particular kind of interest. My gaze followed, landing on a woman who had just entered. She was stunning, in a way that was both striking and utterly conventional for this world: perfectly coiffed blonde hair, eyes the color of a clear winter sky, and a designer gown that was less about making a statement and more about asserting her undeniable place. Every line of her body exuded quiet confidence and impeccable breeding. She belonged here, intrinsically.
Her eyes swept the room, pausing briefly on Felix before widening almost imperceptibly. A slow, knowing smile touched her lips, and she began to glide towards us.
"Felix, darling!" she exclaimed, her voice melodious, perfectly modulated for the room, yet carrying a practiced warmth that felt strangely artificial. She reached him, giving him a quick, air-kiss on his cheek, her gaze already sliding over to me. "It's been absolutely ages! Mother and Father were just wondering where you've been hiding." Her smile was dazzling as she turned to me, but her eyes, though perfectly polite, held a sharp, assessing quality. "And who is this delightful new face? I don't believe we've crossed paths in... our circles." Her emphasis on "our" was subtle, a whisper-thin barb.
My smile, carefully constructed, didn't falter. "Elisa Reyes," I introduced myself, offering a polite nod. "It's a pleasure." I refused to rise to the bait of her unspoken question.
Felix's POV
I felt Victoria Sterling's presence before I saw her. A ripple of recognition from those around us, a shift in the current of the room. Victoria. A name from my past, a fixture in the social tapestry my parents had woven for me. Daughter of the Sterling family, whose wealth and influence rivaled our own, and, for a time, a frequent "companion" at various childhood events, discreetly positioned as a suitable match.
Her approach was a performance of practiced elegance. Her air-kiss was familiar, her greeting perfectly calibrated. Her eyes, however, were keen, assessing Elisa with a cold, almost surgical precision. "Felix, darling... who is this delightful new face?" The question, delivered with a saccharine smile, was designed to put Elisa on the defensive, to remind her of her outsider status. The unspoken "outsider" hung in the air.
My grip on Elisa's elbow, meant to be reassuring, tightened imperceptibly. "Victoria," I said, my voice smooth, controlled. I introduced Elisa with deliberate clarity, elevating her beyond a mere 'companion.' "This is Elisa Reyes. She's been instrumental in the Foundation's recent successes, and she's working on a new sustainable energy project with Professor Davies." I made sure to connect her to substance, to work that commanded respect, not just social attendance.
Victoria's smile remained fixed, but a flicker of annoyance, perhaps even irritation, crossed her eyes. "Oh, how... industrious," she purred, her gaze sweeping over Elisa's simple gown, dismissing it as "industrious" rather than elegant. "I was just telling Mother how we haven't seen you at the Sterling's annual retreat this year, Felix. Such a shame. It's always so quaint, so us." The emphasis on "us" was a blatant assertion of shared history, of a world Elisa didn't inhabit.
I met her gaze, unflustered. "My schedule has been rather demanding, Victoria. The Foundation has been undergoing significant changes." My eyes flickered to Elisa, a silent communication of where my demands and my focus truly lay.
Elisa, to her credit, remained utterly composed. She simply offered a polite, serene smile, meeting Victoria's challenging gaze without flinching. She carried herself with an innate dignity that no amount of social maneuvering could diminish. Victoria, accustomed to easily intimidating, seemed subtly thrown by Elisa's quiet strength.
"Well," Victoria said, her smile tightening slightly. "Do catch up, Felix. There's so much to discuss." She gave me a pointed look, then, with a final, dismissive glance at Elisa, she moved off to greet other acquaintances.
A small, almost imperceptible breath escaped Elisa beside me. I turned to her, offering a subtle squeeze of her hand. Her eyes met mine, a shared understanding passing between us. The gauntlet had been thrown. And Elisa, without saying a single sharp word, had met it with grace.