THE WOMAN HE DESTROYED IS BACK—AND SHE'S BRINGING HIM TO HIS KNEES
Three years ago, Aria Kane was a naive businesswoman who fell hard for billionaire Damien Cross. Their chemistry was explosive. Their passion was all-consuming. She thought she'd found her soulmate.
She was wrong.
Damien seduced her for one reason: to steal her family's proprietary business intelligence. He used her love as a weapon, extracted every secret, and then discarded her like trash. Within months, her father's company was bankrupt. Her father took his own life. Aria lost everything—her family, her home, her future.
She spent three years barely surviving, doing whatever it took to stay alive, burning with a rage that never dimmed.
Now, everything has changed.
Aria's estranged grandfather—a corporate titan she never knew—has died and left her his billion-dollar empire. Overnight, she transforms from powerless victim to one of the most powerful CEOs in the country. And she has one target in her sights: Damien Cross.
While she was clawing her way up, Damien's empire has been crumbling. Bad deals. Betrayed alliances. A loveless engagement to a manipulative socialite. Unknown to him, Aria has been systematically destroying his business from the shadows. Now he's desperate, vulnerable, and backed into a corner.
That's when Aria makes her move.
She summons him to her office with an offer he can't refuse: She has evidence of all his illegal dealings—insider trading, corporate espionage, fraud. One phone call to the authorities and he's finished. His company collapses. His freedom disappears. Everything he built turns to ash.
Unless he agrees to her terms.
21 nights. Complete submission. No limits. No safe words. No mercy.
For 21 nights, Damien must surrender himself completely to Aria's control. She'll decide what happens, where it happens, and how far it goes. She'll strip away his power, his pride, and every defense he's ever built. He'll do whatever she commands—in the boardroom and the bedroom.
Humiliation. Submission. Pleasure denied. Control surrendered.
In exchange, she'll save his company and destroy the evidence against him.
But revenge is never simple.
As the nights progress, the power dynamic shifts in unexpected ways. Damien reveals he was trapped by his own cruel father, forced to betray Aria or watch his mother die. Aria discovers that surviving her trauma left scars that still bleed. The chemistry between them—the explosive, undeniable passion—never died.
Someone is watching them. Dangerous enemies from Damien's past emerge. His father will kill to maintain control. His vindictive fiancée will destroy them both. And Aria's grandfather's death may not have been natural.
As corporate warfare escalates into actual danger, Aria and Damien must navigate a minefield of trust issues, explosive secrets, and feelings neither wanted to face. She's supposed to hate him. He's supposed to grovel. Neither expected to fall in love—again.
The 21-night countdown is ticking. Boundaries will be shattered. Secrets will explode. And by the final night, everything will change.
Because the opposite of love isn't hate—it's indifference.
And what burns between Aria and Damien is anything but indifferent.

The ER doctor is young. Calm. Probably sees pregnant women in crisis regularly.


She does an ultrasound. Checks vitals. Asks questions about the "car accident" we definitely weren't in.


I watch the monitor. The grainy image of our baby. That tiny flutter of a heartbeat. Impossibly fast. Impossibly fragile. A life that almost ended today because someone decided we were expendable.


My hand finds my stomach. Protective. Futile. Like I could shield this baby from bullets and poison and the entire Ashford empire with just my palm pressed against skin.


"Everything looks good," she finally says. "Baby's heartbeat is strong. No signs of placental abruption or distress. You got lucky."


Lucky that the bullet missed my head by inches. Lucky that Damien's body blocked the second shot. Lucky that we're alive when James and Chen and God knows how many others are dead.


Chapter 27 - Chapter 27: Close Call