Sophie's POV
Ms. Mitchell, we need you to come down to the station.
Detective Martinez's words echoed in my head as James drove me to the police precinct. Damien had insisted on sending his lawyer to meet me there.
I didn't touch Marcus, I said for the third time, sitting across from the detective in a cold interrogation room. I haven't seen him in over a month.
But you were in contact with him? Detective Martinez slid printouts of text messages across the table. All from Marcus to me. Threats. Accusations. Vile insults about my relationship with Damien.
He was harassing me. I have documentation
We know. Mr. Ross provided quite extensive records. The detective's expression was unreadable. Which is why you're a person of interest, not a suspect. Yet.
Yet?
Marcus Sterling was beaten severely. Whoever did it knew what they were doing—calculated hits, nothing fatal, but painful. The kind of violence that sends a message. She leaned forward. Did Damien Ross send that message, Ms. Mitchell?
My blood ran cold. What? No! Damien would never
Mr. Ross has significant resources. And he's been very publicly protective of you. Some might say obsessively so.
He didn't do this.
How can you be sure?
Because I knew Damien. Knew the man behind the Ice King facade. He'd destroy someone financially, legally, professionally—but violence? That wasn't his style.
I just know, I said.
The lawyer Damien sent—a sharp woman named Patricia Chen—cut in smoothly. Unless you have evidence linking my client or Ms. Mitchell to this assault, this interview is over. Ms. Mitchell has cooperated fully. If you need anything else, contact my office.
Outside the precinct, I found Damien waiting beside a black car, his expression thunderous.
Are you okay? He pulled me into his arms before I could answer, holding me tight. I swear to God, if they tried to intimidate you
I'm fine. I pulled back to look at his face. Damien, they think you did it. They think you had Marcus beaten up because of me.
I know what they think. His jaw was tight. Let them investigate. They won't find anything because I didn't do it.
Then who did?
I don't know. But I'm going to find out. He guided me into the car. Right now, I'm taking you somewhere safe.
I need to go back to work
The office can survive without you for one day. You've been questioned by police. You need rest.
Damien—
Please. The word was quiet, almost vulnerable. Just let me take care of you. Just today.
I nodded, too exhausted to argue.
He took me to his penthouse. I'd expected cold modern design, but instead found warmth—books everywhere, comfortable furniture, photos of a young girl I assumed was his sister.
Sit, Damien ordered gently, guiding me to the couch. I'll make coffee.
You make your own coffee?
I'm a CEO, not helpless. He disappeared into the kitchen, and I heard him moving around, the sound oddly domestic.
He returned with two mugs and sat beside me—close but not touching.
I didn't do it, he said quietly. I need you to believe that.
I do believe you.
Just like that? No questions?
Just like that. I met his eyes. You're ruthless in business, Damien. But you're not violent. You fight with strategy and leverage, not fists.
Something in his expression softened. You see me clearly, don't you? Even the parts I try to hide.
You did the same for me. That night in the hotel.
We sat in silence, both remembering. The bar. The confessions. The connection that shouldn't have happened but felt inevitable.
I want to kiss you, Damien said suddenly. But I'm trying to be professional. To do the right thing. And it's killing me.
My breath caught. What if professional isn't what I want?
Sophie
You've been pushing me away while pulling me closer for two weeks. Daily meetings. Moving my desk. Defending me to the board and the media. You can't have it both ways, Damien. Either you want me or you don't.
I want you. The words came out rough, tortured. Every minute of every day. But wanting you and being good for you are different things.
Let me decide what's good for me.
You don't know what you're asking. I'm damaged, Sophie. The woman I loved betrayed me so thoroughly I haven't trusted anyone since. I don't know how to be what you need.
Then we'll figure it out together. I moved closer. Unless you're going to tell me that night meant nothing. That you don't think about me. That this— I gestured between us, —is all in my head.
You know it's not. His hand came up to cup my face, thumb brushing my cheekbone. That night meant everything. Finding you again felt like a second chance I don't deserve.
Then take it.
He kissed me like a man starving, and I kissed back with everything I'd been holding in for two weeks. It was desperate and sweet and terrifying all at once.
When we finally broke apart, both breathing hard, Damien pressed his forehead to mine.
This is a terrible idea, he whispered.
Probably.
The board will lose their minds.
Let them.
Marcus will use this against us.
I don't care. I pulled back to look at him. I'm tired of living my life afraid of what terrible people will do. Marcus already destroyed me once. I won't give him that power again.
Damien's smile was fierce. God, you're amazing.
We spent the rest of the day talking—really talking. He told me about his parents' death, the suspicious circumstances he could never prove, his sister Emma who he'd raised while building an empire. I told him about growing up poor, fighting for every opportunity, the shame of being the scholarship kid who never quite belonged.
You belong now, Damien said. With me. If you want to.
I want to.
That evening, Damien insisted on working from home so I wouldn't be alone. We spread out documents on his dining table—the hostile takeover deal he'd been negotiating for months.
This approach won't work, I said around midnight, studying his strategy. You're being too aggressive. They'll activate their poison pill defense and you'll lose everything.
Damien's expression cooled. I've been planning this acquisition for eight months. I know what I'm doing.
Do you? Because right now you're about to push so hard they'll burn the company down rather than let you have it.
I built this empire from nothing. His voice was ice. I think I know more about hostile takeovers than someone who's been here three weeks.
The dismissal stung. I stood up, angry now. Fine. Destroy the deal because you're too stubborn to listen. But don't say I didn't warn you when they reject your offer and the stock tanks.
Careful, Mitchell. You're close to insubordination.
And you're close to making a massive mistake because your ego won't let you see the obvious solution!
Silence fell like a hammer.
Nobody spoke to Damien Ross like that. Nobody challenged the Ice King and lived to tell about it.
I waited to be fired.
Instead, Damien laughed.
Really laughed—the kind that transformed his entire face, made him look years younger, revealed the man beneath the CEO mask.
Alright, he said, eyes dancing with something that looked like delight. Show me this obvious solution, Mitchell.
I pulled out a blank sheet of paper and sketched out a different approach. Instead of hostile takeover, you offer a merger. Equal partnership. They get board seats, you get majority control. Nobody loses face, and you get what you want without the poison pill.
Damien studied my proposal, his expression shifting from skepticism to interest to something like awe.
This is brilliant, he said quietly. Why didn't my M&A team see this?
Because they're trying to execute your strategy, not improve it. They're too afraid of you to push back.
But you're not afraid of me.
Should I be?
Probably. But he was smiling. Sophie Mitchell, you just saved a three-billion-dollar acquisition.
Does that mean I get a raise?
It means you get whatever you want. His eyes held mine. Name it.
My heart pounded. The truth. About what this is between us. No more games. No more professional distance. Just... the truth.
Damien pulled me into his arms. The truth is I'm falling for you. Have been since that night in the hotel. Maybe before, when you sat next to me in that bar and looked at me like I was just a man instead of a bank account or a business opportunity.
I'm falling too, I whispered. And it terrifies me.
Good. Because if I'm going down, I'm taking you with me.
He kissed me again, softer this time, like a promise instead of a surrender.
My phone shattered the moment, buzzing insistently. Rachel's name flashed on the screen.
Sophie, thank God, she said when I answered. Turn on the news. Now.
Damien grabbed the remote. The business channel showed breaking news:
Marcus Sterling Accuses Damien Ross of Assault—Claims CEO Beat Him Over Office Romance
My stomach dropped as Marcus appeared on screen, his face bruised, playing the victim perfectly.
Damien Ross is obsessed with my ex-fiancée, Marcus told the reporter. When I tried to protect her from making a mistake, he had me attacked. This man is dangerous, and Sophie is in over her head.
The reporter looked sympathetic. Are you pressing charges?
Absolutely. I have evidence—
The screen changed to security footage. Grainy, but clear enough to show a tall man in a dark suit entering Marcus's building the night of the attack.
A man whose build matched Damien's exactly.
I turned to Damien, my heart in my throat. Tell me that's not you.
His face had gone completely white. It's not. I swear, Sophie, it's not
Then who is it?
Before he could answer, his phone rang. The detective.
Mr. Ross, we have a warrant for your arrest. I suggest you turn yourself in voluntarily.
The room spun. This couldn't be happening.
Damien's hand found mine, gripping tight. I didn't do this. You have to believe me.
I believe you. My voice shook. But someone wants everyone to think you did.
His expression turned deadly. Someone is setting me up. And they're using you to do it.
The realization hit us both at the same time.
This wasn't about Marcus's lawsuit or the media attention.
Someone was orchestrating this. All of it.
And whoever they were, they'd just played their opening move in a game we didn't even know we were playing.
Turn yourself in, I said. Your lawyers will handle this. But Damien
What?
Be careful who you trust. Because someone close to you just tried to destroy your life.
His eyes widened as the implication sank in.
The setup was too perfect. The footage too convenient. The timing too precise.
Someone had access to Damien's schedule, his security, his life.
Someone on the inside was betraying him.
And until we figured out who, no one was safe.