Chapter 5 DOMINIC'S POV

THREE YEARS LATER

I adjusted my tie, the crispness of my shirt almost painful against my skin. The conference room was immaculate, lined with pristine glass tables and gleaming floors that reflected my nervous shape.

Today wasn't business as usual, not like the others that blended together in the drudgery of my life. Today was different.

The ZCorp shares had been a subject of discussion among the financial circles, and now I was completing the finishing touches on the last bits of the puzzle. I and my colleagues had negotiated for months, and today it was heating up.

The ZCorp executives walked into the room, and I smiled well-rehearsed. Their suits were gleaming with prosperity, and I could tell that their arrogance was well-earned. ZCorp had been buying up smaller companies, getting their fingers into every lucrative pie they could. But this, this was a monster. The contract would put my firm in a good place, ensuring that our position in the market would be insurmountable.

"Aha, Dominic, nice to meet you," the chief executive, lanky Gregor, said to me, grasping hands. His grip was firm but cold, as if he'd already moved beyond this moment in his head.

"We've been waiting for this," I said to him, shaking his hand, suppressing the discomfort that was seeping up on me. I didn't like the way such things were done, but the money was good, and sometimes that was all that mattered.

In no time, the documents were signed, the deal sealed, and before long, I stood looking down at an access card being pressed into my hand by Gregor with a smirk on his face. "You've been invited to the gala this evening, Mr. Dominic. You'll want to attend. Lots of opportunities for networking," he stated.

The gala. A masked function sponsored by ZCorp. I had heard about it before but never bothered to attend. Business functions were one and the same- masked faces in suits drinking and pretending to care about the other's good fortune. But this one? This one was special. A chance to make an impression within the right social circles and also be present at the unveiling of the brain behind this movement.

I tucked the card into my jacket pocket, already planning my night. Next to me, my fiancée, Serena, shifted her weight, her heels clicking against the floor as she gave me a look.

"We're going, right?" Serena asked. She had a way of asking questions like she already knew the answer, her voice both sharp and soft at the same time.

I gazed at her, a little grin playing on my lip and then gave her a kiss. "Of course. It's a great opportunity. Why on earth not?"

"You've always been the one to turn down this sort of thing," she said, arching an eyebrow. "But, I was a bit sure you'll make an exception for ZCorp."

"Sure, Serena, we can't risk the possibility of missing out on the chance to mingle with more big shots. This could be the door opener for a bigger future."

Serena smiled wider. She had been with me for a few months now, and I could observe how she regarded me, her future, her transition to everything she wanted out of life. I did not mind; she had her own merits, and she was good for business.

After the meeting, I went straight to my office, my head spinning. The gala, the deal, the stress was taking a toil on me.

I changed into my finest tuxedo, the fabric smooth under my touch. Smoothing the lapels out in front of the mirror, I glanced at the photo on my desk. It was a very old photograph. A photo years ago, when things had all been less complicated.

I could still remember how she had looked in the picture-Liana. Her dark eyes had been full of hope, her smile genuine. I hadn't thought about her for a while. She was the one who had walked out instead of agreeing that it was the nature of men to cheat, and I had been the one to have to clean up the mess. I shook the thought from my head.

It was over. Done. Water under the bridge.

I grabbed the access card for the gala and slipped it into my pocket and took my leave.

..........

The mood at the gathering was electric, energy palpable as men and women converged in designer gowns and tuxedos.

The lights were low, casting long shadows on the opulent ballroom floor, so it appeared as though everyone belonged to something important. Serena was to my side, her hand resting gently on my arm, an accessory to my position as much as a fiancée.

We elbowed our way through the crowd, smiling and shaking hands with people I did not particularly care to meet. All about networking, networking that would bring us more power, more wealth. That was the way it was in my universe.

And then, as I was leaning over to grab a drink, the light swung on stage. The room was silent. There was one person in the center of the stage, facing away from the crowd.

I froze.

My heart skipped, and I felt a peculiar pain in my chest. There, under the light, stood the last person I would ever expect to see tonight. That sight was all too familiar, I could never miss it.

Liana.

It was impossible. How? Why? What is she doing here?

She had changed. No, evolved. Her hair was swept up in a twist of poise and perfection as she took off her mask. Her face, the same one I'd once traced with my fingers in the quiet of night, was now carved with focus, pride, and something else. Vengeance maybe.

She took the mic with the grace of someone born to rule.

"Good evening," she said, voice calm and edged with steel. "My name is Liana Davids. I am the founder and CEO of Z-Core."

A pause.

I couldn't breathe.

She smiled, only it wasn't for me. It was for the crowd. For the empire she now owned. For the night she had waited for.

"For too long, the future was gatekept by arrogance. By men who thought titles made them gods, who thought they could buy silence or steal credit without consequence."

I didn't have to look at her, I could feel the tension. Could feel her straighten as she stared directly at me.

"They underestimated women who didn't play loud. Women who bled quietly behind curtains. Who learned systems in silence. Who built empires in the shadows."

"But you see, the thing about silence is... it doesn't mean surrender. Sometimes, it means strategy."

What was she playing at?

"You've heard whispers," she continued. "Rumors about a company buying up tech assets under everyone's noses. Stealing the future, one deal at a time. I'm here to confirm that the rumors are true. We've taken the pieces everyone ignored, the scraps you tossed aside, and we've built something unstoppable."

Gasps rippled across the room.

Serina clutched my arm. "Wait... did she just say..."

"Z-Core is not just a company. It's the new backbone of innovation. And while some of you in this room stood in the way of progress, others-" her gaze swept the crowd until I swore it landed on me, "helped us without realizing."

My spine stiffened. She knew exactly what she was doing.

Every word, every glance, it was aimed straight at me.

"Tonight," she said, pacing the stage with deliberate ease, "is not just an unveiling. It's a reckoning. We're not knocking on the door of the future. We've already broken through. And from now on, we set the rules."

I felt the room tilt. This couldn't be real. Liana, my ex-wife. The same woman whose ideas I'd once dismissed, whose voice I silenced in board meetings, thinking I knew better. The woman I thought I'd left behind in my rise to the top, now she stood above me.

Literally.

She paused again, gaze sharp as a blade. "So let me show you how the future would look... without you."

Serena watched me lose concentration, her eyes tilted. "Dominic?" she said, but her voice sounded far away, drowned out by the pounding of my own heart.

I didn't pay attention. I only heard Liana, the confidence in her voice, and the way she owned the stage. She'd done it. She'd stolen all the spotlight.

The understanding hit me harder than I'd ever expected. And there I was, paralyzed, and all that kept running through my head was one thing: This wasn't business. This was personal.

The lights began to flicker once again, and my heart felt as though it was falling as she stepped down the stage amidst loud clapping.

I saw the man step out from behind the curtains, a man who walked up to Liana and took her hand in his, kissing it gently. It was too much for me. I had to get out of there.

I whirled around, trying to struggle my way free, but the crowd faces blurred together and I struggled to make progress against the surging crowds. I needed oxygen. I needed my brain.

This was far from over.