Chapter 3

I met with a few of the old minority shareholders in the hotel's coffee shop.

These folks had originally invested out of respect for my dad, not because they had any real ties to Nikolas.

I laid bare Nikolas's marital infidelity and his plan to drain the company and dilute our shares.

After hearing me out, the old-timers were slamming their hands on the table, furious.

"That ungrateful snake!"

"Don't you worry, Willow. We're with you! We can't let a man like that destroy the company!"

With their support, I felt a solid foundation form.

If we united, our combined shares would be over sixty percent-enough to vote Nikolas out of every position he held at the shareholders' meeting.

We were hashing out the finer points of our strategy when the coffee shop door suddenly burst open.

Nikolas strode in, his face a thundercloud, flanked by a couple of security guards.

Lydia trailed behind him, sniffling dramatically.

"Willow, you've got some nerve." Nikolas said, his eyes sweeping over the shareholders before landing on me. "Sneaking around behind my back."

One of the shareholders stood up. "Nikolas, you've got some nerve showing your face! You think we don't know about the disgusting things you've done?"

"Disgusting things?" Nikolas scoffed. "Mr. Winston, need I remind you? I'm running the company now. Stick with her, and see where it gets you."

He walked right up to me, looking down his nose. "I'm giving you one more chance. Sign the share transfer agreement. For old times' sake, I'll give you enough money to live comfortably for the rest of your life. If you choose to reject my generosity..."

His eyes turned threatening. "Then you won't get a single dime!"

Lydia chimed in, playing her part. "Willow, Nikolas is just trying to look out for you. It's so much work for a woman to run a big company. Wouldn't it be better to just hand it over to Nikolas and live the easy life as a wealthy lady?"

I watched their little performance, finding it utterly ridiculous. "Why should I give you what's mine? Nikolas, did you forget who it was that got down on his knees and begged me for a chance?"

His face darkened.

This was the past he hated most.

He came from nothing, full of ambition but hitting wall after wall.

It was me who gave him the seed money, the platform, the connections.

I was the one who pulled him out of the mud.

And now he wanted to kick me to the curb.

"Guess you're determined to do this the hard way." Nikolas lost his patience. He gave a slight nod to the security guards behind him. "Escort her back to the office. She needs some time to cool off."

The guards moved in and surrounded me.

The shareholders were civilized men. They weren't used to this kind of rough stuff and were momentarily stunned.

Two guards grabbed me by the arms, pinning me in place.

"Nikolas, this is illegal confinement!"

"Once we're at the office, you can sue me all you want." He sneered, leaning close to my ear. "But until then, you'd better behave. Otherwise, I can't be responsible for what my men might do."

His eyes dropped to my slender wrists.

I understood his warning.

These hands were the foundation of Timeless Elegance.

Every core design sketch came from them.

If something happened to my hands, the company would be half-ruined.

When he got ruthless, he could destroy everything.

I was forcibly taken back to the company.

Not to my office, but to the records room in the building's basement.

It was dark, damp, and reeked of stale air.

My phone was confiscated, and the door was locked from the outside.

I was shoved in, stumbling a few steps before hitting a cold filing cabinet.

"Willow, I'm giving you one day to think it over." Nikolas's voice came through the door, cold and flat. "Knock when you've made up your mind. Otherwise, you'll stay in there until you do."

His footsteps faded away.

The world fell silent.

I leaned against the filing cabinet and slowly slid down to the floor.

There were no windows, only a dim motion-activated light.

After I sat down, the last bit of light went out.

Darkness and silence swallowed me whole.

I hugged my knees, a chill spreading from my feet through my entire body.

I didn't know what Nikolas was planning.

But I knew he'd lost his mind.

To protect what he had, he would do anything.

Time ticked by.

I had no idea how much time had passed. It could have been hours, or it could have been a whole day.

My stomach started growling. My throat was parched.

Worse, I was starting to have trouble breathing.

I have mild asthma, and the stale, unventilated air was triggering it.

I started pounding on the door. "Open up! Nikolas! Open the door!"

No one answered.

I started yelling for help. "Someone! Help me!"

My voice echoed weakly in the empty basement.

The feeling of suffocation got stronger.

My lungs felt tight, each breath a struggle.

My vision started to blur, a ringing started in my ears.

Curled up on the floor, I felt my consciousness slipping away.

Right before everything went black, I thought I saw Nikolas's face.

He was crouched in front of me, his eyes filled with grim satisfaction and cruelty.

"Willow, you brought this on yourself."