Chapter 2 The Fall of the Heir

The week leading up to the Thorne Annual Gala felt like a slow, deliberate walk to the guillotine. Every meeting, every phone call, and every polite family dinner was a countdown to Jason's official engagement announcement with Stephanie, and my final, symbolic rejection.

I tried to focus on my plans to leave. I had secured a small loan, signed the lease on a tiny, affordable office space downtown, and bought a ticket to a new coast. I was ready to trade the golden cage of the Thorne penthouse for the harsh, concrete jungle of independence.

But Jason made it impossible to ignore the inevitable. He was everywhere.

He cornered me in the library, ostensibly to ask for a file from the archives. Instead, his gaze lingered, slow and analytical, tracking the line of my collarbone before snapping back to his phone.

"You're quieter than usual," he commented, not looking up.

"I'm busy packing," I replied, my voice flat. "I won't be in your way for much longer."

He paused, lowering his phone. "Packing? For what?"

"A new life," I said simply. "One where I'm not constantly waiting for the next condescending sigh."

His blue eyes-the eyes that had haunted my dreams for years-finally met mine. For a moment, a confusing, raw emotion flickered in their depths: was it regret? Or just annoyance at the logistics of my departure?

"Don't be overdramatic, Jasmine," he scoffed, the cold veneer immediately returning. "Mother will handle your severance. Just be discreet. The last thing the company needs right now is a scandal involving the adopted daughter running off."

Discreet. That was all I was good for: being a silent problem he could sweep under the corporate rug. The encounter only fortified my resolve. I wouldn't just be discreet; I would be invisible to him forever.

The night of the Annual Gala finally arrived. The Thorne penthouse had been transformed into a crystalline landscape of ice sculptures, silk draping, and security guards. The air was thick with the scent of money, ambition, and expensive perfume.

I stood on the mezzanine, my body clad in a modest, charcoal dress-the only outfit I owned that didn't feel ostentatious. I watched the scene below: the powerful investors, the rival CEOs, the politicians, all circling, hunting for an advantage. And then there was Jason, radiating power in a perfectly tailored black tuxedo.

He was standing on the main stage next to Stephanie, who was dripping in borrowed diamonds, her smile brittle and fake. The moment of the announcement was approaching. A hush fell over the crowd as Robert Thorne, my adopted father, stepped up to the microphone.

"Friends, partners, shareholders," Robert's voice boomed through the ballroom. "Tonight, we celebrate not just the prosperity of the Thorne name, but its future. I am delighted that my son, Jason, will be taking the final step to secure that future tonight. With his engagement to the brilliant Stephanie..."

Stephanie beamed, placing her hand on Jason's arm. Jason's eyes, however, weren't on her. They were scanning the crowd-past the CEOs, past the investors-until they found me, standing alone on the mezzanine railing.

For a terrifying, exhilarating second, our gazes locked. The entire world outside of our connection dissolved. I saw the turmoil in his eyes, the stark difference between the cold certainty he projected and the anxiety that suddenly broke through.

I saw it, and I couldn't help myself. I lifted my chin, forcing a smile that was brittle but real. It was a smile of freedom. You don't own me anymore, Jason.

The sight seemed to shake him. He frowned, his lips parting as if to say something-to me, across the vast ballroom, in front of hundreds of witnesses.

Robert Thorne cleared his throat. "Jason, son, the floor is yours. Make the announcement."

Jason stepped forward, taking the microphone from his father. The room held its breath. This was it. The public rejection. The end of my dream.

He turned toward Stephanie, and she held out her hand, anticipating the ring.

But Jason didn't look at the ring. He didn't look at Stephanie. He lifted his head, his blue eyes flashing, and spoke into the microphone, his voice cutting through the silence with the force of a thunderclap.

"Before I secure the future of the Thorne Corporation with the required... merger," Jason said, his voice dangerously low, the word "merger" dripping with distaste, "I have another announcement to make. One that takes precedence."

Stephanie's perfect smile dissolved, replaced by a look of bewildered panic. The crowd shifted, murmuring starting to spread like wildfire.

Jason looked up, straight at me, standing isolated on the balcony. He raised his hand, not holding a ring, but pointing-directly at me.

"Jasmine," he commanded, the name echoing through the speakers, making every single person in the room turn their heads toward the mezzanine.

My heart hammered against my ribs, a trapped bird desperate to escape. What was he doing? Was this another public humiliation?

He tightened his grip on the microphone.

"I, Alpha Jason-" he corrected himself instantly, a muscle jumping in his jaw as he realized he was using the wrong language, the wrong title, "I, CEO Jason Thorne, formally reject my current engagement."

The sound of gasps drowned out everything else. Stephanie shrieked, but Jason ignored her.

He kept his finger pointed at me, his gaze locked on mine-no longer cold, but burning with a sudden, desperate possessiveness.

"My future isn't with a merger of companies," he declared, his voice ringing with a terrifying conviction. "It's with the one person I pushed away."

He took a step off the stage, making a beeline toward the grand staircase.

"And to secure that future," he called out, his eyes never leaving mine as he started up the steps, "I need to make a choice that will shake the foundation of this company."

"I choose to reject her, too."

I froze, the blood draining from my face. Reject her, too? Reject Stephanie, and then... reject me a second time? My mind reeled from the unexpected, cruel twist. Was he rejecting Stephanie to clear the path to reject me in an even more spectacular fashion?

Jason was only halfway up the stairs when a new voice, deep and resonant, cut through the chaotic silence from the main entrance. The voice was heavy with authority, a chilling, dominant sound that commanded immediate attention.

"You've had your chance, CEO Thorne."

A man stepped into the light, a figure of intimidating power and expensive midnight-blue wool. He was tall, broad, and exuded an aura of wealth that dwarfed even Jason's. He wasn't looking at Jason. He was looking at me.

"And your time is up."

The man took a single, deliberate step forward, his eyes-dark, predatory, and familiar-glued to my face. The man who had held me on my darkest night, the man whose power I had sensed-Duke.

The doors of the ballroom slammed shut behind him. I was trapped between the CEO who just publicly rejected two women, and the rival who had come to claim the rejected heir.