Ruby watched Stefan carefully. His expression was unreadable, but she could feel the way his fingers drumd faintly on the desk’s edge—his silent tell that he was analyzing, weighing, dissecting.
"I appreciate the candor," Stefan said finally. "But I don’t make alliances based on flattery or convenience."
"I wouldn’t expect you to," Ashford replied. "Which is why I ca with proof."
He reached into his briefcase and pulled out a thin folder, sliding it across the desk.
Stefan didn’t move, so Ruby opened it instead. Her eyes skimd the pages—and her stomach dropped.
"These are... internal communications," she said. "From Richard’s office."
"Stolen?" Stefan asked dryly.
"Leaked," Ashford corrected. "By soone who no longer believes in his vision."
Ruby read quickly, her fingers tightening on the page. "Richard’s planning to move funds from the employee benefits reserve into a dummy offshore account. If this went public..."
"...he’d be done," Stefan finished. "So would the company’s reputation."
Ashford nodded. "You’ve been trying to rebuild this company’s na. This will help you do that."
Stefan was quiet for a long mont. Then he leaned back in his chair. "You want a stake in our global expansion in exchange for handing over a man who once called you a brother."
Ashford gave a cool smile. "I want to be on the winning team. And you, Stefan, are the only one who can carry Winters Corp forward."
Ruby felt a chill run down her spine. Ashford’s words were smooth, his posture relaxed—but it was all calculated. He doesn’t care who leads. He just wants to attach himself to power.
Still, there was no denying the value of what he offered.
"I’ll consider it," Stefan said at last. "But I won’t be rushed."
"You have forty-eight hours," Asfford said, standing. "After that, I’ll assu you’re not interested."
He turned to leave, pausing only to glance at Ruby once more. "You’re a lucky man," he said to Stefan. "She’s sharper than most of your advisors."
Then he walked out, Naomi following behind. Silence filled the office again.
Ruby turned to Stefan. "Do you trust him?"
"No," Stefan said imdiately. "But I trust the leverage."
He reached out, running a hand over the folder she still held. "This is bigger than just Richard’s greed. If we play this right, we can expose everything he’s done without giving Ashford full access to our future."
Ruby nodded slowly. "Then let’s play it right."
"You’ve changed everything, Ruby. Without you, I wouldn’t be standing right now," he said after soti and her heart skipped.
"You’d find a way. You always do."
"So, what are we going to do now? What’s the plan?" Ruby asked after soti, the weight of the folder in her hand heavier than it should’ve been.
She could still feel Ashford’s calculating gaze, like a cold fingerprint pressed against her skin. She turned slowly to Stefan, who hadn’t moved, his fingers still resting lightly on the desk, his expression unreadable.
But she could sense it—he was thinking. Calculating.
"While you’re still considering what to do, I want to know. Do you believe any of that?" she asked softly.
Though she had seen what Richard was capable first hand, she still couldn’t help but wonder if truly all Mr. Ashford said was the truth.
"I believe he’s desperate to stay relevant," Stefan replied, his voice calm but cold. "And I believe he’s willing to throw Richard under the bus to do it. So I believe all he said."
Ruby nodded and placed the folder down on the desk. "Still, you don’t trust him."
"No. But I think we use him—before he uses us."
She admired the way his mind worked. Clear. Precise. Cold when it needed to be. But as she watched him reach for the folder, his fingers brushed hers, and sothing warr sparked beneath the surface.
"So, what do you plan to do and how do you plan to use him? You’re not seriously considering giving him what he asked for, are you?"
"Of course not, babe," Stefan said with a chuckle. "But I’ll let him believe I might. For now."
"Sit with . We need to map this out carefully."
Ruby went with him, settling beside him as she opened the folder again, laying out the damning communications. She leaned closer, their shoulders brushing, and tried to focus despite how aware she was of his nearness. His scent—clean, warm, familiar—wrapped around her like a comfort she didn’t expect.
"I want you to read through these again," Stefan said, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Highlight anything that connects to board mbers, or anyone who could beco collateral damage when this goes public."
"Why?" she asked. "Wouldn’t it help to expose them all at once?"
He shook his head. "If we take them all down in one move, we lose leverage. But if we isolate Richard—make him the villain while protecting the others—they’ll owe us. And fear us."
Her eyes widened slightly. "That’s... cold."
"It’s war," Stefan said simply. "A war I didn’t start—but one I’m going to finish."
Ruby looked down at the docunts again, her thoughts tangled. She wanted to help him win, protect what he was rebuilding—but part of her still felt like an imposter. Like a fraud sitting beside a man who deserved better.
"Stefan," she said softly. "What if Ashford is still working with Richard? What if this is truly a trap?"
He turned his head, and though his eyes didn’t see her the way others did, they still found her—like he could sense exactly where she was, feel the tension in her voice.
"Like I said earlier, I don’t doubt it’s a trap," he said. "But that’s the difference between Richard and . He walks into traps blindly. I walk in knowing they’re there—and make sure I’m the one holding the key."
A small, reluctant smile tugged at Ruby’s lips. He was infuriatingly confident. And yet, with every move, he proved that he had a right to be.
"I’ll start reviewing everything tonight," she said.
"No," he said gently, but firmly. "We’ll do it together."
Her breath caught. "You trust with this?"
"With more than this," he said. "You’ve never let fall, babe. Even when everything else was collapsing."
She lowered her gaze, guilt flickering across her features. He doesn’t even know the worst of it. That I’m not who he thinks I am... and that Ivy did fail him.
And yet, despite everything, she wanted to protect him. Not wanted, she needed to.
"Then we do it together," she said.
They worked in silence for a while—spreading the docunts out, marking key phrases, connecting dots. Every so often, their fingers touched. Once, her knee brushed his, and neither of them moved away. It was a rhythm they’d fallen into—steady, natural, like they’d always been a team.
When the work paused, Ruby leaned back, stretching her arms. "What about Naomi? Can we trust her with this?"
Stefan considered it. "She’s loyal—but the fewer people who know about our actual plan, the better. You and , for now."
She nodded, though the thought made her heart race. Just the two of them. It felt intimate. Dangerous. Right.
Stefan shifted beside her, his voice lower. "I hope you know this isn’t just about saving the company, babe. It’s about taking back control of everything Richard tried to steal from —my legacy, my voice, my life."
She looked at him, and for a brief second, he looked vulnerable. Not the calculating CEO. Not the strong, silent man. Just Stefan. Hurt. Determined.
"You’ll win," she said with quiet conviction. "I’ll make sure of it."
He turned his head toward her, his expression unreadable. "And what happens after I win?"
The question hung between them, charged. Why would he ask her that? What was she even supposed to say to that?
Ruby swallowed. "I don’t know."
But she did know. After he wins, maybe the truth about who she really was would co out. Eventually, Stefan would find out that Ivy—the woman he’d planned to marry—had abandoned him, and the woman beside him now had taken her place and lied to him.
The victory they were building could collapse the mont he found out.
And still... all she wanted was to stay in that mont a little longer. Not worrying about what would happen after now but what would happen if she didn’t give this her all.
Stefan leaned closer, his voice a whisper. "Whatever happens next... you’ve already changed everything."
Ruby’s heart thudded painfully. She should pull away. She should confess and tell him everything—save him from the pain he’d feel knowing the woman he was learning to trust and was planning everything with was nothing but a substitute. She so badly wanted to.
But instead, she reached up and touched his cheek.
He leaned into her palm, her palm warm and soothing, sending waves of comfort running through him.
And for a second—just one stolen second—there was no war. No secrets. No lies.
Just them. Planning the future in the dark.
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