Aria walked through the 47th floor like a woman possessed.
Emma looked up from her desk, eyes widening slightly. "Aria? Are you okay? You look...."
"I’m fine." Her voice was steady, strong. "Is Mr. Blackwood in his office?"
"Yes, but he’s on a call...."
Aria didn’t wait. She walked straight to his door and knocked once. Hard.
"Co in."
She entered without waiting for further invitation.
Damien was indeed on a call, his phone to his ear, but his eyes widened slightly when he saw her expression.
"I’ll have to call you back," he said into the phone, not taking his eyes off her. "Sothing’s co up."
He ended the call. "Aria, what...."
"We need to talk. Now."
He stood slowly, his gaze assessing. "Close the door."
She did, but didn’t lock it. This wasn’t about sex or claiming or dominance. This was about truth.
"What happened?" he asked, moving around the desk toward her.
"Victoria happened. She was here. In the building. Waiting for in the lobby."
His expression darkened imdiately. "What did she say?"
"That your grandfather has approved her as your future wife. That a Blackwood-Ashford marriage alliance is already planned. That I’m just a phase you’re going through and when Richard cos ho, you’ll choose the appropriate match." Aria’s voice remained steady despite the emotions churning inside her. "That I don’t belong in your world. That I’m nobody. Replaceable. Out of my depth."
Damien’s jaw clenched. "Aria...."
"No. Let finish." She took a breath. "She told to walk away now. To find soone from my own class, my own level. To save myself the humiliation of watching you realize what everyone else already knows...that I’m a liability you can’t afford."
"None of that is true...."
"Isn’t it?" She t his eyes. "Because from where I’m standing, she’s not entirely wrong. You haven’t forgiven , Damien. You’re still punishing . Still testing . Still keeping at arm’s length while using my body to work through your trust issues."
"That’s not...."
"Yes, it is!" Her voice rose, and she saw several heads turn outside the glass walls. She didn’t care. "You said you were trying. You said this wasn’t just punishnt. But what exactly are we doing here? Are we rebuilding toward a future? Or are you just keeping close enough to hurt while protecting yourself from actually being vulnerable?"
Damien’s eyes flashed. "You’re the one who betrayed my trust...."
"I know! I know what I did. I’ve apologized. I’ve submitted to your control. I’ve let you touch , claim , punish ....whatever you needed to work through this." She stepped closer. "But I can’t do this anymore, Damien. I can’t keep existing in this limbo where I’m yours but not really. Where you touch but won’t trust . Where you make co multiple tis a day but won’t let into your heart."
"Aria...."
"I love you." The words ca out fierce, final. "I love you with everything I have. I love you enough to have endured this month of torture. Enough to submit to your dominance even though it scares sotis. Enough to fight for you against people like Victoria who think I don’t belong."
She saw sothing flash in his eyes....surprise, hope, fear....but she wasn’t done.
"But I won’t be your dirty little secret. Won’t be the woman you fuck in your office but are ashad to claim publicly. Won’t be the phase you work through before choosing the appropriate match." Her voice broke slightly. "I deserve better than that. Even after everything I did, I deserve better."
"You’re not a secret...."
"Then what am I?" She challenged him. "Your girlfriend? Your partner? The woman you’re rebuilding trust with? Or your assistant who you happen to finger-fuck during lunch breaks?"
The crude language made him flinch, but she didn’t care. She was done being polite. Done being passive.
"Because I need to know, Damien. I need to know if this is going sowhere or if I’m wasting my ti. If you’re actually going to forgive and trust and let in....or if you’re going to punish forever."
"I don’t know!" The admission burst out of him, raw and honest. "I don’t know how to trust you again. Don’t know how to let you in without being terrified you’ll destroy . Don’t know how to forgive you when every ti I look at you, I rember...."
"What I did. I know." Her voice softened slightly. "But you have to decide, Damien. You have to choose. Either you trust or you don’t. Either you forgive or you don’t. Either you want a future with or you don’t."
She moved toward the door, her hand on the handle.
"So here’s your ultimatum. You stop this...." She gestured between them. "This torture disguised as rebuilding. You either actually forgive , actually trust , actually give us a real chance...." Her voice hardened. "Or I walk out of this company right now and never co back."
His face paled. "Aria...."
"I an it. I’m done with the middle ground. Done with the constant testing. Done with earning trust that you might never actually give ." She opened the door. "You have until end of business today to decide. Either we move forward....really move forward....or we end this. Completely."
"You can’t just...."
"I can. And I am." She looked at him one last ti, saw the war raging in his eyes....fear and desire and need and terror all battling for dominance. "I love you, Damien. But I love myself too. And I won’t destroy myself waiting for you to decide I’m worth the risk."
Then she walked out.
Walked past her desk, past Sarah’s shocked expression, past Jennifer’s concerned look.
Sat down at her desk and opened her laptop with trembling hands.
Every eye on the floor was on her. Everyone had heard at least part of that confrontation through the glass walls.
She didn’t care.
She’d said what needed to be said.
Now it was up to Damien.
Either he’d choose her.....really choose her, not this half-asure existence they’d been living....
Or he’d let her go.
And either way, she’d survive.
Because she was Aria Chen.
And she was nobody’s dirty little secret.
******
DAMIEN’S POV - 3:27 PM
Damien stood frozen in his office, Aria’s words echoing in his mind.
Either you trust or you don’t. Either you forgive or you don’t. Either you want a future with or you don’t.
An ultimatum. She’d given him a fucking ultimatum.
And the terrifying part was....she ant it. He could see it in her eyes, hear it in her voice. She was done. Done with his gas, his tests, his inability to just make a decision and commit to it.
His phone rang. He ignored it.
He needed to think. Needed to figure out....
What the hell had happened? Why had she burst into his office like that?
She’d said Victoria was here. Had confronted her. Had said things that drove Aria to this breaking point.
He pulled up his security app, accessed the building caras. Started reviewing footage from the past hour.
There...2:52 PM. Victoria entering the building. Walking to the elevators.
But she didn’t co to the 47th floor. The elevator showed her going to the lobby and staying there.
He switched to lobby caras.
2:58 PM. Aria exiting the elevator. eting Victoria near the windows.
He couldn’t hear what they were saying, but he could read body language. Victoria leaning in, aggressive, predatory. Aria standing her ground initially, then....sothing Victoria said made her flinch. Made her shoulders curl slightly, defensive.
Victoria talking, talking, talking. Each word landing like a blow.
Aria’s face....god, her face. He could see the exact mont Victoria’s words hit ho. Could see the pain, the doubt, the fear.
Then Victoria leaving. And Aria standing there, alone, trembling.
She pulled out her phone, typed sothing. Then headed not for the elevators, but for the stairwell.
Damien switched caras, followed her progress. Up and up and up.
To the roof.
His blood ran cold.
The roof. She’d gone to the roof. After whatever Victoria had said to her....
He watched her erge onto the rooftop, walk toward the edge. Not too close, but close enough.
Watched her stand there for ten minutes, the wind whipping her hair, her shoulders shaking with what he knew were sobs.
And sothing in his chest cracked.
This woman....this brilliant, strong, infuriating woman....had gone to the roof to cry after Victoria’s attack. Had stood there alone, processing whatever venom Victoria had poured into her ears.
And then....
He watched her straighten. Watched her wipe her tears. Watched her spine steel, her shoulders square.
Watched her transform from broken to fierce in the space of monts.
Then she’d marched down, straight to his office, and delivered her ultimatum.
I love you. But I love myself too. And I won’t destroy myself waiting for you to decide I’m worth the risk.
Damien replayed the lobby footage again, wishing he could hear what Victoria had said. What poison she’d spread. What lies she’d told.
But he didn’t need to hear it. He could guess.
That Aria didn’t belong. That she wasn’t good enough. That Richard would never approve. That Damien would eventually choose the appropriate match.
All the fears Aria already had....Victoria had weaponized them.
And instead of coming to him for comfort, for reassurance....
She’d gone to the roof. Had stood there alone. Had fought her own battle.
And then had co to him and demanded he make a choice.
Trust or don’t. Forgive or don’t. Choose or let go.
Simple. Direct. No more middle ground.
And terrifying as hell.
Because if he chose her....really chose her....it ant vulnerability. ant trusting that she wouldn’t betray him again. ant opening himself up to the kind of pain he’d sworn never to feel again.
But if he let her go....
The thought made his chest constrict so tightly he could barely breathe.
Let Aria go? Let her walk out of his life? Let another man have her, touch her, love her?
No. No.
The answer was imdiate, visceral, absolute.
He couldn’t let her go. Wouldn’t survive it.
Which ant....
Which ans you have to actually trust her, you idiot, Julian’s voice echoed in his mind. Stop protecting yourself and take the risk.
His grandfather’s words: Either forgive her or let her go. Don’t keep her in limbo forever.
Aria’s ultimatum: We move forward or we end this. Completely.
Everyone was telling him the sa thing.
And deep down...beneath the fear and the pain and the self-protection....he knew they were right.
He’d been torturing them both. Using control and dominance as a shield. Claiming her body while protecting his heart.
But that wasn’t fair. Wasn’t honest. Wasn’t what either of them needed.
And watching her on that rooftop footage....seeing her fight her own battle, seeing her erge stronger, seeing her demand better for herself....
Sothing unlocked inside him.
A chain he’d been carrying. A burden he’d held onto so tightly he’d forgotten it was there.
The burden of unforgiveness. Of holding onto pain. Of letting fear control his choices.
She’d made a mistake. A huge one. But she’d been desperate, terrified of losing her mother. She’d apologized, had submitted to his punishnt, had proven over and over that she loved him.
And he’d been so busy protecting himself that he’d failed to see what was right in front of him:
She was fighting for him. Had been fighting for him all along.
Even when he’d made it nearly impossible.
Even when Victoria told her she didn’t belong.
Even when every rational part of her brain probably scread that she should run.
She stayed. She fought. She loved him.
And it was ti....past ti.....for him to do the sa.
Damien stood from his desk with new purpose.
He had until end of business, she’d said.
But he wasn’t waiting that long.
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