Chapter 21:The One Who Let Her Go

Julian sat alone in the Ashcroft penthouse, high above the glittering skyline he used to command. The lights below still flickered like stars, but they no longer bent to his will.

His phone buzzed with another alert—Lockwood Enterprises Named Most Influential Legacy Brand of the Year.

He let it ring.

He poured a glass of aged scotch, but it didn't taste like victory anymore. Not after the trial. Not after Clara.

He had seen potential in her from the start—steel wrapped in silk, fire disguised as grace. He had wanted her beside him not only for strategy but... maybe, selfishly, for more. But when he offered his hand, he laced it with manipulation. He'd tested her trust instead of earning it.

And she'd walked away stronger for it.

Julian still remembered the look in her eyes the day she discovered his betrayal—not hate, not anger, but disappointment.

He could've lived with rage. He couldn't live with regret.

The world now saw her as the phoenix—rising, radiant. He saw her as the one who got away not because she couldn't be held, but because he'd never truly deserved her.

A knock at the door startled him.

He opened it, expecting no one.

A child stood there, holding a letter.

> "Miss Lockwood says this is the final notice to sell your remaining shares in her company."

Julian smiled bitterly. Of course she'd send a child.

> Clean. Strategic. Decisive.

He signed the papers without hesitation.

As the child walked away, Julian looked out once more over the city. Elara owned it now—not just in wealth or power, but in truth.

And for the first time in years, Julian Ashcroft felt something he couldn't manipulate or measure.

Loss.

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