Lashirah_Hash

> He saw her once—and that was enough.

Elena Rivers was just a waitress at a high-end gala she didn’t belong to, filling in for someone else's shift. She didn’t know her spilled glass of champagne would be the moment Damien Vale—billionaire, recluse, and dangerously obsessive—noticed her.

He never spoke to her. Not then. But he watched.

And when he wanted her closer, he made it happen.

Now, Elena is working directly under him, unaware that the life she thinks she controls is already entangled in the hands of a man who doesn't just want her—he needs her.

He’s patient. He’s powerful. And he’s been planning this from the moment she walked into his view.

OBSESSION IN SILENCE

But the moment Damien's voice echoed across the conference hall—cold, rich, and final—everything inside her splintered.

The cameras flashed. A thousand eyes turned. The world tilted on its axis.

But because he said it like a vow.

Christopher gripped her hand, but she couldn't feel it. She couldn't feel anything except the crushing weight of reality closing in.

She had tried to rebuild herself. Piece by piece, brick by stubborn brick. And still, Damien Vale had found a way to own the foundation beneath it all.

He'd known for weeks—maybe months. He'd been watching. Waiting. And still, he said nothing. Not a knock at the door, not a phone call. Just… silence.

Until he could make her his in front of the world.

After the announcement, the room broke into murmurs and gasps. Christopher tried to shield her, but her feet moved on their own, carrying her through the blur of bodies and whispers until she found herself alone in the hallway.

Alone with her rage. Her terror. Her confusion.

That terrifying flicker of something else.

Something that still burned for him.

Elena slammed her back against the wall, gripping her stomach, teeth clenched.

Because part of her hadn't run yet.

Part of her still listened for the sound of his footsteps.

The Collapse