Chapter 40 – “More Than Enough”

Bonus Chapter(2/2) 

I still await new collections , If you like the story and want even more bonus chapters then kindly keep on adding to the Library, and I hope you'll stick with me to the end 😇😇😇😇.

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The gala was a black-tie furnace of ambition.

Flashes clicked like applause. Glasses clinked like deals being made. And at the center of it all stood Eliza Darcy—elegant in midnight silk, hair swept back, her signature expression carved from cool restraint.

But tonight, she wasn't there to perform.

She was there to speak.

She had never accepted a personal award before. The Woman of the Year from the Tech Equity Coalition was different—because it honored not what she earned, but what she gave.

And this time, she wasn't giving them the version they expected.

Backstage, Will adjusted her bracelet.

"You nervous?" he asked.

Eliza turned her hand to steady his.

"I've spoken in front of governments. And billionaires. And regulators."

He smiled. "So yes?"

She smirked. "Terrified."

Then she paused. Her voice softened. "But not of them."

"Of what, then?"

Her eyes found his. "Of saying everything I mean."

Onstage, she waited for the applause to die down. No teleprompter. No rehearsed speech.

Just a spotlight.A mic.And her truth.

She began:

"There was a time when I believed that power was the only protection. That if I was smart enough, fast enough, ruthless enough—I'd be safe."

A few heads nodded. Others stilled.

"I built my empire brick by brick, with no help, no pause, and no room for softness. I wasn't interested in being liked. Only in being untouchable."

She glanced at the front row—where Will sat, suit a little wrinkled, tie slightly askew.

"But then I learned something harder than code. Harder than business. I learned how to let someone see me—and still choose to stay."

A hush settled over the room.

"Tonight's honor isn't for how I led my company. It's for how I stopped leading with fear. And started building with love."

She stepped back from the mic slightly. Her voice dropped, almost private.

"So if you're here tonight thinking your strength makes you unlovable, or your softness makes you unworthy—know this: You don't have to choose between being powerful and being known. You deserve both."

Silence. Then—

The room erupted.

Afterward, as reporters swarmed and cameras flashed, Eliza cut through the noise.

She walked directly to Will and pulled him into a kiss—not polished, not posed.

Real.

It was captured from seven angles and went viral within the hour.

But none of that mattered.

Because when she whispered in his ear afterward—

"Thank you for not shrinking me"

—he held her like he never would.

At home, they sat on the floor, heels and cufflinks forgotten.

Will leaned back on his hands and said, "You know what you gave me?"

Eliza looked over. "A headache?"

He laughed. "A life."

He shifted, now serious. "You let me love you without having to save you. And in doing that… you saved me."

Her eyes filled, but she didn't look away.

She reached across the carpet and touched his cheek.

"I don't need to be everything," she whispered. "Just enough."

"You've always been more than enough."