Corporate Crossfire
The heavy oak door swung shut behind him with a muffled thud.
Lucius gripped the edge of the marble sink, head bowed, chest rising and falling in slow, uneven breaths.
His reflection stared back at him, cold, polished, composed… but cracking.
He loosened his tie, but the feeling stayed, a tight coil low in his throat and deep behind his ribs.
"…Unbelievable…"
The word slipped out before he could stop it.
Lucius Vale.
The youngest board member in Vale International. A man who'd walked into hostile takeovers and left with companies bleeding at his feet. The Alpha no one dared talk back to.
And yet…
That girl.
That Beta.
That illegitimate stain of the Debonair family… stood there tonight, uninvited to any real discussion, dressed like she belonged on a magazine cover, surrounded by Alphas… and dragged him… publicly… through a field of glass and fire.
He ran both hands through his hair, exhaling hard.
Her voice still rang in his head.
"I measure it in inches."
Lucius's jaw tensed. The memory of her grin, lazy and sharp… burned against the backs of his eyes.
And the worst part?
No one defended him.
Not a single Alpha in that room came to his side.
No corporate partner stepped in.
Even her brothers stood there, watching, letting it happen like they secretly enjoyed the show.
His phone buzzed on the counter. A text from one of his PR aides.
[Incoming: Trending Clip / Topic: "Debonair Beta Dismantles Vale Heir - Must Watch"]
Lucius didn't even open it.
Instead, he grabbed the edge of the sink harder, fighting the urge to smash the mirror into pieces.
But losing composure now?
That would be the second defeat.
No. Not again. Never again.
Tonight was an anomaly.
One mistake.
One public crack.
And Krishna Debonair…
She'd made herself his problem now.
Lucius let out a slow breath, eyes narrowing as he straightened his suit jacket, forcing every piece of himself back into cold, unbothered order.
If she wanted to play in his arena…
He'd make sure the next round wasn't one she walked away from smiling.
Not by a long shot.
---
The Debonair corporate tower stood like a monolith against the morning haze. Glass and steel, sharp as the family's reputation.
Inside the top-floor boardroom, tension crackled like static.
Harlan Debonair sat at the head of the table, hands steepled, his expression a storm barely contained.
Lorenzo paced by the window, checking his phone every five seconds like the act alone would stop the hemorrhaging.
Lucian sat off to the side, legs crossed, arms folded, one temple resting against his knuckles. Silent, but his narrowed eyes said enough.
On the large digital screen, a chart displayed a very ugly truth in blood-red lines:
Debonair Corporation – Stock Price:
Current: Down 9.8% and sliding.
Harlan's voice cut through the room like a blade.
"How the hell did one stupid banquet turn into this?"
Lorenzo slammed his phone onto the table. "The Vale board leaked two announcements this morning. One pulling out of our joint infrastructure project… and the other publicly backing two of our competitors in the next quarter bidding war."
Lucian sighed, rubbing at his brow. "And just for fun… Lucius made sure to let half the market know it's all 'due to concerns over Debonair leadership stability and internal discipline issues.'"
Harlan's jaw clenched. "Translation: Me… and Krishna."
Lorenzo sneered. "That little bastard's not even subtle. It's public humiliation. A punishment for that girl running her mouth that night."
Lucian's voice stayed cold, but low. "To be fair… she didn't just 'run her mouth.' She turned the entire ballroom into her personal debate stage and dragged him like a bad PowerPoint presentation."
Lorenzo scowled. "Whose side are you on?"
Lucian gave him a deadpan stare. "Reality's side."
Another red flash on the screen. The graph ticked lower.
Harlan exhaled, slow and tight.
"We're calling an emergency PR team. I want articles out by noon shifting blame. Start leaking that this is a targeted power move from Vale International. Make them look like corporate bullies trying to strong-arm us over one family scandal."
Lorenzo added, pacing faster now, "And we'll start buying back shares under proxy names. Stabilize the drop. If Vale wants war, we won't roll over."
Lucian's gaze drifted to his tablet, flipping through new social media mentions. "You do realize… all this started because Krishna exists, right?"
Silence stretched.
No one corrected him.
Because he wasn't wrong.
But also… none of them said out loud the one thing they were all thinking:
No matter how reckless she was…
No matter how much of a walking PR disaster…
Krishna Debonair was still theirs.
And even if she burned the boardroom to the ground…
They'd fix it.
Because losing wasn't in the Debonair vocabulary.
Harlan stood, adjusting his cufflinks with that old, tired authority.
"Contact Krishna."
Lorenzo's head whipped around. "You're bringing her in on this?"
Harlan's eyes narrowed. "No. But she needs to know just how deep a hole she's dug this time."
Lucian, still half-reading his screen, muttered under his breath.
"…Or maybe we're the ones about to see just how deep she's willing to go."