The room was silent, until I entered.

Every executive in the conference room rose to their feet the moment i stepped through the glass doors. My presence alone sliced through the air like a knife, all polished obsidian in my tailored black suit and matte tie. Not a single wrinkle in sight. Not a single detail out of place.

“Sit,” i said flatly, dropping a leather-bound folder on the table. My voice was low, calm, and completely devoid of warmth.

They obeyed instantly.

I sat at the head of the table, clasping my hands as my icy gaze swept over the men and women seated before me.

“Let’s begin. You have ten minutes.”

Markus, the lead strategist, cleared his throat nervously and opened a presentation on the projector. “Yes, sir. As you can see, the acquisition of Knighton Tech will give us a significant…..”

“Skip the flattery,” i cut in. “I read the report. I want numbers.”

Markus stammered, “Of course. Um—based on our projections, Knighton Tech will boost D-Tech Global’s market share by 12.4% within Q3. We’ll also gain access to their AI security patents which are currently….”

“Are those patents under dispute?”

Markus blinked. “There... there is a minor ongoing legal challenge, but our legal team believes….”

“No.”

Everyone froze.

I leaned back in my chair, my eyes fixed like ice. “We don’t acquire risks. If I wanted lawsuits, I’d buy a scandal, not a tech company.”

“S-Sir, with all due respect…”

“You have no idea what respect means,” I said coldly. “You brought a poisoned gift to my table and called it a solution. Find me another target. You have forty-eight hours.”

Markus visibly shrank into his chair, sweat pooling at his collar.

I turned my attention to the next executive. “Andrea. The Malaysia branch. You have something?”

“Yes, Mr. Blackwood,” she said quickly, clicking to the next slide. “There’s an emerging cybersecurity startup called IONLink. Quiet, efficient. No media presence. Fully self-funded.”

“Go on.”

“They’ve developed adaptive firewall software that predicts cyber breaches before they happen. Still in beta, but the tech is clean and the founders are looking for global expansion. No pending lawsuits, no third-party shares.”

I nodded once. “Send their files to legal. And offer them fifteen percent above valuation. Tell them they have twelve hours to say yes before I change my mind.”

“Yes, sir.”

I checked my watch. “Meeting over.”

“But sir, the European…”

“You already wasted ten minutes of my morning. That’s all you get.”

No one dared speak again. Chairs scraped quietly as the executives rose and began filing out.

I stood last, brushing an invisible piece of lint from my jacket. My assistant, Eliana, approached me at the door with a tablet in hand.

“Your eleven o’clock is waiting, sir. Would you like coffee?”

“No. I want silence. Coffee comes later.”

“Yes, sir.”

I walked down the corridor like a storm in a suit, fast, focused and untouchable. People stepped aside without needing to be told. I didn’t smile. I didn’t pause. I Damian Blackwood didn’t have time for pleasantries. I had empires to run.

Just as I reached my office door, my phone buzzed in his jacket pocket.

I stopped walking.

The name on the screen made my brows draw together slightly.

MOTHER.

I answered with a clipped, “Yes?”

“Damian,” her voice came through, all soft and poised like always. “I hope I’m not interrupting.”

“You are. What do you want?”

A pause.

“I wanted to let you know... your father wishes to have dinner tonight. At the house. Seven sharp.”

I jaw tightened. “He never calls me unless he wants something."

He never calls me to know how i was faring

“Be that as it may, he insisted I tell you personally.”

I turned to face the glass wall of my office, staring down at the city below.

“And Lira?” I asked. “Is she invited?”

Another pause. This one longer.

“Yes,” his mother finally said. “Your father asked that she attend as well.”

A silence far colder than before settled in the air.

I exhaled slowly, the first hint of true reaction on my face all morning.

“In three years, he never once acknowledged her. Not during the wedding. Not once after.”

“I’m aware.”

“And now he wants her at his table?” I chuckled softly.

“It seems... things are changing.”

"Changing? Or he has his own reasons for that?"

"You never know what he's thinking. Do you?" She asked.

My eyes narrowed, but i said nothing. I'd spent a lifetime understanding hidden motives, reading false smiles, translating unspoken threats.

This wasn’t a dinner.

It was a test.

My father never extended a hand unless he planned to cut off the wrist it shook.

“Tell him we’ll be there,” I said flatly.

“Good,” My mother replied, a faint smile in her voice. “Do dress Lira appropriately. You know how your father is.”

I hung up without replying.

A moment later, Eliana peeked her head into the office.

“Sir, the head of Global Ventures just arrived. Shall I....?”

“Cancel it,” I said.

She blinked. “Sir?”

“I said cancel. Reschedule for tomorrow.”

“Yes, Mr. Blackwood.”

I walked into his office, closed the door behind me, and stared at the quiet room. Sleek marble floors. Steel walls. A black-and-white painting of a single burning tree, the only color in sight.

My hand brushed over the edge of my desk, mind elsewhere now.

Lira.

She hadn’t been to the Blackwood estate since the day after the wedding. A wedding neither his father nor her father attended, and one their families had barely acknowledged.

We were tools in our family's eyes. One that is disposable. Our three years marriage was a way for them to secure a global contract. To them it meant business, to us it means more.

Lira had been an ornament to the family name, nothing more.

And yet... she had never once complained.

Not when they ignored her.

Not when they excluded her.

Not even when I myself, a man she married out of duty, became a stranger to her in our own home.

Now my family wanted to see her?

No. They wanted to study her. Measure her. Judge her.

I narrowed my eyes.

They had no idea what she had become.

And neither, if i was being honest with myself, did I?.

Not yet.