Leah

"…Twenty years after the mysterious crash that took the lives of the Lachlan family, the missing heiress is back, and has claimed her place as the youngest board member of—"

The TV went dark.

I looked up slowly from my tablet.

Rachel, my assistant, flushed as she fumbled with the remote. "I— I just thought it might be a distraction, ma'am."

I raised a brow. "Where are the documents I asked for twenty minutes ago?"

"There was a printer jam," she said quickly. "Again. But I'll go check."

She scurried off, heels tapping nervously across the tile.

I sighed, leaned back in my chair, and rubbed at the tension in my temples.

Being an heiress wasn't all champagne and press interviews like I had assumed.

In the month since my return, I'd barely slept. Between board meetings, press appearances, property acquisitions, and internal politics, my life had become a revolving door of powerful men underestimating me, and learning the hard way why they shouldn't.

Rachel returned, papers in hand. "Also, I've finalized your itinerary for the weekend," she said, flipping open her planner. "It's looking like a really busy weekend for you."

"No surprise there," I sighed.

"Three CEO dinners on Friday, the Mercy Gala Saturday, land inspection Sunday, brunch with your grandfather Sunday afternoon—"

I raised a hand, cutting her off. "Later."

"Of course." She hesitated, then added, "There's also some news on your ex-husband."

That got my attention. I immediately sat upright. "Victor?"

She nodded carefully. "The one and only. He joined Remson Holdings three weeks ago. They're competitors. But he's been relatively quiet… until now."

I folded my arms. "Go on."

"He's leading a bid on a property near the riverfront. He plans to build an amusement park there. It would be his first solo project as an executive."

My lips curled. "How much is the land?"

She blinked. "I don't know, but I can find out."

"When you do, double the offer," I said flatly. "And buy it."

Rachel hesitated. "Ma'am, do we need an amusement park?"

"No." I stood, grabbing my bag. "But what we need," I added, "is to remind Victor Burnes that everything he reaches for will slip through his fingers—because I'm always going to be five steps ahead."

Rachel nodded silently as I strode toward the elevator.

"Ma'am, you still have a meeting on your—" she called.

The doors closed before I could hear the rest.

The ride down gave me a moment to breathe. A moment to remember that I wasn't the girl who once scrubbed floors while being called an orphan parasite. I was Leah Lachlan now. I wore tailored suits instead of secondhand clothes, carried myself with the confidence I'd earned through sleepless nights mastering corporate law and market strategies. My spine was straighter, my voice steadier, my gaze unflinching.

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open into the gold-and-marble foyer of Lachlan Tower. Being in this building made me feel powerful.

As I made my way out, I spotted a man holding a bouquet of blood-red roses. He turned just as I made to walk past him, and I stopped in my tracks.

"Victor?"

He gave me that crooked smile I used to find charming. "Hey, Leah. You look incredible."

His eyes swept over me appraisingly, and I could see him taking in the changes—the designer suit, the confident posture, the way I held my head high instead of ducking it in submission. For just a moment, uncertainty flickered across his features.

My jaw tightened. "What are you doing here?"

He stepped forward, holding out the bouquet. "These are for you."

I stared at them.

Roses.

He knew I hated roses. I'd told him a hundred times. Every year, he still bought them. He never listened.

That alone reminded me who he truly was. It should have been the first sign to me that he never cared for me.

I knocked the bouquet from his hand and they hit the ground with a soft thud, petals scattering across the marble like drops of blood.

"I'll ask you once more before I call security," I said coldly. "Why are you here?"

His face twitched, but he quickly recovered. "Come on, Leah. Don't be like that. I miss you."

"No way," I scoffed.

"I love you," he insisted. "We had something real. You can't deny that."

"Miranda Sanders ring a bell?" I asked. "Your new girlfriend? CEO's daughter? Or did you get bored already?"

He grinned. "So you have been keeping tabs on me."

"No," I said sharply. "But you seem to forget who you're talking to."

Victor laughed softly, stepping closer. "Look, forget all the crap we went through. We had something special."

"No, I had something special," I said. "You had an opportunity. And you used it until it broke."

He blinked, taken aback. Had he really expected me to fall back into his arms so easily? "Leah, baby, my mother misses you. Let's fix this."

"You're so full of shit." I tried to walk past him, but he caught my arm and yanked me back.

The moment his fingers wrapped around my arm, I was transported back to that night a month ago. The slap across my face. The miscarriage. The way he'd grabbed me in anger while I was still bleeding from our lost child. My breath caught in my throat, and for a terrifying second, I wasn't powerful CEO Leah Lachlan—I was just the broken woman who'd once begged him not to hurt her.

"Don't walk away from me," he hissed. "You think you're better than me now? You think just because some old man gave you a title—"

"I earned everything I have." My voice was steadier than I felt.

"You're still an orphan," he snarled. "You'll always be one. Lachlan blood or not, you'll end up alone. You'll see. They'll turn on you. I'm the only one who ever really loved you."

His grip tightened, and suddenly I was nineteen again, cowering in our first apartment while he screamed at me for burning dinner. I was twenty-two, apologizing for existing while his mother called me worthless. I was every version of myself that had ever been small and scared and desperate for his approval.

"You're hurting me," I growled, panic rising in my chest as it suddenly dawned on me that we were all alone. The confident CEO facade was cracking, revealing the terrified woman underneath. "Let me go."

"No. You and I are a package deal, Leah. Always have been—"

I screamed as he began dragging me toward the side corridor, my designer heels sliding against the marble. All my newfound power, all my wealth and status, meant nothing in this moment. I was just prey again.

My heart slammed against my ribs as I struggled to free myself. But in the next second, his painful grip vanished and Victor went flying across the foyer.

He crashed to the floor with a grunt.

I whirled around in surprise and jolted at the sight of the tall, broad-shouldered figure who stepped in front of me, shaking out his hand like it had been itching for that punch for years.

"I've always wanted to do that," said Ramsey Black, his voice smooth as steel.

He turned to me, electric blue eyes flashing with something that looked like concern mixed with barely contained fury.

"You're late, Miss Lachlan," he said. "Our meeting started fifteen minutes ago."