CHAPTER 2 — The Woman in the Shadows
Flashback.
Five years earlier.
Damian stood in a smaller office, signing his first major acquisition contract. He looked confident, almost untouchable.
Across the city, Elena watched the same deal unfold through a glass wall of a private investment firm.
“Let him think it’s his idea,” she said.
Her advisor hesitated. “You’re financing everything.”
Elena’s eyes stayed on the screen.
“I’m not financing him,” she corrected. “I’m building him.”
Back in the present.
Damian’s voice broke through the memory.
“You were never involved in meetings… never on records…”
Elena smiled faintly.
“That’s why you trusted it.”
She walked slowly around the table now.
“People don’t question what they think they own.”
She stopped behind him.
“They defend it.”
Damian turned slightly.
May you like
For the first time, he didn’t look angry.
He looked uncertain.
