Chapter 3 - The Bleeding Empire
While Silas built a fortress around me, Reid’s perfect future was violently unraveling.
Marissa was beautiful, but she was not a partner. She was a liability. Within six months, her lavish spending, public tantrums, and scandalous tabloid leaks had tanked Ashford Industries' stock. Investors pulled out. The board turned against Reid. His billion-dollar empire was bleeding millions by the day.
Desperate, Reid sought a buyout. There was only one man in the country wealthy enough and ruthless enough to save Ashford Industries from complete bankruptcy: Silas Thorne.
For three months, Reid begged for a meeting. Silas ignored him.
Then, on a rainy Tuesday, exactly nine months after my divorce, Silas finally agreed to sign the acquisition papers. He demanded the meeting take place in the grand ballroom of the Ashford building, in front of the remaining board members and the press. Reid wanted a public display to reassure the market.
He had no idea what he was actually hosting.
I stood in the opulent marble hallway outside the ballroom, wearing a flawless emerald-green silk dress that draped perfectly over my newly postpartum figure. In my arms, wrapped in a dark cashmere blanket, was my three-week-old son.
Silas stood beside me. He reached out, his large, lethal hand gently brushing a stray curl from my forehead. The coldness he showed the world was entirely absent when he looked at me.
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"Are you ready, my queen?" Silas murmured, his voice a low, protective rumble.
"I am," I breathed, looking up at the man who had claimed my heart and claimed my son as his own.
