Chapter 7 - The Secret in the Folder
Julian couldn't sit still.
He kept looking at the folder.
“What else is in there?”
Elena closed it.
“Nothing you need to know yet.”
“Yet?”
She nodded.
“There's more.”
“How much?”
“Enough.”
Julian laughed nervously.
“You've always been like this.”
“Like what?”
“Cold.”
Elena looked at him.
“No.”
She paused.
“I was warm with you.”
That shut him up.
Chloe looked away.
Elena continued.
“You knew exactly how much I loved you.”
Julian's expression changed.
“And you used it.”
He whispered:
“I didn't mean to hurt you.”
“You meant to leave me.”
“That isn't the same.”
“It is when you build a new life before ending the old one.”
Chloe closed her eyes.
She finally spoke.
“I didn't know.”
Elena turned toward her.
“I believe you.”
Julian looked between them.
“What do you want?”
Elena answered immediately.
“The truth.”
“You already have it.”
“No.”
She tapped the folder.
“I have evidence.”
She looked at him.
“I want you to admit why.”
Julian swallowed.
“Why what?”
“Why you chose her.”
Chloe looked uncomfortable.
Elena didn't blink.
Julian finally whispered:
“Because she admired me.”
Elena's face remained still.
“You stopped admiring me.”
“No.”
“I stopped pretending you were better than you were.”
Julian looked down.
The words hurt because they were true.
He had fallen in love with the version of himself he saw in Chloe's eyes.
A powerful CEO.
A successful man.
A man who deserved more.
Elena had seen the man underneath.
The dishonest one.
The frightened one.
The greedy one.
She had simply waited for him to reveal himself.
Then her phone vibrated.
She glanced at the screen.
One message.
ADRIAN IS READY.
Elena locked her phone.
Julian saw it.
“Adrian?”
She nodded.
“He wants to meet you.”
“When?”
Elena looked at the clock.
May you like
“Twenty minutes after landing.”
👉 Adrian Sterling wasn't waiting to negotiate with Julian—he was waiting to tell him exactly why the board had already decided to remove him.
