Chapter 357: gates of hell
My father let out a low chuckle, bitter and sharp enough to scrape bone. "Death’s door?" he echoed, eyes gleaming like shards of ice. "Boy, if I were standing at the gates of hell itself, I’d drag you in before me just to make sure you never lived a day free of me. That’s your curse. You can wear a crown or rot in the dirt, but you’ll always be my son—my failure, my shadow."
The words landed like they always did, perfectly aimed, meant to slice open old wounds I kept stitched shut with stubborness. But I’d learned long ago not to bleed in front of him. Not even a flicker.
My jaw stayed locked, my stare flat. "Good," I said evenly, "If you’re alive enough to spit venom, then that means I have no business here."
I turned, already stepping for the door.
"Kael." His voice stopped me, not with authority, but with the reminder that he never let go of a leash once it was tied. "Your arrival is timely. There’s a board meeting in eight hours. Make sure they see your face."
I didn’t bother answering. The door clicked shut behind me, my silence sharper than any refusal.
The guards stationed outside... two men that had served him longer than I cared to remember, straightened instantly as I passed. I didn’t slow down, only said low enough for them to hear, "Keep me updated on his condition. Regardless of what he tells you."
They nodded stiffly. Loyalty could be bought, but fear was a currency that never ran out. My father had hoarded it all his life. Now it was mine to spend.
The sterile air of the hospital corridors dissipated into the cooler breeze outside. My car waited at the curb, engine idling, Niko standing beside it like a soldier carved out of iron. His eyes flicked to mine the second I stepped out, searching, calculating.
"How’s the chairman?" he asked carefully.
"Well enough to piss me off," I muttered, sliding into the backseat. "Which means he’ll live."
Niko shut the door behind me and slipped into the front passenger seat, but before I could lose myself in silence, I asked, "Aria. Did she make it back to my place?"
The hesitation was brief, but I caught it. Niko’s eyes shifted once in the rearview before he answered. "Matt said she requested to be taken to her own place instead."
A deep breath dragged from me, heavy and sharp. I let it out slow, watching the city blur past the tinted glass. Typical Aria. Always needing space, always slipping through my fingers the second I loosened my grip.
"Is she alone?" My voice cut quieter, colder.
Niko shook his head. "No. Her sister and kids arrived two weeks ago. From Italy. They’ve been around since."
Relief flickered, small and unwelcome, but it steadied the tension in my chest. At least she wasn’t surrounded by ghosts.
"Good," I said finally, leaning back into the seat, eyes closing for a beat. "Let her be. For now."
Niko didn’t answer, but I felt his glance. He knew as well as I did that "for now" was temporary.
I opened my eyes again, voice flat, final. "We’ll attend the board meeting."
XE Towers loomed like a monolith of glass and steel, its mirrored walls catching the afternoon sun and throwing it back at the city like a dare. The convoy pulled up smoothly, black cars gliding to a halt in perfect formation.
The second my door opened, the air shifted. A ripple through the crowd. Security snapped straighter, employees lining the entrance bent in shallow bows, murmured greetings bleeding into one another like a prayer. Their eyes clung to me, hungry, desperate. As if breathing the same air as me might buy them survival.
I walked past without acknowledgment, each step measured, my presence enough. The sound of my shoes against polished marble echoed like gunfire, and they parted around me like water.
Some whispered my name, others ducked their heads lower. A few brave ones tried to edge closer, papers clutched in their hands, proposals, requests, pathetic cries for attention. My guards cut them off with one look.
By the time I reached the private elevator, the weight of their stares pressed down on me like a swarm. Too much noise. Too much desperation. I hated it.
The doors opened to the top floor. Silence greeted me here, sharp and intentional.
Rose rose from behind her glass desk the instant she saw me. Efficient. Precise. Her heels clicked once as she bowed her head slightly. "Good day, Mr. Roman—"
"No interruptions," I cut in flatly, not even slowing my stride. "Not from anyone."
"Yes, sir."
My office doors shut behind me with a muted thud, and for the first time since stepping out of the car, I exhaled. The space swallowed sound, tall windows framing the city, the desk stacked with documents that could shift the balance of markets, reports from divisions that poured billions daily, decisions that couldn’t wait.
The weight of empire pressed down hard. Everything i’d paused to spend more time with her. Shareholder crises. Pending acquisitions that could either stabilize or fracture entire subsidiaries. Silent reports of Andrew’s meetings with foreign investors, clawing at the edges of my sanity. And all of it demanded attention now.
I sank into the chair, jaw tight, forcing myself to sift through it. Numbers, threats, opportunities... it all blurred. My hand drifted toward the phone. One call. One voice, and the noise would cut to silence. Aria.
But before my thumb brushed the receiver, muffled voices seeped through the wall.
An argument.
At first, I ignored it. I didn’t have the patience to police petty squabbles outside my door. But the volume spiked... Rose’s measured firmness against another voice, sharp, grating, too familiar.
My teeth clenched. I stood.
The door swung open, and both women froze. Rose, professional to the bone, stood blocking the entrance with her arms slightly spread. In front of her, Sarah. Perfectly groomed head to toe, mouth curved into something between innocence and poison.
Rose’s eyes snapped to mine instantly. "Mr. Roman. I was informing Ms. Brown that you’re not receiving visitors today."
Sarah cut in before the sentence finished, her voice smooth silk over barbed wire. "And I was telling her you were expecting me."
Her body shifted, her posture angling so her smile could fall directly on me. Wide. Wicked. Cloaked in the kind of false sweetness only she could pull off.
"Isn’t that right, Kael?"
The sound of my name on her lips made my skin crawl. Every nerve screamed, dragging me back to that night, her weight pinning me, the humiliation pressed into my bones. My hand curled into a fist at my side, nails biting flesh.
Rose’s gaze flickered nervously, caught between us. Waiting for me to cut her down or dismiss Sarah.
I forced my mask on, cold, unyielding. "Yes," I bit out, each word jagged in my throat. "She’s expected. You can return to your desk."
Sarah’s smile widened, quiet triumph lighting her eyes as she stepped past Rose and into my office. The scent of her perfume trailed after her, invasive, cloying, clinging like smoke you couldn’t wash out.
I turned without another glance, walking back inside. The doors shut behind us, and the air in the office thickened with poison.