No Longer Your Shadow, Mr. CEO

luxury she couldn't afford. Every creak of the building, every distan

, her body aching as if s

, purplish bruise was beginning to form on her neck where he had p

vering the evidence of his rage. She wo

sharp shoulders, and a neckline that was all business. Stilettos that

ing for a husband who never came home, accepting silences she should have filled with her own voice. That version of her, the quiet wife who whispered her protest

est room. The apartment

here his shattered mug had b

isn't

o a tight ball without reading the w

the penthouse and

he shift in the atmosphere. The way the junior analysts suddenly found their

he CEO's elegant wife. S

difference. She rode the executive elevator to the 45t

open the

stop

one with the corner view. A cheap, plastic thing that looked j

pe, Associa

tened. She had ne

en the door t

d in trendy but inappropriate sneakers, were propped up on her desk. She was casually fl

solent smile spreading across her face. She didn'

itle dripping with a cloying, fa

dangerously calm, "by getting your feet

t grated on Anabel's nerves. "Oh, I think there's

desk. An internal memo. "CEO's office approved it this morning

e memo. The signature at the bottom was un

etty, insidious act of professional humiliation. An attempt

ise her voice. S

lked around to her side of the desk and pick

ssed tw

n the 45th floor. There's an unauthorized individual in my office who refuses to

e went pale. "You can't do that! I have a

who, for the moment, is still the CEO of this company. His name is on the door. My name is on the

, their presence filling the frame. They looke

e a mask of fury and humiliation. Sh

d under her breath as she passe

n it," Anabel r

lessed quiet of her office. She sank into her chair, t

herself in her work. The Black Knight collection. It was her baby, t

d in her

SS D

ried

SS D

he switched to the system's back-end, pulli

d turned

to her and the head of IT. The entire Black Knight folder, every sketch, every CAD file, ever

arpe's parting words. Th

is was a coordinated heist. They w

rying to st

ing, but rigid with a white-hot, purifying rage. S

rivate line to the CEO's

face the devi

-