Chapter 257

BRANDON'S POV

I had been sitting in the back of the SUV on my way to meet Victor Sterling to put the final, suffocating nail in Vance Enterprises’ coffin when my phone vibrated in my palm. It was a single text from Anthony.

Older Vance just walked into Miss Aria’s office.

My blood turned to pure ice. "Turn the car around, Dominic. It seems Julian's father wants to die today,” I growled, my voice low and dangerous.

Dominic didn't hesitate. He caught my eyes in the rearview mirror, slammed on the brakes, and swung the heavy vehicle into a sharp U-turn, tires screeching against the asphalt as he sped toward Aria's headquarters.

"Is he alone, boss?" Dominic asked, his hands tight on the steering wheel.

"Doesn't matter," I muttered, unbuttoning my suit jacket to give my arm free movement toward my holster. "If he touches a hair on her head, he won't walk out of that building."

When we arrived, I didn't wait for security to clear me. The staff knew better than to stand in my way. Dominic and I took the private elevator straight to the executive floor, stepping out silently onto the thick carpet.

As I approached the heavy double doors of Aria's office, the thick wood couldn't entirely muffle the conversation inside.

I paused right outside, catching the tailored, arrogant tone of older Mr. Vance as Aria asked him if Vance Holdings was worth more than her daughter. More than Amelia.

The older man's response didn't surprise me in the slightest. “Frankly, Aria, I don't care about Amelia. She is a bastard child born from a messy situation...”

I clenched my jaw so hard my teeth ached. Even though Julian was Amelia's biological father, the Vance family had never seen that sweet, innocent little girl as a human being.

To them, she was just a tool, a piece of leverage to be traded, claimed, or discarded whenever it suited their bottom line. I didn't wait to hear another word. I pushed the heavy doors open and stepped inside, taking in the room in a single fraction of a second.

Mr. Vance sat there, practically oozing aristocratic entitlement, while Aria sat behind her desk, her face an unreadable mask of pure disgust. Anthony stood perfectly still beside her, his hand ready near his weapon.

"Brandon," the old man breathed, his silver head snapping around, his composure cracking just enough to reveal his panic. "You're supposed to be—"

"I apologize," I interrupted, my deep voice slicing through the thick air as I closed the distance between us. I stopped directly behind his chair, leaning down to place a scarred hand on the leather backrest, looming over him like a shadow. "But that's not going to work."

Mr. Vance swallowed hard, trying to force his trembling voice back into a tone of senior authority. "Brandon, you can't do this to my company. We are established partners in this city. I assure you, Julian will be punished for his actions yesterday. He will be handled strictly within the family."

I shook my head slowly, a cold, humorless smile touching my lips. "No."

I leaned down closer to his ear, my voice dropping into a deadly whisper that made him flinch. "You don't get to decide his punishment. I will decide how Julian is punished. And trust me, old man... he won't be saved by your family name."

I straightened up, towering over him, my eyes hard as flint. "Now, take your pride, get out of this chair, and never set foot in Aria's company again. If you so much as breathe in her direction, or toward my daughter, Victor Sterling won't just take your stocks, I'll erase your entire bloodline from this city."

I looked over at Dominic, who was standing by the open doorway. I gave him a single, curt nod.

Dominic stepped forward, grabbing Mr. Vance firmly by the arm and dragging the older man out of his chair.

The silver-haired CEO completely lost his composure, his face flushing a violent shade of red as he stumbled backward.

"You can't do this. You're both going to regret this," Mr. Vance screamed, his frantic voice echoing down the executive hallway as Dominic unceremoniously escorted him toward the elevators.

"I'll tie you up in court for years Aria, you hear me? You'll pay for this. Both of you." The heavy doors slammed shut, cutting off his desperate, echoing threats, leaving the office in absolute, ringing silence.

I turned my head slowly, my eyes finally meeting Aria's. For a split second, I saw pure surprise flashing in her soft eyes, the shock of seeing me stand in her office when I was supposed to be miles away.

But in the very next breath, that surprise melted away, replaced by a deep, blazing anger. Anthony caught the sharp shift in the room's energy immediately.

He looked at me, then at Aria, reading the raw tension stretching between us like a drawn bowstring.

"I'll be right outside the door, Miss Aria," Anthony said quietly. He gave me a respectful nod and quickly excused himself, closing the door behind him with a soft click.

Then, it was just the two of us inside the massive room.

My heart hammered against my ribs, heavy and painful. The urge to pull her into my arms, to bury my face in her neck and make sure she was truly unharmed after everything Julian had tried to pull, was overwhelming.

I took a single, cautious step forward, my hands open at my sides. "Aria..." I asked, my voice softer than it had been in days, rough with genuine concern. "Are you alright?"

I took another half-step toward her desk, but before I could close the distance, Aria stood up so fast her leather chair pushed back against the glass window.

"Stay away from me," she spat out, her voice trembling with a terrifying mix of fury and pain as she pointed a finger directly at my chest. "Don't you dare take another step closer to me, Brandon.”

I didn't stop. I kept walking, my heavy footsteps closing the distance between us until the front edge of her desk was the only thing keeping me from reaching her.

"I've given you space, Aria," I said, my voice low, raspy, and stripped of all the authority I had used on older Mr. Vance seconds ago. "I gave you time to process, time to breathe, time to hate me. But I am done staying away from you and Amelia. I can't do it."

"I told you to stay back!" Aria shouted, her voice cracking as she pressed her hands flat against the mahogany surface. Her chest heaved, her knuckles turning white against the polished wood.

"Do you ever listen to a single word I say, Brandon? Stay away from me.”

"No," I growled softly, my eyes locking onto hers. "Not when Julian is running around like a wounded animal. Not when his father thinks he can walk into your sanctuary and threaten you. You are my family, Aria. You and Amelia are the only things in this world that keep me tethered to my humanity."

"Don't put that on me,” she snapped, tears finally spilling over her dark lashes, hot and angry down her cheeks. "Don't you dare stand there in your custom suit, with a gun strapped under your arm, and tell me that I'm your control. I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be wrapped up in your shadow war, or to find out that the man I loved is a ghost who rules the underworld."

"I did it to protect you."

"You lied to me," she screamed back, the full weight of her anguish crashing into the room. "Five years, Brandon. Five years of looking into my eyes, holding my hand, raising my daughter, while hiding the blood on your hands. You let me believe we were just a normal family building a life together. All this time you were lying to my face. Tell me, did that make you feel good?"