Chapter 6 - The Storm Before the DawnThe final blow to Damian’s old life came on a rainy Tuesday night in November.
Julian and I were working late in his home office, reviewing blueprints for a community center we were funding in Brooklyn—built on the exact block where the community center I had volunteered at years ago used to stand.
A sharp knock sounded at the heavy oak office door, and Julian’s head of security, Marcus, stepped inside.
“Mr. Vance, Ms. Ava. You have a visitor downstairs in the lobby security checkpoint. It’s Damian Cross.”
I paused, my pen hovering over the architectural blueprint. “Damian? How did he get past the doorman?”
“He didn't,” Marcus replied grimly. “He managed to slip past the service delivery gates during a grocery drop-off. He’s frantic. He says he has nothing left to lose and he demands to speak with Ava.”
Julian stood up immediately, his face darkening with cold fury. “I’ll have him thrown out by the NYPD in sixty seconds.”
“Wait,” I said, setting my pen down and standing up.
Julian looked at me, surprised. “Ava, you don't need to see him. He’s toxic waste.”
“I know,” I said softly, walking over to put my hand on Julian’s chest. “That’s why I want to see him. For five years, I was afraid of him, afraid of his disappointment, afraid of not being good enough. I want to look at him one last time and prove to myself that he has zero power over me anymore.”
Julian studied my face for a long moment, searching for any sign of hesitation. Finding none, he nodded tightly. “Marcus, bring him up to the private receiving room. But keep two security guards right outside the door.”
Ten minutes later, the heavy oak door of the receiving room opened, and Marcus shoved Damian inside.
He looked terrible. His hair was unwashed, his suit wrinkled, and his eyes bloodshot and desperate. When he saw me standing beside Julian by the marble fireplace, he collapsed into a pathetic heap of false humility.
“Ava! Thank God,” Damian choked out, stumbling forward. “Please... Julian ruined me. My apartment was repossessed this morning. I’m facing federal indictment for the embezzlement charges. You’re the only one who has ever cared about me. Please, just lend me enough to get out of the country—just a fresh start!”
I looked down at the man who had once broken my heart into a million pieces, expecting to feel anger, or pity, or vindication.
Instead, I felt nothing. Absolutely nothing.
“Damian,” I said, my voice steady and clear. “When you dumped me by text because I didn't fit into your shiny new future, you thought you were throwing away garbage. But you were actually setting me free.”
“Ava, please—!”
“You embezzled funds because you couldn't stand the thought of failing on your own merits,” I continued, stepping closer, holding my head high. “You humiliated me at the Astor Grand because you were terrified that my past would expose your fraudulent present. But you did this to yourself.”
Julian stepped up beside me, slipping his warm arm around my waist, his presence an immovable wall of strength.
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“You heard the lady, Cross,” Julian said, his voice cold as a glacier. “The meeting is over. Marcus, escort him out of the building. And if he ever comes within five miles of my fiancée again, federal indictment won't be the worst of his problems.”
Damian opened his mouth to scream, but the security guards grabbed him firmly by the arms and dragged him out of the room, the heavy oak doors closing behind him with a final, echoing thud.
