Eda Roman POV:
The guard on the right registered my name, but he didn't flinch. A flicker of blatant contempt crossed his eyes, and he kept his broad shoulders squarely blocking the elevator doors. To the security detail of the Foley Group, a wife with no shares and no corporate title ranked significantly lower than a mid-level manager.
He unclipped the radio from his belt. He pressed the button and lazily called the front desk to verify if the CEO's wife had a scheduled appointment.
The lobby was busy. Employees carrying coffees and briefcases slowed their pace. They whispered to each other, their eyes tracking me like I was a circus act having a public meltdown.
I clenched my jaw so hard my teeth ached. I locked my knees and kept my spine completely rigid. I refused to look down, refused to give them the satisfaction of seeing my humiliation.
The sharp, rhythmic click of expensive heels echoed from the adjacent elevator bank. The whispering crowd immediately parted, clearing a wide path.
Keri Lane walked toward me. She was wearing a perfectly tailored, bone-white Chanel suit. She moved with the fluid, commanding grace of a queen inspecting her subjects.
She stopped two feet in front of me. Her eyes slowly dragged up and down my body, lingering deliberately on the frayed cuffs and pilled fabric of my old trench coat. The corner of her mouth twitched upward into a mocking sneer.
She raised a manicured hand and waved the security guards back. Her voice was loud enough for the lingering audience to hear, dripping with a fake, sugary concern as she asked what I was doing here.
I wasn't going to play her corporate theater game. I stared straight into her eyes and demanded she unlock the medical funds from the family trust immediately.
Keri dramatically gasped, bringing her fingers to her lips. She played the victim perfectly, claiming she was just following the strict compliance rules of the board, and that audits took time.
I closed the distance between us. I lowered my voice to a lethal whisper, warning her not to play her sick power games with my father's life.
The fake sweetness vanished from Keri's eyes, replaced by pure, freezing malice. Her smile returned, wider this time. She loudly declared that the Foley Group maintained rigorous risk control protocols, and she couldn't break the law just because I was the CEO's wife.
The employees watching us murmured their agreement. I could feel their disgust radiating toward me. To them, I was just a hysterical, gold-digging parasite throwing a tantrum.
A bitter, angry laugh ripped out of my throat. I raised my voice, demanding to know if she was holding my money hostage to line her own pockets.
Keri's expression tightened. She took a step closer, invading my personal space. She leaned in, bringing her lips inches from my ear so only I could hear the poison.
She whispered that Axel didn't give a damn if my father lived or died. She hit the deepest, rawest nerve I had, reminding me that if Axel actually cared, he would never have handed control of my finances to another woman.
My entire body began to shake. The blood roared in my ears. I raised my right hand, fully intending to slap the smug smile off her face.
Before my palm could connect, Keri's hand shot out. She clamped her fingers around my wrist with surprising, vicious strength.
She violently shoved my arm back. The force threw me off balance. I stumbled backward, my ankles twisting in my cheap shoes, barely catching myself before hitting the marble floor.
Keri calmly smoothed the lapels of her white jacket. She purposefully arched her back, drawing my attention to the collar of her suit. Pinned to the fabric was a massive, brilliant-cut sapphire brooch.
My eyes locked onto the blue stone. My pupils contracted sharply. I knew that brooch. I had pointed it out to Axel in an auction catalog just last month, telling him how beautiful the vintage setting was.
Keri watched my face pale. Her smile turned victorious. She reached up and gently stroked the sapphire, loudly sighing that Axel had just given it to her as a gift for her three-year anniversary at the company.
It felt like a sledgehammer slammed directly into my sternum. All the oxygen rushed out of my lungs. I was begging for fifty thousand dollars to save a life, and Axel had casually dropped hundreds of thousands on a trinket for his mistress.
Keri watched me suffocate. She looked deeply satisfied. She turned her back to me and casually ordered the front desk to escort the trash out.
The two massive guards lunged forward. They grabbed me, one on each side, their thick fingers digging painfully into my biceps. They started dragging me toward the revolving doors.
I thrashed wildly. I kicked my legs, the rubber soles of my heels scraping against the pristine marble, creating a loud, screeching friction.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the heavy steel doors of the freight elevator slowly sliding open.
I stopped resisting for a fraction of a second, letting my weight drop. Then I stomped my heel down with all my strength, driving the stiletto point straight into the left guard's foot.
He grunted and his grip loosened. I violently twisted my torso, ripping my right arm out of the other guard's hold.
I bolted. I ran like a cornered leopard, abandoning all grace, sprinting blindly toward the open steel doors.
Keri shrieked, her composed facade breaking as she ordered them to grab me.
I threw my body sideways, squeezing through the closing gap of the freight doors. I slammed my fist against the button for the top floor, hitting it over and over.
The heavy doors slammed shut, cutting off Keri's voice.
"I have to see him today."
