Chapter 39
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Knox
It’s just after sunset.
My sources finally tracked Chad down.
I pull up outside his apartment building and kill the engine on my motorcycle.
He’s been out all day, slipping through the cracks, making himself a ghost. But fifteen minutes ago, he walked into his apartment.
I guess I’d make myself scarce, too, if I were in his shoes. He’s not entirely stupid. He would have at least considered that I’d find out he leaked the information to the press.
From what the cybersecurity team found, I’m sure he knows about the marriage contract, too.
If that’s the case, I don’t know what he plans to do with it. Nothing more has happened today.
Maybe that will be tomorrow’s headline. One scandal a day.
Dorian wanted to send the cops, but I wanted to deal with Chad myself. Man to man.
I get off my bike and make my way toward the building. Rage has consumed me all fucking day. It doesn’t help that I haven’t been able to reach Isla. I’ve been calling all day.
Earlier, the phone rang, but now it goes straight to voicemail. It’s clear she doesn’t want to speak to me.
My sources tracked her going to her mother’s place, so I decided to leave her alone and call off my watch dogs. She deserves some peace from me. Some privacy and space.
Just for today. I’ll allow her the rest of the night to breathe and process. But come tomorrow… I have to see her. I won’t make the mistake of leaving things unsettled between us for too long.
I’m still conflicted about what to do, but that doesn’t mean I won’t fight for her.
I walk inside the building and take the stairs two at a time.
When I reach Chad’s floor, I try to calm myself so I won’t choke the life from his miserable body.
That motherfucker exposed me to ruin what I have with Isla. Even though I’m fully to blame, he’s riled me up in the worst way because he trapped me in my own game.
I guess I can’t fault him too much. Because again. My fault.
I just hate that he called me out. Him—the worm.
I reach his door and am about to knock when I see it’s cracked open.
My pulse drops, and my nerves spike into a sharp state of awareness.
This feels like the beginning of one of those crime shows—where the detective walks in and finds a body, blood on the floors, a message written on the wall. Or something to incriminate himself.
After the day I’ve had, I no longer care about possibilities, even if they push me deeper down the abyss to hell. So, I push the door wider.
It creaks—a long, tired breath—revealing a narrow hallway. I step inside and follow the hallway into the living room
And that’s where he is.
Chad sits in an armchair, elbows on his knees, staring at the floor like he’s waiting for judgment.
Like he knew I’d come.
And I wonder if he left the door open for me.
Part of me thinks he did.
Slowly, he lifts his head and our eyes lock.
His look is… wrong. Hollow and empty. Like a man on the edge of something irreversible.
It doesn’t add up. Today was supposed to be his grand moment. He got one over on the great Knox Vale.
Victory should look smug. This look… It’s defeat.
He breaks the silence first. “Come here to beat me up?”
I walk toward him, slow and steady, stopping a few paces away. “Or maybe I came to kill you.”
He doesn’t flinch. Doesn’t move. Doesn’t even pretend to care.
Silence stretches between us, thick and heavy.
“I know what you did,” I continue when he says nothing.
“Obviously,” he mutters. “Or you wouldn’t be here.”
I study him. This fragile, unraveling version of him that looks like he’s given up.
Something is off.
The last time I saw him was in Italy. He fought me as best as he could. Now he looks like he’d allow me to beat him to a pulp and wouldn’t defend himself.
“Aren’t you even gonna fight?” I press.
He laughs once. Empty. “There’s nothing left to fight for, Knox Vale. You won.”
My brows pull together. “What the hell is that supposed to mean? You fucked all over my plans just to get Isla to hate me.”
His exhale is barely audible. “You did that all by yourself. I just opened her eyes so she could see what she was supposed to see. And still, she chose you.”
My stomach tightens, a quiet, involuntary clench that grips me in a chokehold. “What do you mean, she chose me?”
“I saw her today. I went to her house to talk it out.” He looks past me like he’s replaying it. “And she chose you.”
I stare back at him, not quite sure what move to make next. This wasn’t how I imagined our encounter. I was ready for a showdown of blood and gore.
“I want you to stay away from her,” I seethe.
“Fuck you. After what you did, you’re not going to tell me what to do.”
“I just fucking did.” I bare my teeth. “You crossed the line, pal.”
“I did what I had to do. Like I said in Italy—you don’t deserve her.
At least you’ve never pretended otherwise.
You know she could do better, but you’re still the one she wants.
” He reins in his fury, nodding toward the large envelope on the table.
“Everything’s in there. All the shit my PI dug up. Including the marriage contract.”
So, he did find it. But why is he giving me his files? “Handing me the files doesn’t erase what you did. You paid someone to break into my system and blast my life across national TV. I could bury you in so many lawsuits your great-grandkids would still be paying them off.”
“Then do it. Bury me in your lawsuits. Do whatever you want to me. I have nothing left to fight for. I’m giving you the files because she chose you. There’s little point exposing a sham marriage when her feelings are real.”
His words hit harder than I’m ready for, and for a second, I go still.
“Maybe I’m accepting defeat because the last thing I can do for her is let her go,” Chad continues.
“But I’m hoping you choose her, too. She’ll love you even if you don’t deserve it — because that’s what my girl is like.
But she won’t be happy if you go through with your plans for the restaurant.
Eventually, you’ll lose her. Take a real good look at me, Knox Vale.
This is what losing Isla looks like. Me. ”
His words dig straight under my ribs, tearing through every excuse I’ve been clinging to.
All I can do is stand there and taste the truth.
I don’t want to end up like him.
I can’t.
I’ve seen his fate. This—right here—is it. A man who knows he can’t fight anymore, forced to hand her over to someone else. I’m that someone else today.
But if I lose her, I’ll become Chad.
I refuse to become him.
So I can’t lose her.
That’s the answer. That’s it. Nothing more.
I have the power to keep her.
And I have the power to make her happy.
“I won’t lose her,” I vow.
“I hope so. For her sake.” He stares back at me with the empty eyes of a man who loved and lost.
I lean forward, pick up the envelope, and tuck it under my arm. I give him a single nod, then turn and leave.
By the time I step outside, a plan has already formed in my mind. Something outside the strict reins of my control.
But I’m doing it anyway.
All the members of the board are already in the meeting room when I arrive.
Though I’ve been eager for this moment since the sun came up, I purposely got there just in time. To make a statement—make them wait.
My father and brothers are at the head of the table. I take my seat on my father’s right hand.
While they know I called this meeting to discuss the press leak yesterday, they have no idea the decision I’ve come to.
All eyes shift to me.
Predators, every one of them.
People who don’t blink unless it benefits them. People who would tear apart the world for profit. People I once thought I was exactly like.
My father clears his throat, a warning disguised as authority.
“Now that Knox is here, we can start the meeting.” He nods to me, handing over control.
I lean back in my chair, slowly, letting my gaze sweep the room.
I take in the eager expressions staring back at me—expectant, hungry, self-satisfied.
Last night, I realized my biggest problem wasn’t salvaging my name.
It was the fact that I had to.
The fact that after so many years, I still had something to prove.
That was the problem.
I like to believe I have so much control, but with the exception of my family, I’ve allowed these people to hold too much power over me.
No more of it.
“What I have to say,” I begin, my voice calm and steady, “isn’t up for debate.”
That hooks their attention.
A ripple of tension cuts through the room, sharp enough to taste.
A few members shift in their seats, stiffening like they’re preparing for a fight they didn’t expect to face today.
My father steeples his hands, studying me with that calculating expression he’s perfected over decades.
“Go on,” he says, too smoothly. “We’re listening.”
“I’m pulling the plans for the restaurant demolition,” I announce.
Gasps break across the table like static. A few people jolt forward.
Lila Henderson mutters, “You can’t be serious.”
Dad’s jaw tightens. “Knox,” he speaks slowly, like he’s talking to a child, “that location is marked for redevelopment. It’s already been signed off. The projections—”
“I don’t care,” I cut in.
Silence slams into the room.
Not because of the words. Because of my tone.
Because I’ve never sounded like that in a board meeting before.
I lean forward, resting my forearms on the table. “That restaurant stays,” I continue. “It belongs to my wife and me through marriage. It stays exactly as it is. End of discussion.”
Predictably, chaos erupts. Voices overlap, and people talk over one another.
My brothers watch me.
Dorian with a spark of interest and a proud supportive smile. Levi with a raised brow. Locke with the faintest ghost of a smirk.
But my father…
He looks confused and a little like he’s seeing me for the first time. I’m not entirely sure that’s a good or bad thing.
He slams his hand against the table. “Enough!”