Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Dimitri’s POV
I woke to sunlight streaming through the windows and Isabella still in my arms. A smile formed on my lips at the sight of her.
Because the last time we’d spent the night together, I’d woken up to her hastily pulling on her clothes, her eyes filled with regret.
Like she’d made a mistake. Like she wished she could take it back.
It had gutted me more thoroughly than any physical wound could have.
And I was beyond thankful that this morning was different. There was hope for us yet.
Isabella was still asleep, her face peaceful. Her body was curled into mine, trusting, relaxed.
I allowed myself a few precious moments to just watch her. To memorize the way her lashes cast shadows on her cheeks, the way her lips were slightly parted in sleep, the way her hand rested over my heart like she was checking—even subconsciously—that it was still beating.
This. This was what I’d been fighting for.
Not just her presence, but this quiet intimacy. This peace. This sense of rightness that came from waking up beside your mate.
Her eyes fluttered open, finding mine immediately. And instead of the regret I’d braced myself for, I saw something else. Something tender and raw and achingly vulnerable.
“Hi,” she whispered.
“Hi.” I brushed a strand of hair from her face. “How are you feeling?”
“A little bit sore.” A small smile played at her lips. “And…happy. Is that allowed? Given the circumstances.”
“It’s required, actually.” I traced her cheekbone with my thumb.
She tilted her head up to kiss me, slow and sweet. When we finally pulled apart, she sighed contentedly. “We should probably check on Adele.”
“In a minute.” I tightened my arms around her. “Just let me have this. Just a few more minutes.”
“Okay,” she murmured against my chest. “A few more minutes.”
We stayed like that for perhaps ten minutes before reality intruded. Before we had to get up and face the day, and all the threats still waiting for us.
Hours later, I stood in the hallway outside Adele’s room, watching Isabella sleep in the chair beside our daughter’s bed. Her hands were clutched around Adele’s smaller one, even in sleep.
My phone buzzed silently in my pocket. A text from Edmund.
Edmund: Everything is in place. Security has confirmed Selene’s location. Board members have been notified of the emergency meeting. It’s time.
I looked back at Isabella and Adele one more time. My family. The two people who mattered more than anything else in this world.
Which was exactly why I had to do this now. Had to end this before Selene and Ethan made another attempt. Before they got lucky, and I lost everything that mattered.
I stepped into the room quietly, pressing a kiss to Adele’s forehead. She didn’t stir, still deep in sleep. Then I moved to Isabella, gently brushing a strand of hair from her face.
Her eyes fluttered open. “Dimitri?”
“I have to go,” I said softly. “I called for a board meeting at Ravencrest Global.”
She sat up straighter, immediately alert despite her exhaustion. “Now? What’s happening?”
“I’m ending this. Once and for all.” I cupped her face, holding her gaze. “Stay here. Don’t leave this facility for any reason. I’ve doubled security. No one gets in or out without my explicit approval.”
Understanding dawned in her eyes, followed quickly by fear. “You’re going after Selene.”
“I’m going after everyone who’s threatened our family.” I kissed her forehead. “Trust me. By the end of today, this will all be over.”
“Dimitri—”
“I love you. Both of you. That’s why I have to do this now.”
She grabbed my hand before I could pull away. “Be careful. Please.”
“Always.”
I kissed her forehead and left.
The drive back to Virginia felt longer than usual.
I spent the entire time reviewing the evidence Edmund had compiled.
Five years of surveillance. Five years of carefully documented conversations, financial transactions, meetings.
Five years of watching Selene and Ethan weave their web, waiting for the perfect moment to spring the trap.
That moment was now.
My phone rang. It was Edmund.
“Status?” I answered.
“All board members present except Isabella, obviously. Ethan is connecting via video conference—apparently, he’s away dealing with ‘pack business’.” Edmund’s tone made it clear what he thought of that excuse. “Selene is here. She looks confident. Too confident.”
“Good. Let her be confident. Makes the fall that much harder.”
“Dimitri.” Edmund’s voice turned serious. “Are you sure about this? Once you play that recording, there’s no going back. This will destroy her. Her family’s reputation. Everything.”
“She tried to kill my daughter. Twice.” My voice was cold. “She deserves everything that’s coming to her and more.”
“Just making sure you’re ready for the fallout.”
“I’ve been ready for five years.”
I ended the call and pulled into the underground parking garage at Ravencrest Global. My building. My company. Built by my father and grandfather before him.
And Selene and Ethan thought they could just take it from me?
They were about to learn a very painful lesson.
The conference room was buzzing with tension when I walked in. Every board member was present, clustered in small groups and speaking in hushed voices. They all fell silent when they saw me.
Selene sat in her usual seat, perfectly composed in a navy suit. She looked every inch the Luna, the perfect corporate wife.
But I could see the calculation in her eyes. The anticipation.
She thought she was about to win.
“Thank you all for coming on such short notice,” I said, taking my seat at the head of the table. “I know this is irregular, but the matter we need to discuss couldn’t wait.”
“Indeed, it couldn’t.” Ethan’s voice came from the big screen in the room. He had a smug expression on his face. “I’m glad you called this meeting, Dimitri. Saves me the trouble.”
“Does it?”
“It does.” He leaned back in his chair, the picture of confidence. “Because I think we both know how this is going to end. The question is whether you’re going to resign peacefully or force us to humiliate you.”
Several board members shifted uncomfortably. A few looked at me expectantly, probably wondering if I was actually going to step down.
“If you resign now,” Ethan continued, “we’ll make it worth your while. Lifetime salary. Generous severance package. You can walk away with your dignity intact.”
“How generous,” I said dryly.
Selene stood, drawing all eyes to her. “However, if you insist on making this difficult, we’re prepared to proceed with a vote.
” She looked around the table, making eye contact with each board member.
“I move that Dimitri Ravencrest be removed as CEO of Ravencrest Global, effective immediately. And I further move that I be appointed as interim CEO until a permanent replacement can be found.”
The silence in the room was deafening.
She actually thought she could do this. Thought she could take my position, my company, everything my family had built.
I almost admired her audacity. I let the silence simmer, let the tension stretch on before I spoke, before I put the final nail in the coffin.
“Before we vote,” I said calmly, “there’s something everyone should hear.”
I nodded at Edmund, who was standing by the door.
He pressed a button on the remote in his hand.
The screen that had been showing Ethan’s face switched to audio playback, and the conference room’s speakers crackled to life.
“I can’t keep pretending much longer.” Selene’s voice, crystal clear. “Playing the devoted wife makes me sick.”
Selene’s face went white.
“You’ve been patient for five years, love. You can be patient a little longer.” Ethan’s voice, warm with affection I’d never heard directed at anyone else. “Once we have control of Ravencrest Global, once the pack accepts the transition, we can finally be together openly.”
“Five years, Ethan. Five years of pretending our bond doesn’t exist.”
“I know. But it’ll be worth it. Ravencrest Global, combined with Thorpe Industries and your father’s resources—we’ll be unstoppable. I’m more worried about Dimitri. He won’t just stand by and let us take his company. What are we going to do about him?”
There was a long silence before Selene spoke.
“That’s why we need to not just go for his company but his Mate, too. He’ll be too broken to fight back. Losing his company, his position, his Mate—it’ll destroy him. It might even kill him.”
The recording continued, laying out their entire conspiracy in damning detail.
How Selene had been Ethan’s Fated Mate all along.
How they’d hidden their bond for years, waiting for the right moment to strike.
How her marriage to me had been a strategic move, orchestrated with her father’s help to position her inside the Ravencrest family.
How they’d been planning this takeover for five years.
The room had gone deadly silent. Every board member sat frozen, staring at the speakers like they couldn’t quite believe what they were hearing
“That’s—that’s not—” Selene stammered, but her face had gone from white to red. Guilt and fury warring in her expression
The recording played on.
“What about the child?” Ethan’s voice asked.
“What about her? She’s a complication we’ll have to eliminate. I don’t care if she’s a child. We’ll kill her if we have to.”
I saw several board members physically recoil. Heard gasps of shock and horror.
They’d just heard Selene and Ethan casually discuss murdering my daughter and her mother.
The recording ended.
The silence that followed was suffocating.
I stood slowly, my eyes locked on the screen where Ethan’s face was showing again. He looked pale now, his smugness completely gone.
“I think that answers any questions about today’s vote,” I said, my voice deadly calm.
Ethan’s image flickered. “This is—you can’t—that recording is inadmissible. It was obtained illegally—”