Chapter 31
Chapter 31:
The elevator doors slid open with a soft, expensive hush. Azalea stepped out first, her laughter bouncing off the floor-to-ceiling windows and the city skyline beyond.
“Did you see her face?” Azalea gasped, clutching her stomach. “Celeste looked like she swallowed a whole lemon. A really sour, cheap lemon p>
Eliza followed, the adrenaline from the campus confrontation still humming beneath her skin — jittery and sharp, like too much caffeine. For the first time in years, she hadn’t simply absorbed the blow. Azalea had struck back for her, wielding the Koch name like a riot shield.
“It was intense,” Eliza admitted, setting her bag on the console table. Her hands were still trembling slightly. “Thank you, Az. I don’t know what I would have done p>
“You would have crushed her,” Azalea said, kicking off her sneakers. “I just sped up the process p>
She spun around, mimicking Celeste’s horrified expression, puffing out her cheeks and widening her eyes. “My daddy will hear about this!” she squealed in a high-pitched mockery.
Laughter bubbled up in Eliza’s throat — a release of tension she hadn’t realized she’d been carrying.
Then the temperature in the room seemed to drop twenty degrees.
Dallas was sitting on the grey suede sofa. He held a tablet in one hand, his posture rigid, ankles crossed. He wasn’t looking at the screen. He was looking at them — his face a mask of stone, the kind of expressionless void that made board members sweat through their Italian suits.
“Did you enjoy your performance p>
𝗨𝗉d𝖺𝗍𝗲ѕ e𝘃e𝗿y we𝗲k 𝘰𝗻
His voice was low and completely without warmth. It cut through Azalea’s laughter like a blade.
Azalea froze mid-spin. Her smile vanished, replaced by the wary look of someone who has crossed a line they didn’t see coming. She took a half-step back, positioning herself slightly behind Eliza’s shoulder.
“She started it,” Azalea said, her earlier bravado thinning. “She insulted Eliza. In front of everyone p>
Dallas stood. He seemed to fill the room, blocking out the city lights behind him. He crossed toward them slowly, each step deliberate.
“And your solution was to use the family name as a weapon?” he asked. “To announce to the entire university — and by extension, the local press — that Eliza is under Koch protection p>
“It worked!” Azalea argued, chin jutting out. “They were terrified. Celeste ran p>
“It was reckless,” Dallas said. He stopped three feet from them. His eyes were dark, unreadable, and utterly intent. “You painted a target on her back. You put a spotlight on her that she isn’t ready for p>
Eliza felt a surge of guilt. Azalea had only been trying to help. She stepped forward and placed herself between Dallas and his daughter.
“Dallas, don’t blame her,” Eliza said, her voice steady despite the hammering in her chest. “She protected me. I was cornered p>
Dallas’s eyes snapped to Eliza. The force in them stole the breath from her lungs. He wasn’t looking at her like a business partner. He was looking at her like a man who had just found a scratch on something irreplaceable.
“I do not need a teenager to protect my wife,” he said.