"Damien Point Of View''
The wheels touched down with the usual jolt—too smooth to jolt me, too sharp to forget where I was. Home. Not that I ever called it that. The city skyline cut across the dawn like steel teeth, all glass and greed. Perfect match for me.
Chloe Fairbanks stretched beside me, all glossy hair and curated charm. She had that look, the kind that says she was waiting for a diamond ring and a grand proposal splashed across the front page. I just didn't have the heart to tell her she wasn't going to get either.
"Smile," she said softly, her voice dripping with sweetness. "The press is already lined up."
I didn't look at her. Instead, I adjusted my cufflinks, gold and cold. My assistant, Jeremy, stood outside the private jet door, tablet in hand.
"Mr. Lu," he began the moment I stepped out onto the tarmac, "your 8:30 meeting with legal is confirmed. They finalized the draft. All that's left is a signature."
I took the tablet without breaking stride. Chloe posed for the cameras, her hand curling around my elbow like ownership. I hated being touched when I hadn't invited it. I tolerated her because she was useful—beautiful, sharp, connected. A good mask.
But I didn't bring her back for that. I brought her back because I needed this tied up fast. Clean. No headlines.
The file blinked on the screen: Marriage Dissolution Inquiry: Ella Lu.
The name twisted something in my gut. Not guilt. Guilt requires memory. And I couldn't remember her face. Just her name. Ella.
Two years ago, I married a stranger in a courthouse because my grandmother had a twisted sense of legacy. "No marriage, no empire," she'd said. So I picked a girl at random from the waiting area. She needed cash. I needed a wife. We signed. No ring. No photos. I boarded a flight to Zurich within the hour.
Now that the empire was mine, she wasn't needed. Neither was the contract between us.
Jeremy spoke again as we slid into the black car waiting beyond the security gate. "Do you want her contacted directly or through legal?"
"Find her address. Have the papers delivered. Quietly."
"Understood."
Chloe slid in next to me, her perfume enveloping the space with a deliberate allure. "So," she said with a sultry tone, "when do you plan on making it official?"
I found myself gazing out the window, watching the traffic crawl along the expressway, horns honking and engines sputtering.Home.
"Chloe. Not now."
She crossed her legs and leaned in. "You brought me back for a reason, Damian. I'm not an idiot."
"Then don't act like one."
Her smile froze, just for a second. But she recovered. Chloe always did. "Fine. But don't expect me to wait around forever."
I didn't answer. My phone vibrated. New message. From legal.
> Status: Ella Lu listed under employee records. Division: Operations.
Employee?
I stared at the message, pulse flicking once.
"Change of plans," I said to Jeremy. "Don't send the papers yet."
Jeremy looked up from his tablet. "Sir?"
"I want to know who she is before I erase her."
Chloe narrowed her eyes. "Erase who?"
I didn't answer. I was already scrolling through employee records. No photo. Just the name.
Ella Lu.
There it was again. That flicker. Not emotion. Instinct.
"She works for me?"
"Apparently she joined six months ago," Jeremy said. "Quiet hire. Contracted through admin first, then absorbed into full-time."
That made my neck prickle. Coincidence or intention?
"Pull her file. I want a full background. Everything. Where she lives, where she's been, who she talks to in the building."
Chloe laughed. "Are we investigating your wife now? That's a little... dramatic, even for you."
"Just cover your mouth and let me think."
Chloe's eyes flared.
She clicked her lipstick closed with a snap. "You know, you're not really funny when you're all tense like this."
I wasn't even trying to be funny.
I glanced back at the screen, feeling the weight of the moment. No face. Just the name.
Ella Lu.
Why the hell couldn't I remember her?
My phone buzzed again. Another message. This one from Corporate HR.
> New employee directory update attached. Includes internal ID numbers and floor assignments.
I opened the document. Found her line.
Employee 4659 | E. Lu | Operations Division, 18th Floor
I memorized it in an instant.
"Jeremy, I'd like to take a stroll around the 18th floor this morning."
Announce it as a spontaneous leadership visit. No need to warn anyone."
"Yes, Mr. Lu."
Chloe made a noise of protest. "We have a brunch interview with Harper & Co. at eleven."
"Cancel it."
She leaned forward, teeth gritted. "This is bad optics, Damian."
I didn't care. My brain had already left the car.
I had to see her.
Not to remember. Not to feel. Just to confirm. To clear the fog. The unease clinging to my ribs like smoke.
If Ella Lu worked for me, then fate had shoved her back into my path. I didn't believe in fate. But I did believe in unfinished business.
And nothing was more unfinished than a wife I couldn't name if she stood in front of me.
My phone lit up again. Jeremy had already queued her personnel file to my inbox.
I opened it. Blank photo.
Smart.
Very smart.
But not smart enough.