She had spent the last hour coordinating with her Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Marcus, who was now terrified but fully committed to executing Elara's "nuclear option"-a poison pill defense that would make Kincaid's 15% stake worthless if he pushed further. The company was momentarily stabilized, but she needed to face the snake in the garden one last time.
She changed into a pristine, steel-gray suit-sharp, powerful, and utterly unforgiving. She applied her makeup with meticulous care, masking the exhaustion and the faint, unsettling flush of early pregnancy. Her hair was pulled back into a severe, elegant bun. She looked every inch the Ice Queen, ready for battle. No weakness. Not now.
She called Kincaid Global directly, bypassing the layers of assistants and VPs. She demanded to speak to Kaius.
"Tell him Elara Vane is here to deliver his payment in person," she instructed his startled Executive Assistant.
Twenty minutes later, Elara stood in the monolithic, sterile reception area of Kincaid Global. Every detail screamed unassailable power. A guard led her up to Kaius's penthouse office on the highest floor, where the silence was broken only by the distant hum of the city.
Kaius Kincaid was exactly where she expected him to be: standing by his floor-to-ceiling window, bathed in the sharp afternoon light. He looked utterly relaxed, a predator who had just finished his kill. His lips curled into that familiar, arrogant smirk when she entered.
"Vane. I'm surprised you showed your face. I assumed you were too busy crying over the loss of your company," he drawled, not moving from his spot. "And you didn't need to return the money. It was a gesture."
His callousness ignited a fresh wave of blinding fury in her. She walked across the vast office space, her heels clicking against the marble floor, each step measured and deliberate.
She didn't speak. Instead, she reached into her sleek, metallic briefcase and pulled out the crisp, white Kincaid stationery-the note he had left her that morning.
She threw it onto his massive mahogany desk. It landed with a soft, insulting thud.
"A gesture?" Elara's voice was low and steady, laced with venom. "You call that note and your pathetic little stack of bills a gesture? I call it a declaration of war, Kincaid. And you've made a fatal mistake."
He finally turned, his grey eyes narrowing slightly, intrigued by her intensity. "A mistake? Because I bought 15% of your falling stock? I assure you, my dear Elara, the only mistake was delaying the inevitable."
Elara placed her hands flat on the desk, leaning in. Her proximity was purely aggressive. "The mistake was assuming that the price you put on my time, Kincaid, was sufficient. It wasn't."
She pulled out a certified bank check from her briefcase. It was made out to Kincaid Global. The number was staggering.
She slid it across the desk toward him.
Kaius looked down. The amount was $50 Million.
"What is this?" he asked, his voice losing some of its easy confidence.
"My payment to you," Elara stated, her eyes flashing. "For wasting my time last night. For forcing me to spend today cleaning up the mess your arrogance created. Consider it an excessive fee for an utterly mediocre experience."
Kaius picked up the check, his jaw clenching. His handsome features darkened with genuine outrage. She had just insulted his performance, his power, and his money in one devastating move.
"You arrogant bitch," he ground out, crumpling the check in his fist. "You think $50 million covers the loss of the Singapore deal and your company's market share? You are delusional."
"No," Elara replied, stepping back slightly, her expression icy. "That $50 million covers the fact that last night, you thought you conquered me. You thought you bought my silence. That money is your rejection, Kincaid. You are rejected. And you are about to lose everything."
Elara didn't give him time to react. She knew her energy was failing, the nausea threatening to betray her at any moment. She had to be quick and surgical.
"As of ten minutes ago, Kincaid Global's acquisition of Vane Industries stock triggered a Poison Pill Protocol," she announced, watching the shock register in his eyes. "Your 15% stake? It just diluted into a toxic liability. Your hostile takeover is dead in the water. You overplayed your hand, Kincaid."
His expression shifted from anger to a chilling, analytical coldness. "You lied to your board? You risked shareholder confidence just to spite me?"
"I secured my company," she corrected him. "I don't lose, Kincaid. And now, I want a firm agreement. You will withdraw your stake from Vane Industries and cease all aggressive corporate activities, or I will initiate a series of financial maneuvers that will turn your 'Shadow King' title into the 'Beggar King' by the end of the month."
She was bluffing on the immediate maneuvers, but her confidence was flawless.
Kaius walked around the desk, stopping right in front of her. His proximity was intimidating, his tall shadow enveloping her.
"You've got fire, Elara. I'll give you that," he murmured, his grey eyes piercing hers, searching for the crack in her armor. "But threats won't work. I am not done with you. I don't like being insulted.
I don't like being rejected. And I certainly don't like being told 'no'."
He reached out and traced the sharp line of her jaw with his thumb, a gesture that was both possessive and threatening. Elara fought the instinct to flinch away, holding his gaze fiercely.
"Go ahead and buy the stock back, Kincaid. But understand this: I am untouchable," she warned, her voice barely a whisper. "The only thing you achieved last night was securing my lifelong ambition to witness your total destruction."
She then stepped back, pulling away from his touch. "Enjoy your victory, Kincaid. Because you just ensured my silence and my future peace."
Elara turned on her heel and walked out of the office without another word, leaving the crumpled check and the enraged billionaire behind her. She didn't look back. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her weakness.
Downstairs, her security detail-a new, highly discreet team hired this morning-whisked her into a black armored car.
She immediately texted Clara: Go. Geneva. Now.
An hour later, Elara was strapped into the luxurious leather seat of her private jet as it roared down the runway. She watched the New York skyline shrink, taking the city, Kaius, and the terrifying knowledge of his child, with it.
As the plane leveled out over the vast, endless ocean, the adrenaline finally crashed. Elara felt a wave of dizziness so profound it forced her to close her eyes. The nausea was back, stronger than ever. She leaned back, pressing a cold, damp cloth to her forehead.
I am safe. I am gone.
But as she reached for the cloth, her hand brushed against the small, flat surface of her abdomen. She was leaving New York as a CEO in exile, but she was leaving Kaius Kincaid with something far more devastating than a financial loss: a secret heir he didn't know existed.
Back in his office, Kaius was staring out the window, his jaw rigid, the crumpled check still burning in his hand. No one had ever insulted him like that. No one had ever rejected his money, his power, and him with such cold, calculated contempt.
He slowly smoothed out the check on his desk. $50 million for a night of sex. The sheer audacity was breathtaking.
He had meant to crush her company today, to break her spirit, and then perhaps force her into a merger, controlling her both professionally and intimately. But she had played him. She had used his victory celebration to lure him into a trap, secure her company, and then deliver the most humiliating rejection of his life.
He grabbed his phone and barked orders to his security chief: "Find Elara Vane. Track her jet. I want to know where she is going and who she's meeting. I want to know everything."
The security chief called back two minutes later, his voice baffled. "Mr. Kincaid, the Vane jet is airborne, but she filed a flight plan with a fake medical cover story. No clear destination is confirmed, and she just terminated all her cell lines. She's vanished, sir."
Kaius felt a cold, empty vacuum open in his chest. Vanished?
He walked over to the desk, staring at the empty space where she had stood. Her scent-a sophisticated blend of jasmine and defiance-still lingered in the air.
She can't just disappear. She's mine. I have to finish this.
The rivalry, which had been about business, had suddenly become acutely personal. It wasn't about the money or the company anymore. It was about possession, humiliation, and the sudden, burning need to reclaim the only woman who had ever dared to stand up to the Shadow King.
I will find you, Elara. And when I do, you will regret ever thinking you could escape me.
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Alpha's Rejected Mate: A Billionaire's Unexpected Surprise 
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