He broke her heart. Another wants to heal it. Time is running out, and Chloe must choose.
***
Asian American finance analyst Chloe Carter's life is unraveling. After losing her job, she bumps into Damian Scott-the billionaire who shattered her heart...
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Dinner at the opulent Riviera restaurant was anything but pleasant for Damian. As Scott-Quinn Enterprises' chief financial officer, his presence at the work dinner was obligatory. Entangled in a web spun by his influential family—with his uncle Nick as CEO and his father Alistair at the helm of the board of directors—escaping these gatherings was a futile wish.
Scott-Quinn Enterprises was a colossus, with ventures that buoyed Lester Harbor's economy and reached beyond. His father and Uncle Nick's foray into sustainable energy, real estate, and tech was impressive and vital. Yet, Nick's venture into the grey areas with Angelo Lucciano, a mafia boss with a veneer of respectability, troubled Damian. But even Lucciano paled compared to the dark dealings of Damian's mother, Saira Quinn, now pulling strings from her jail cell.
"Good evening, Gemma," Damian greeted, his voice strained as he kissed the cheek of the woman beside him. The grandeur of their surroundings mocked him, a glaring reminder of the empty glamour of his existence. He longed for the authenticity of the roadhouse diner near Montville University, where he and Chloe sought refuge in a burger during a torrential downpour—a lifetime ago.
"You're late," Gemma hissed, her eyes narrowing into icy slits before morphing into a disingenuous smile for the other guests. Her beauty, though striking, was cold and uninviting, much like the caviar she enjoyed—overpriced and stale, a far cry from the simple pleasures Damian craved.
With her platinum hair and tall, slender figure, Gemma Rochefort was every man's dream. Yet she was the antithesis of what he desired. She was an emblem of luxury without a soul. Tied to his mother's dark legacy, Gemma was a constant reminder of the sacrifices he made to protect his half-sister, Hope.
Gemma's presence tonight was strategic, a part of a broader agreement to shield his family, particularly Hope, from his mother's machinations. Sacrificing his chance at true happiness with Chloe was a bitter pill he swallowed for family's sake, leaving him trapped in a life he never chose.
"I missed you," Gemma purred, her touch as unwelcome as her presence. She stirred a mix of disgust and pity within Damian. How different his world would be if the woman he truly loved were by his side instead.
"Likewise." He smiled tersely, his voice hollow. Memories of Chloe lingered painfully in his heart.
Why Gemma, indeed?
She was his mother's protégé, an unwelcome reminder of Saira's destructive path—her alliances with the underworld and her role in despicable acts that exploited the innocent. Yet, Gemma was a chess piece in a game of familial loyalty and protection, a stark embodiment of his mother's manipulative legacy.
Damian's memories were haunted by nights of vulnerability where young trafficking victims sought refuge in his room during his mother's wild sex parties. These distressing occasions, orchestrated for the elite's indulgence, blurred the lines of morality for entertainment. Even as her son, Damian was not spared the unsettling advances of a paying guest, a transgression propelling him to flee his mother's home. He was barely a teenager at the time.
