Adira's POV
I didn't even wait until the day ended.
By the time the broadcast was over, my phone was buzzing nonstop investors congratulating me, staff cheering quietly in the office corridors, even rivals acknowledging me with reluctant respect.
But instead of relief, all I felt was heat rising in my chest.
Jayden Craig had just painted a target on my back.
By evening, I was in his office, the London skyline glittering behind him. He looked up from his desk, calm as always, as if he hadn't just shifted the media storm in a single afternoon.
"You had no right," I snapped, slamming the door behind me.
His brow arched. "No right to tell the truth?"
"No right to drag me into your war with Ashley. Do you know what this looks like now? Like you've... chosen sides publicly. Like I need you to validate me."
He stood, slowly, his height forcing me to tilt my chin up. "Adira, I didn't validate you. I reminded the world of what you've already done."
My throat tightened. "Why? Why keep doing this?"
His gaze softened, just slightly. "Because I know what it's like to be underestimated. And because I promised myself a long time ago that when the world saw you, they'd see the truth not the shadow Ashley tries to throw over you."
For a second, I couldn't breathe. The memory of him as a boy, looking at me like I was more than I believed I was, flickered in my mind.
But the weight of his words terrified me. So I did the only thing I knew how to do.
I turned away. "Stay out of my battles, Jayden. I can fight them myself."
And then I walked out, heart racing.
Ashley's POV
I threw the magazine across the hotel suite, the glossy cover ripping as it hit the floor.
"Tech Mogul Backs Entrepreneur Over Model Sister."
My teeth ground together. How dare he? How dare she?
Adira, the plain little bookworm, the girl who never had my shine — now plastered across headlines because Jayden Craig decided to play knight in shining armor.
I paced the suite, fury thrumming under my skin. If Jayden thought he could humiliate me publicly, he had another thing coming.
Because nobody — not even my twin sister — outshines me for long.
I picked up my phone, dialing one of the agents who had been courting me for weeks. If Jayden wouldn't play my game, I'd find his enemies who would.
Let's see how long Adira keeps her throne when I set the board against her.
Jayden's POV
She was angry with me. I could see it in her eyes, the fire, the fight.
But beneath her words, I had seen something else.
Not rejection. Not hate.
Fear.
Fear of needing someone. Fear of me.
And that meant I was closer than she realized.