---- Chapter 6 Athena POV: | walked out of Hardin's office on legs that felt like jelly. The moment | was in the elevator, | pulled out my phone and dialed. "Eliot? It's me. Is the account ready?" "Athena! Yes, everything is set up. Are you okay? You sound..." "I'm fine," | lied, my voice tight. "Just get it done. As fast as you can." | hung up before he could ask more questions. As the elevator doors slid open to the grand lobby of Morrison Dynamics, | saw Carina standing there, blocking my path, a smug, victorious smile on her face. | tried to walk around her, to ignore her, but she stepped in front of me again, grabbing my arm. "Where do you think you're going?" she sneered, her voice loud enough for the milling employees to hear. "Running away after you've been exposed?" She turned to the growing crowd. "This woman," she announced, her voice ringing with false indignation, "is a fraud. She tried to pass off my work as her own." A collective gasp went through the lobby. People stopped and ---- stared, whispering amongst themselves. My face flushed a deep, mortifying red. My entire body trembled with fury. | took a deep breath, fighting the urge to scream, to scratch her eyes out. | couldn't make a scene. Not yet. | wrenched my arm from her grasp. "Get out of my way, Carina." | tried to push past her, to escape the cage of judging eyes, but she blocked me again. "Not so fast," she purred. "You owe me an apology. A proper one." Her eyes glittered with malice. "On your knees. Beg for my forgiveness, and maybe I'll ask Hardin not to sue you into oblivion." That was it. The last thread of my control snapped. "! will never apologize to you," | seethed, slapping her hand away. Her expression shifted in an instant. The smugness vanished, replaced by a theatrical look of hurt. Her eyes welled with crocodile tears. "Hardin!" she cried out, her voice trembling. Hardin appeared at the top of the nearby staircase. He took in the scene-me, red-faced and furious; Carina, looking like a wounded doe. His face hardened. He descended the stairs, his eyes fixed on me with cold disappointment. He didn't even ask what had happened. He didn't need to. He had already chosen his side. "Athena, apologize to Carina," he commanded, his voice leaving no room for argument. "Let's put this unpleasantness ---- behind us." | stared at him, my heart turning to a shard of ice in my chest. He was going to make me do this. Here. In front of everyone. "This is getting embarrassing for the company," he added, his voice dropping to a low warning. "Don't make it worse." His words extinguished the last spark of fire within me. | looked at his cold, unforgiving face, and | knew it was useless. A sharp kick to the back of my knees sent me crashing to the hard marble floor. One of Hardin's bodyguards stood over me, his face impassive. "Mr. Morrison's orders," he grunted, placing a heavy hand on my head and forcing it down. "Apologize." My forehead hit the cold floor. Humiliation, hot and bitter, flooded my senses. "There," Carina said, her voice dripping with triumph. "That's more like it." She walked over to Hardin, linking her arm through his. He didn't spare me another glance. He just turned and walked away with her, leaving me on the floor like a piece of trash. | pushed myself up, my knees aching, my entire being shrouded in shame. My phone was dead. | walked home, my movements stiff and robotic, each step an agony. | was just a block from the mansion when | turned into a ---- quiet side street. Suddenly, hands grabbed me from behind. A black cloth was shoved over my head, and a rough hand clamped over my mouth, stifling my scream. | was dragged into a dark, foul-smelling alley. My hands and feet were bound with rough rope. When the bag was ripped from my head, | saw them. Three homeless men, their eyes glowing with a predatory hunger in the dim light. Their clothes were ragged, and they reeked of cheap alcohol and desperation. "Well, well, what do we have here?" one of them rasped, his yellowed teeth flashing in a grotesque smile. "A pretty little bird, all alone." "| have money," | stammered, my voice trembling with terror. "| can give you whatever you want. Just let me go." The man laughed, a harsh, grating sound. "We don't want your money, sweetheart. We want you." My stomach churned. My blood ran cold. | squirmed against my restraints, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird. "Please," | begged, my voice cracking. "Please, no." They closed in around me. One of them grabbed the collar of my dress and ripped it, the sound of tearing fabric deafening in the silence of the alley. Tears of pure, abject terror streamed down my face. This was it. This was how it ended. ---- My thrashing hand brushed against something hard and solid on the ground-a loose brick. With a surge of adrenaline, | gripped it and swung wildly, connecting with one of the men's heads with a sickening crack. He staggered back, howling in pain, which only enraged the others. A rain of kicks and punches fell upon me. Pain exploded in my head, my ribs, my stomach. My lip split, and | tasted the coppery tang of my own blood. My vision started to blur. | heard the sound of a belt buckle being unfastened. Just as my consciousness began to fade, | heard a furious roar. "Get the hell away from her!" Through the swimming darkness, | saw a figure. Tall, powerful, radiating fury. It was Hardin. He was a whirlwind of violence, dispatching the men with a brutal efficiency that was terrifying to behold. Then he was kneeling in front of me, cutting my bonds, his face a mask of frantic concern. "Athena, are you okay? I'm here. You're safe." He gathered me into his arms. The last thing | saw before the world went black was the calculated, triumphant gleam in his eyes. He had saved me. 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