---- Chapter 20 Emily POV: The man who walked into my office was a stranger. The power, the arrogance, the predatory confidence that had once radiated from Killian Emerson was gone, stripped away with his fortune. In its place was the desperate, scrappy street kid | had met eight years ago, his eyes filled with a familiar, haunting mix of anger and despair. "Are you happy now?" he asked, his voice rough. He gestured vaguely at my office, at the empire | now commanded. "Is this what you wanted? To see me with nothing?" A small, cold smile touched my lips. "Yes," | said, my voice clear and steady. "l am very happy. Though | can't take all the credit. | only orchestrated it." He didn't look surprised. A flicker of something-resignation, perhaps-passed through his haunted eyes. "| suspected it was you. No one else knew my weaknesses so well." My mind flashed back to the countless nights | had spent by his side, helping him build his company from the ground up. | had proofread his business plans, coached him for investor meetings, celebrated his victories, and soothed his defeats. | had willingly, lovingly, handed him the keys to my own destruction. | had given up my own dreams, my own education, ---- to be the perfect, supportive partner, a choice that now felt like the ultimate act of self-betrayal. Power, | had learned, was a woman's greatest security. Not the power a man gives you, but the power you build for yourself. "Security," | said, my voice cutting through the silence. "Please escort Mr. Emerson out." Two large guards stepped forward. Panic flared in Killian's eyes. "No! Emily, please!" He rushed towards my desk, his hands outstretched in a pleading gesture. "Don't do this. Don't throw me away. | have nothing left. You're all | have." The pathetic desperation in his voice made my stomach turn. "You still don't get it, do you?" | said, my voice laced with a mixture of pity and disgust. "I am not the girl you left bleeding in a car wreck. | am not the woman who cried for you, who begged for you. That person is dead. You killed her." | leaned forward, my voice dropping to a merciless whisper. "And let's be honest, Killian. You're not here because you love me. You're here because you've lost. You're hemorrhaging money, your reputation is in tatters, and you see me as your last, best hope of salvaging something from the wreckage. You're not fighting for me. You're just finally giving up the fight against me." | stood up, walked around the desk, and kicked his legs out ---- from under him. He crumpled to the floor, his expression one of utter shock. "You're so naive," | sneered, looking down at him. He shook his head, tears welling in his eyes. "No, Em. It's not like that. | love you. Just... just tell me what | have to do. Let me make it up to you. Hit me, scream at me, ruin me completely... and then we can be okay again. We can go back to how it was." | almost laughed. The sheer, breathtaking arrogance of the man. "Go back?" | said, my voice dangerously soft. "Who the hell wants to go back with you?" His face contorted in pain. "Why not? Why can't we just-" "Because you let her hurt me!" | screamed, the rage | had kept so tightly controlled finally erupting. "You stood by and watched your 'amusement' systematically try to destroy me, and you did nothing! Because you were a coward, too bored and arrogant to care about anyone but yourself!" My voice dropped to a contemptuous whisper. "The sight of you, groveling on my floor... it's just pathetic. You're pathetic." He broke then. A raw, guttural sob tore from his throat. "| was bored!" he cried, his voice cracking like a terrified child's. "| was just bored! It was a game! It never meant anything! She never meant anything! It was always you, Emily! Only you!"