His Private Hell - Chapter 10: Chapter 10

The day Walter Thorne’s world ended, it was raining in New York.
Not the gentle kind of rain. It came in sheets—angry, relentless, as if the sky itself wanted to punish the city. Garrison watched it from a penthouse window, sleeves rolled, chest bruised, jaw set like a blade.
Eella stood behind him, watching his reflection more than the storm.
“You know he’s going to fight back,” she said. “He’ll call in everything he’s buried.”
“He already has.” Garrison turned, tossed her a black flash drive. “But I’ve buried deeper.”
She caught it. “What’s on this?”
“Proof. He used Ally’s Inc to smuggle medical data to regimes under embargo. Real people died.”
Eella stared at it. “You could’ve led with that.”
“I needed you angry, not merciful.”
“I’m never merciful.”
He smiled faintly. “That’s why I stayed.”
The doorbell rang.
Garrison raised a brow. “Expecting company?”
“No.”
She opened the door.
Darcie.
Bruised, mascara-smudged, and trembling like a ghost that didn’t know it was dead.
“You ruined me,” Darcie hissed. “You… you took everything.”
Eella’s voice was razor calm. “You sold me first.”
“I thought you’d understand!” Darcie lunged forward. “We wanted the same thing—power, respect—”
“No,” Eella cut in. “I wanted to change the world. You wanted to own it.”
Behind her, Garrison stepped forward. “You should go.”
Darcie’s eyes flicked to him, full of poison. “He’ll leave you, Eella. Men like him always do.”
Garrison just smiled. “You should worry about your indictment, not my commitment issues.”
Darcie spit at him, but it didn’t land. “Walter’s coming for you both.”
Eella didn’t flinch. “Tell him to hurry.”
⸻
Walter struck fast.
The next morning, the SEC froze Ally’s Inc assets under suspicion of fraud. Two board members resigned. Whispers leaked to the press about illicit trials, bribes, missing interns.
It was beautiful.
Garrison poured coffee and handed her a folder. “Anonymous tip lines are lit up. Your work.”
Eella took a sip. “Yours too. The leak hit Interpol.”
He looked pleased. “Good.”
“But it’s not enough,” she said. “Walter still breathes.”
Garrison leaned back. “He’s at the Manhattan Gala tonight. Accepting an award for innovation.”
She raised a brow. “Of course he is.”
“Big crowd. Big press. I can get us in.”
“No. I’ll get myself in.”
“Eella—”
She stood. “You want him to hurt? Watch him lose everything in public.”
“You sure you can handle that?”
She smiled. “Watch me.”
⸻
That night, the Met dripped in wealth and power.
Velvet ropes. Cameras. Private security. It was a circus of sins in black tie.
Eella walked through the entrance in a backless silk gown that clung to every inch of her. Her hair was pinned in soft waves, her mouth painted crimson.
She was the bomb beneath the ballroom.
Walter spotted her the moment she stepped into the light.
He froze mid-conversation. Then, like a good little tyrant, he smiled.
“Ms. Vance,” he said, drawing close. “You look… resurrected.”
“Careful,” she said. “I bite.”
Walter’s grin thinned. “I heard about Madrid. Impressive. But ultimately irrelevant. You’ve always lacked long-term vision.”
“And you’ve always lacked a soul.”
He chuckled, then leaned in. “Let me offer you a deal.”
“I’d rather be shot.”
“Still so dramatic.” He took her arm, guiding her toward the side corridor, away from the press. “You leak anything else, you’ll implicate Garrison too.”
She stilled. “What did you say?”
Walter’s smile turned cruel. “He’s in this deeper than you know. He used you to access the drives. To finish a job I gave him two years ago.”
Eella went ice-cold. “You’re lying.”
“Am I?” He stepped closer. “Ask him who killed Astrid’s sister. Ask him why he burned the Shanghai lab. He’s always been mine.”
She stepped back. “You’re bluffing.”
Walter just smiled.
“Enjoy your award,” she said.
He leaned close one last time. “Enjoy your heartache.”
⸻
She left the gala without looking back.
Garrison was waiting at the penthouse.
The second she stepped inside, he knew.
“What did he tell you?”
She didn’t answer. Just threw the flash drive on the table. “Why did you really help me?”
“Because you needed it.”
“That’s not an answer.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “I was working for him. At first. It was years ago. Before I knew what the hell he was really doing.”
Her heart cracked a little. “So it’s true.”
“I was embedded at Ally’s Inc under his order. I was supposed to assess potential threats. You were a rising star—too smart, too clean.”
“And too easy to seduce?”
He flinched. “That part wasn’t part of the mission.”
She laughed bitterly. “Don’t they always say that?”
Garrison crossed the room. “Eella. Listen to me. I walked away from that contract the day I realized you weren’t corruptible.”
She stared at him.
“I destroyed the Shanghai lab,” he admitted. “Because they were experimenting on stolen embryos. Human ones.”
She turned away, fighting nausea. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you needed to believe you had full control.”
“I don’t need your protection.”
“No,” he said softly, “you need the truth.”
Silence wrapped around them.
Then she spoke. “We end him. Together. Then we’re done.”
He nodded. “Then we’re done.”
⸻
The final move came at dawn.
Eella uploaded the remaining files to every press contact in her encrypted network. Garrison traced the shell companies to Walter’s inner circle and leaked the IP trail. By noon, the FBI issued a warrant.
By three p.m., Walter was in handcuffs.
And by nightfall, Eella Vance’s name trended worldwide.
She stood on the rooftop of her new headquarters, watching the city blink beneath her. The air smelled like victory.
Garrison joined her.
“No press statement?” he asked.
“They can draw their own conclusions.”
He lit a cigarette. “You’re dangerous when you’re quiet.”
She looked at him. “We’re over.”
“I know.”
“But I’ll miss you.”
“I’ll miss you more.”
He took her hand. Just once. Just briefly.
Then he walked away.
And she let him.