The Billionaire’s Wedding Trap - Chapter 12: Chapter 12

Cain's trembling fingers hovered over the contract that would seal King Corporation's fate. The weight of the pen in his hand felt heavier than any decision he'd ever made. Every clause he reread twisted the knife deeper - this wasn't just business, it was surrender.
His stomach churned with the bitter truth: selling was his only exit strategy. The only way to walk away with scraps of dignity instead of bankruptcy papers. The investors had reluctantly agreed, but their condition haunted him - find a buyer who could restore King Corp's tarnished reputation.
As he poised to sign, the office door exploded inward. Aliya stood there, fury radiating from every pore. "You can't do this!" she shrieked, sending a coffee cup crashing to the floor. "After everything we sacrificed? Every battle we fought?"
Cain didn't bother meeting her gaze, his jaw clenched tight. "You mean every line you crossed? Every moral you made me abandon?"
Aliya's face drained of color. "This was our dream, Cain. Our partnership."
But the damage was done. Aliya had cost him everything - his name, his power, his self-respect. The mysterious buyer remained a corporate ghost, their identity hidden behind layers of shell companies, their pockets deep enough to make this nightmare disappear.
Across the building, Aliya paced like a caged panther, her manicured nails drawing crescent moons in her palms. Cain's arrogance had always been part of his charm, but this? Selling their hard-won empire to some shadowy figure? Letting Elle's legacy slip through their fingers?
No. Not happening.
She burst into the conference room without knocking.
"Get out, Aliya."
"Make me," she spat, slamming her fist on the mahogany table. "You're handing our life's work to some anonymous suit without—"
"This was never yours," Cain cut in, his voice like shattering glass. "It was Elle's. Before you... before you turned me into this."
Aliya's mask slipped for just a heartbeat before she steeled herself. "I saved you! Do you really think Elle would've stayed if she knew about her father? We built this—"
"You built a house of cards," Cain snapped, gesturing to the damning documents. "And now it's collapsing."
"You spineless coward," she hissed, her eyes burning with venom.
Before the confrontation could escalate, the doors swung open again.
The collective gasp was audible.
There, silhouetted against the office lights, stood a vision in black - a fitted dress accentuating every curve, stiletto heels clicking against marble, dark waves cascading over shoulders. When she removed her sunglasses, time seemed to stop.
Cain's heart stuttered. Aliya recoiled as if struck.
Elle Macmillan had returned.
The air crackled as she strode to the head of the table - the buyer's seat - her gaze glacial.
"Elle?" Cain barely managed to choke out. "What—"
"Good morning," she addressed the room, her voice crisp as a winter morning. "I'm Elle Macmillan, King Corporation's new owner. My legal team has forwarded the transfer terms."
"Macmillan?" Cain interjected. "You mean Blackwood."
Elle didn't grace him with a glance, reaching for the documents instead. "This appears to be where I sign."
Cain's mouth went desert-dry. The woman before him bore Elle's face, but the fire in her eyes... that was something entirely new.