The press conference was called within hours.
No spin. No delay. No negotiation.
I stood just beyond the lights, heart racing, watching Adrian take the stage. He looked calm—dangerously so—the kind of calm that came before destruction or rebirth.
Cameras flashed. Murmurs rippled through the room.
"Mr. Blackwood," a reporter called, "are the rumors true? Is your personal life affecting your leadership?"
Adrian didn't flinch.
"Yes," he said simply.
The room stilled.
"My decisions have changed," he continued. "Not because I've grown weak—but because I've grown honest."
Gasps. Whispers. Shock.
A board member shifted uncomfortably near the front row.
"For years, I believed power required distance," Adrian said. "Control. Isolation. Fear." His gaze lifted—and found me.
"I was wrong."
Every camera followed his line of sight.
"I won't deny that my relationship has influenced me," he went on. "I welcome it. Because for the first time, my choices are rooted in something real."
A reporter stood abruptly. "Are you saying you're willing to risk your empire for her?"
Adrian's answer came without hesitation.
"I already did."
Silence crashed down like a wave.
"This company will move forward without manipulation, without threats, and without anyone who believes loyalty can be coerced," he said calmly. "If that costs me allies, so be it."
He stepped away from the podium.
But then he stopped.
"One more thing," he added, turning back. "Any attempt to use her as leverage against me ends now. Permanently."
The implication was unmistakable.
Security moved. The conference dissolved into chaos.
Adrian crossed the room toward me, ignoring every voice calling his name. When he reached me, he didn't speak—he simply took my hand.
"You didn't have to do that," I whispered, overwhelmed.
"Yes," he said quietly. "I did."
Outside, the city roared with reaction—markets shifting, power structures trembling—but inside that quiet hallway, there was only us.
"I choose you," Adrian said, his voice steady, unbreakable. "Not as a weakness. As my strength."
Tears blurred my vision.
And as we walked away together, I understood the truth fully:
This wasn't the end of his empire.
It was the end of fear ruling it.