Damian didn't wait for confirmation.
---
He didn't need it.
---
By the time Evelyn returned—
He already knew.
---
"He touched your people."
---
Evelyn didn't deny it.
"Yes."
---
Silence.
---
That was enough.
---
Something in Damian—
Shifted.
---
Not slowly.
Not carefully.
---
Decisively.
---
"I'm done waiting," he said.
---
Evelyn looked at him.
---
"That's not new."
---
"No," Damian said quietly.
"This time it's different."
---
A pause.
---
"I'm not reacting to him."
---
His eyes locked onto hers.
---
"I'm removing him."
---
The room went still.
---
Because that—
Was not strategy.
---
That was war.
---
Evelyn stepped forward.
---
"You don't even understand what he is."
---
Damian didn't blink.
---
"I understand enough."
---
A beat.
---
"He touched you."
---
The words landed raw.
Unfiltered.
---
Not business.
Not structure.
---
Personal.
---
And for the first time—
Evelyn didn't answer immediately.
---
Because this—
Was the version of him she never had.
---
And could no longer use.