Chapter 191
Author’s POV
Nathan shot Aria one last cold glare, his chest heaving with barely suppressed rage, before he turned on his heel and strode out of the conference room.
He pulled out his phone as he walked, his thumb jabbing at the screen with more force than necessary.
“Pull the Holt Enterprises investment,” he barked into the phone to the legal department. “All of it. Now p>
His voice echoed down the hallway, sharp enough to make passing employees duck their heads and hurry past.
Behind him, Aria emerged from the conference room at a more leisurely pace, her expression calm and unreadable.
An hour later, Nathan sat in his office, jaw clenched as he tried to process the morning’s disasters.
His investment in Holt Enterprises had been meant to humiliate Aria, to drive a wedge between her and the Blackwood Pack. Instead, it had blown up in his face spectacularly.
His phone rang. HR.
“Mr. Smith, we need to speak with you. Now, if possible p>
The tone was carefully professional, but Nathan had worked in corporate environments long enough to recognize the underlying tension. Something was wrong.
He had a sinking feeling he knew exactly what it was.
When he reached the HR office, his suspicions were confirmed immediately.
Jennifer and Aria were already there, waiting.
Jennifer’s eyes flickered with nervousness when she saw him, but Aria’s presence beside her steadied her resolve. She straightened her shoulders, lifting her chin slightly.
Nathan stared directly at Jennifer as he took the seat across from her, his gaze hard and assessing.
Internally, his mind raced—yes, he was worried—but outwardly he kept his composure with practiced ease.
He’d underestimated Aria’s ability to recruit loyal followers. But manipulating a low-level employee should have been child’s play.
That Jennifer had chosen to side with Aria instead was unexpected. Irritating. But not catastrophic.
Most departments were staffed with people loyal to him, people who answered to Sylvia first. Even if Jennifer reported him, what could HR actually do?
He already had his excuses ready: monitoring Aria on Sylvia’s orders, keeping tabs on the family’s newest member.
Family business, not corporate espionage. What power did HR really have over a Vice President?
The HR representative was still opening her mouth when Aria cut in, voice crisp.
“Nathan, you have two options.” She leaned forward, green eyes locked on his.
“Option one: you apologize to Jennifer, guarantee you’ll never harass her again, and accept whatever discipline the company deems appropriate.
Option two: I make this public—not just to HR, but to Sylvia and the entire Board. We can discuss how you’ve been terrorizing junior employees and attempting corporate espionage, and see how they feel about the liability you’ve created p>
Her tone stayed pleasant, but steel ran underneath it. The HR representative looked caught between a Vice President and the heir to the Smith fortune, and coughed nervously.
Nathan laughed, cold and sharp. “Aria, I’m afraid I don’t follow p>
Aria didn’t blink. She pulled a file from the desk and flipped it open—screenshots, access logs, a timeline of his interactions with Jennifer.
“You sexually harassed my employee,” she said flatly, sliding it toward him, “and tried to coerce her into stealing confidential data. Both are grounds for immediate termination p>
Nathan glanced at the evidence, then at Jennifer. “You reported me?” His voice was soft. His eyes were ice.
Jennifer kept her head down, hands clasped tight. Good. She should be afraid.
“This proves nothing,” Nathan said, waving it off. “I was joking with her. Didn’t realize she’d take it seriously p>
He leaned back, crossing one leg over the other. “V&A Group’s always had a progressive attitude toward workplace relationships, as long as they’re disclosed.
So let me disclose it now—I’m interested in Jennifer romantically. Everything she’s calling ’harassment’ is just courtship she misunderstood p>
He watched the HR rep’s uncertain expression. Exactly what he’d hoped for.
Aria let out a cold laugh.
“Courtship? Is that what you call threatening someone’s job and family if they don’t comply? Maybe we should let legal clarify the difference between courtship and criminal coercion p>
“We’re family here, Aria,” Nathan said, voice hardening. “Why force this into something it’s not? Even if it goes further, I get a slap on the wrist. Jennifer p>
He glanced at her. “Her reputation gets destroyed p>
The threat was clear—paint her as a woman who’d tried to sleep her way up and cried harassment when it failed.
Jennifer’s eyes filled with tears, turning to Aria for reassurance. Nathan’s anger flared. So she did have a spine—enough to betray him.
But the second he pushed back, she crumbled. The hypocrisy of it made his blood boil.
“Jennifer,” he said, voice dropping low. “If you think you have a case, sue me. See how that works out p>
He paused. “And you’d better keep your performance spotless from now on. Aria might protect you today. She won’t forever p>
Jennifer flinched, pale.
But Aria’s expression darkened. “Nathan. Did you already forget what I told you in the conference room an hour ago p>
His hands clenched on the armrests. “Are you ever going to let this go p>
He knew he shouldn’t push her—she held evidence that could seriously damage him, proof of his work for Sylvia, financial irregularities.
If she came after him properly, a demotion would be the best outcome.
But no one had ever humiliated him like this, demanded he crawl over something as insignificant as a junior employee.
And Jennifer’s betrayal, after he’d been so careful to keep her controlled, stung worst of all.
“Apologize,” Aria said, her voice dropping to a deadly calm.
Her posture shifted subtly, her shoulders squaring, her chin lifting. Even without a wolf, she radiated an authority that made the HR representative take an instinctive step back.
Nathan felt his own wolf stir uneasily. The primal part of him recognized a predator when he saw one, even if that predator was human.
The silence stretched between them, tense and suffocating.
Jennifer couldn’t take it anymore. She reached out and tugged gently on Aria’s sleeve, her voice barely a whisper.
“Maybe… maybe we should just let it go p>