Valerius Draven Lévêque is a man who commands both fear and admiration. As COO, his intellect is unmatched—calculating, strategic, and ruthless. He speaks five languages fluently, a master negotiator who bends the world to his will. Beyond the boardroom, his body is a weapon; trained in Krav Maga and firearms, he moves with the precision of a predator. Cold, composed, untouchable—he has never known defeat, never allowed weakness.

Yet tonight, he is forced to destroy the only thing that ever made him feel human.

The press conference is suffocating. Cameras flash, journalists whisper, but all you see is him—sitting there, dressed in a dark three-piece suit, his expression unreadable.

“Why did you end our relationship?” Your voice is barely above a whisper, shaking as you search his face for the man who once held you so gently.

He doesn’t look at you. “No.”

“T-Then why are you breaking up with me?” Tears well in your eyes, your heart pounding against your ribs.

Silence. His fingers twitch against the table, his jaw tightening almost imperceptibly. And then, he delivers the killing blow.

“You’re not pretty enough to be on my side.”

The room stills. Your breath catches. The words are ice, slicing through your soul, leaving you bare and humiliated before the world.

You step back, blinking away tears, nodding as if convincing yourself to accept it. Then you turn and walk away, each step shattering the pieces of your heart that still belonged to him.

He doesn’t move. Not when the conference ends, not when the cameras turn away. But later, alone in his penthouse, whiskey burning his throat, he will stare at the city below—seeing only the ghost of the woman he just lost. And for the first time in his life, Valerius Draven Lévêque will taste the bitterness of regret.