Chapter 63: Tahlia is fired.

Kael stiffened. "Are you sure?"

Soren scowled at him. "Did I stutter?"

"No, sir." Kael squared his shoulders. "I’ll process her dismissal right away."

He hurried out.

Several minutes later, the office door flew open.

"Soren..." Tahlia stormed in, her face flushed with rage.

"How could you fire me?" Her loud voice echoed inside the room. "I am your childhood sweetheart, the woman you love. You promised my father that you would let me work here. How could you go back on your word like this?"

Soren gave her an unforgiving look. "I agreed to let you work here because I believed you were a decent and reliable person. But after what I’ve discovered, I won’t allow you to stay in my company."

"What do you mean?" Tahlia snapped with confusion and rage.

Soren tossed a few photographs onto the desk. They slid across the polished surface before scattering onto the floor near her feet.

"Care to explain these."

Tahlia’s gaze dropped to the photographs. She bent down and picked one up. The moment she recognized the man standing beside her in the picture, the blood drained from her face.

’He was keeping a tab on me.’

Genuine fear crept onto her face. The photograph trembled in her hand.

Soren leaned forward, his hands flat on the desk. "The man confessed. He revealed what you had done back then."

Tahlia sucked in a sharp breath and staggered backward.

Soren’s gaze followed her, filled with pure disgust. "You spiked my drink. You were so desperate to have me that you stooped to something like that?"

Tahlia finally lost her composure. "Yes, I was desperate." She flung the photo aside.

"I told you I wanted you back. I begged you to give me another chance. But what did you do? You rejected me as though the years we spent together meant nothing."

She trembled with overwhelming emotions.

"Your grandfather was already planning your marriage. He was arranging blind dates for you. He was all set to find someone suitable for you to marry. How could I stand by and watch you marry someone else?"

Her voice rose further. "I couldn’t let that happen. I had to make you mine before another woman could take my place."

Soren stared at her as though he could hardly believe what he was hearing.

"You have lost your mind," Soren muttered disdainfully.

"Have I?" Tahlia scoffed. "You forced me into this situation. I loved you so much that I was willing to do anything to get you back. But you refused to give me another chance. I had no choice but to take the extreme measure."

"So you drugged me?" Soren snapped, cutting her short. "You thought if you slept with me, you’d force me into marrying you."

His eyes burned with contempt. "That’s not love. It’s a sick obsession."

"Oh, please, don’t lecture me about love." Tahlia threw her arms in frustration. "You know nothing about it. You claimed you didn’t want me anymore. Yet you spent years chasing after me, caring for me, and giving me everything I asked for. You were always there whenever I needed you."

She let out a bitter smile.

"You didn’t even care that you had a wife waiting for you at home. Your attention was always on me. You kept putting me first, no matter how much Elowen suffered."

She cocked her head. "So tell me, Soren. What would you call that? An obsession?"

Her words struck a nerve because he couldn’t deny them.

Soren had done that, every single one. He had indulged her demands and repeatedly put her needs ahead of Elowen’s. He had treated her as though she were the most important woman in his life, not knowing how venomous she was.

And now, he regretted it.

"Your actions encouraged me," she continued fiercely. "You made me believe that you still loved me. Now you are discarding me like used tissue?"

Her eyes flashed with indignation.

"You don’t even care about our families’ ties? Don’t forget my father funded your company when it was about to collapse."

"I haven’t forgotten anything," Soren shot back. "I am grateful to Mr. Blackwood. He helped me when I was young, inexperienced, and trying to figure out how to save the company. I’ll never deny what he did for me."

He paused, fixing her with his icy glare.

"But my gratitude toward your father doesn’t give you the right to exploit it."

The rage in his eyes was frightening, forcing Tahlia to take another step back.

"I already repaid what I owed him," Soren added with the same cold tone. "I don’t owe your family anything beyond the respect I’ve always shown your father. And out of that respect, I treated you well and agreed to let you work here when he asked me to. But that doesn’t mean I’ll keep you here forever, ignoring your sin."

Tahlia took an involuntary step backward. She had seen Soren angry before, but this was different.

There was no lingering tenderness in his eyes, no trace of indulgence.

Still, she refused to accept defeat.

"You are talking about something that happened seven years ago. You can’t fire me over an incident from the past."

"I can." Soren’s voice thundered with authority. "I won’t overlook what you did just because seven years have passed. You drugged me to get what you wanted. You can do something equally despicable again."

He rose, his tall frame towering over the desk.

"I can’t risk keeping someone like you in my company. You have already proved you won’t hesitate to cross the line when your desires aren’t fulfilled."

His gaze turned merciless. "You are fired, Tahlia. Your dismissal is final."

She opened her mouth, but Soren raised a hand and silenced her.

"Leave. Don’t cause trouble here. Or I’ll call the security."

Tahlia couldn’t believe he had threatened her. She had never imagined Soren Vale would treat her like a stranger, let alone throw her out of his company.

She couldn’t take the humiliation. Her fists trembled at her sides as she fought to contain the rage threatening to spill over.

"Soren." Her voice trembled with hatred. "One day, you will regret treating me like this."

She stormed out of the office.

Soren glared at the door through which she had just disappeared. "I won’t regret it."