Six months later, Anita no longer recognized the woman in the mirror.
Not because she had changed, but because he had changed her.
She still wore the armor—flawless suits, diamond-sharp words, an empire at her feet. But Marcus had become more than a lover, more than a partner. He was her shadow, her confidant. And, increasingly, her blind spot.
Subtle things began to shift.
Files she hadn't approved were mysteriously greenlit. A junior executive she'd mentored was suddenly ousted—quietly, cleanly. Marcus had shrugged when she asked. "Politics," he said. "You know how these things go."
He was always two steps ahead of the questions. Always with a reason. Always reasonable.
But reason had a scent now. And it stank of smoke.
**
The first time she truly saw the danger was during a quarterly strategy session. One of her top advisors, Naveen, contradicted Marcus—politely, but firmly. Marcus smiled. Nodded. Took notes.
Naveen was gone within the week.
No explanation. Just a resignation email full of vague pleasantries.
"I didn't even know he was leaving," she said to Marcus that night.
"He wasn't," Marcus replied. "Until he made it clear he didn't know his place."
That was the moment.
It chilled her. Not the words—but how casually he said them. As if his place in her world had never been in question. As if she had already surrendered the throne.
**
Two weeks later, she started feeling the symptoms.
Fatigue. Headaches. Nausea that came and went with no pattern. Her doctor blamed stress. Prescribed rest.
But it wasn't stress.
It was poison.
Only Anita didn't know that yet.
**
She collapsed in her office, hours after signing a new expansion deal. Her body hit the marble floor like a final punctuation mark. Tanya screamed. Someone called an ambulance. The last thing Anita saw was Marcus standing in the doorway, eyes wide—not with fear, but with something else.
Recognition.
She knew then.
She just couldn't say it.
Then—darkness.