Some contracts aren't written in ink. They're written in blood, fear... and secrets. đ¤
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7:14 AM â High Court Filing Office, Mumbai
Ashira's heels echoed against the marble as she handed over the severance documents to the clerk behind the glass. Her fingers didn't tremble. Her pulse didn't spike. But her stomachâ
Knotted.
These papers would dissolve the contract marriage between her and Damien Zhuang. This wasn't just legal warfareâit was survival.
The clerk looked at her with recognition. "You sure about this, Miss Lin?"
"I'm not Miss Lin anymore," she said quietly. "Just Ashira."
She walked out before he could ask more questions.
---
10:30 AM â Zhuang Legal Division, Conference Room 6C
Damien was already there when she arrived. Suit jacket off. Shirt sleeves rolled. His control was thinner than usualâjaw tight, eyes ringed red.
Ashira dropped a copy of the signed separation agreement in front of him.
"You'll have my signature. By midnight."
He didn't look at it.
"I found something," he said.
She paused.
"What?"
Damien reached into a leather file and slid out a yellowed page.
It wasn't part of the original contract.
Ashira scanned it. The ink was old. The seal genuine.
Clause 9.6. Hidden in small print.
> "In the event either party initiates legal dissolution without mutual consent, the opposing party reserves the right to unseal the Ghost Clause."
"What the hell is a Ghost Clause?"
"It's confidential. Executed by my grandfather. It activates if either side breaches trust."
Ashira stared at him.
"What does it do?"
"It grants majority control of all combined assets⌠to the elder party's estate. Not either of us. If we divorce without agreementâyour legacy goes to the Zhuang Council."
Silence fell.
She understood instantly.
If she pushed the split⌠she wouldn't just lose Damien.
She'd lose everything. Her mother's stolen inheritance. LinCorp's reforms. Even her public standing.
All of itâgone.
And Damien?
He looked sick.
"I didn't know until last night," he whispered.
---
11:12 AM â Panic Mode
Ashira paced the glass hallway outside the board chambers. She couldn't breathe.
"You're telling me," she said to her legal aide over Bluetooth, "that even if I initiate a clean break, his grandfather's ghost contract supersedes ours?"
"Yes. Because your signatures rest on a clause built on a Zhuang foundation. The elder clause predates both your boards."
"This is illegal."
"It's protected under pre-consolidated legacy statutes."
"Then burn the statutes," she snapped.
But there was nothing to burn. It was law.
She ended the call.
Then stood silently for a long time.
---
3:08 PM â Damien's Office
She didn't knock.
He didn't ask.
"You knew this clause would ruin me."
"I didn't," he said. "Until yesterday."
Ashira folded her arms. "Convenient timing."
Damien looked up, eyes fierce.
"You think I wanted this?"
"I think you wrote Clause Five. You wrote love out. And now you want to pretend this isn't all just a trap?"
"I wanted to keep you safe."
"Then why does every exit lead to you?"
He stepped around the desk, close enough for tension to spark.
"Because every road from you leads back to me."
She stared at him, shaking.
"Then give me freedom."
"I can't," he whispered. "Not without taking everything else from you."
Her voice cracked. "Then what am I supposed to do?"
"Fall in love with me," he said.
She flinched.
He stepped back.
It was the closest thing to a confession he'd ever said.
And the most painful.
---
5:40 PM â Breaking Point
Ashira returned to her apartment and found it ransacked.
Papers gone. Digital systems hacked. Her safeâa custom titanium biometric vaultâwas cracked open.
And inside, the last copy of her mother's original will⌠was missing.
A card was left in its place.
Plain white.
> "The Ghost Clause doesn't protect you from the living."
âLV
She sank into the chair, hands trembling for the first time in weeks.
Lucien had moved. Fast.
Damien's claws were wrapped around her past.
And she had no weapons left.
---
7:02 PM â Public Showdown
At the exclusive launch gala for SEYON Industries, Ashira made an unexpected entrance.
She wore whiteâlike defiance. Eyes smoky. Hair razor-straight. The media swarmed her.
And Lucien Voss stood on stage, microphone in hand.
He smiled.
"And to celebrate our new era," Lucien said, "I welcome a potential new partnerâAshira Lin."
Gasps. Flashbulbs.
Ashira froze. He was framing her as aligned with SEYON.
Damien appeared from the shadows like a god of war.
Walked onstage.
Took the mic.
"She's not joining SEYON."
Lucien's smile turned razor-sharp. "Isn't she?"
"Not unless she wants to destroy every piece of her legacy," Damien said.
"And who destroyed it first?" Lucien replied.
The crowd held its breath.
Ashira stepped between them.
"Stop."
Lucien leaned toward her ear.
"Your contract is a leash. Cut it. Join me. I'll burn the Zhuang Empire to the ground."
Ashira didn't blink.
Then turnedâ
And slapped him across the face.
---
9:14 PM â Aftermath
Damien followed her out the back exit, through shadows and whispers and silence.
She didn't look at him.
"You were right," he said.
She stopped.
"I never stopped falling for you."
She didn't move.
"I was afraid if I told you, I'd lose you."
"You lost me anyway," she whispered.
Then finally turned.
"I can't love you while living inside your walls."
He said, brokenly: "Then tell me what to do."
She said:
"Burn them."
---
Final Scene â 11:58 PM, LinCorp Rooftop
Ashira stood in the rain.
Holding both copies of the contract.
One in each hand.
Her fingers lit the lighter.
One contract caught fireâClause Five crinkling under flame.
Then the secondâthe Ghost Clause pageâset aflame.
Behind her, Damien didn't stop her.
He stood in the rain too, hands open, chest bare.
If this was the end, he wouldn't resist.
Ashira turned.
And stepped into his arms.
Not for forgiveness.
But for war.
Because now, they'd fight together.
Or not at all.
---
End of Chapter 8
---
In short:-
Ashira attempts legal separation; Damien discovers and reveals the "Ghost Clause," which transfers everything to the Zhuang estate if they divorce without mutual consent.
Ashira realizes she's trapped between bloodline betrayal and legal extinction.
Lucien's full threat is revealedâhe steals her mother's will and frames her as siding with him.
Damien finally admits his feelings. But it may be too late.
Ashira burns the contracts. A symbol. A declaration. And a threat.
---
Next Chapter â Chapter 9: The Fire Clause
The ashes aren't cold yet. Ashira and Damien now move as oneâbut Lucien makes his boldest attack yet. In a single night, three boardrooms fall, a body surfaces in the river, and Ashira receives a death threat with her mother's handwriting.
Love, war, legacyâit all ignites.