Chapter 103

Claire's POV I stared at Lucian's email for what felt like hours, my hands trembling as the words burned themselves into my retinas. The calculated cruelty of it, the way he'd positioned his offer as salvation while simultaneously asking me to betray everything I believed in—it made my stomach churn with revulsion. *Double your current salary. Lead Research Director. The respect and recognition your work deserves.* The words should have been tempting. Any rational person in my position would at least consider such an offer. I was isolated, humiliated, watched constantly by colleagues who saw me as nothing more than gossip fodder. My reputation was in tatters, my professional credibility hanging by the thinnest of threads. But as I read Lucian's subtle threats and implications, all I felt was a bone-deep certainty that this was exactly the kind of corruption I'd spent my entire career avoiding. He wasn't offering me advancement—he was offering me a chance to become someone I would despi