Raven's Point of View
By the time the clock hit seven, I wanted to throw myself out the window.
Just like yesterday.
Same shit, different day.
I swear Dominic Derveaux acts like he's never had a personal assistant in his entire miserable, billionaire life. The amount of files he dumped on my desk today? Criminal. Emails, contracts, schedules, meetings, reports-literal mountains of corporate hell.
Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if all the assistants before me were either dead or in therapy.
Because Dominic?
He's rude, complicated, terrifying, and looks at you like you're one wrong breath away from unemployment.
And he wasn't lying the other day.
I really won't last.
Part of me wants to quit already. It's been two days. Two. Days.
But hey-maybe I'm stubborn. Maybe I want to prove him wrong.
Maybe I'm just stupid.
When he threw that stack of files in front of me earlier?
I almost cried.
Not even exaggerating.
It felt like punishment.
Like he watched me working and thought, "Hm, not enough suffering. Let me fix that."
Thank God I brought leftovers from last night-that Lila saved my life with her cooking-because I refused to repeat yesterday's humiliation.
Him buying my lunch?
Absolutely not.
I don't care how rich he is or how hot he smells-I'm not letting him feed me like some stray he picked up.
And the meeting?
Jesus Christ.
Yes, I knew that guy was playing footsies with me. I noticed. I just tried to ignore it because I didn't want to make a scene.
But Dominic?
He didn't just make a scene.
He ended the scene.
The way he stood up, the way he twisted the guy's fingers, the way he looked like he was one breath away from murdering someone in cold blood-
Absolutely insane.
Dominic was crazy.
Fucking crazy.
And the worst part?
He was mad because of me.
The thought alone made my stomach twist in a way I didn't like. I don't get why he reacts like that around me. I don't want to understand it.
I need to stay away from him.
Everything irritates him, especially when it involves me.
I don't know why he notices everything I do or why he gets like that-but I do know one thing:
I'm not trying to die in this building.
I yawn loudly, stretching as I look out the tall floor-to-ceiling windows. The sky outside is pitch black, New York City lights glowing like diamonds. Everyone else on this floor went home hours ago.
Not me.
Of course not me.
My back aches, my eyes burn, and my ass feels like it's fused with the office chair by force.
I push myself up with a groan.
"God, my ass hurts," I mutter to nobody.
My body feels warm and fuzzy from exhaustion. Overheated. Heavy.
I tug my dress pants up, fix the button that keeps slipping, and smooth my shirt.
Then I grab my worn-out bag-the one that's older than my confidence-with my empty lunch container inside and a bunch of girly things rolling around.
The office is silent.
Too silent.
I haven't heard Dominic in two hours. No footsteps. No yelling. No door slamming.
He might be gone.
He might not.
Knowing him, he's lurking somewhere like a pissed-off panther.
I flip the expensive office light off... after struggling for ten seconds because rich people switches are too complicated.
I glance around one last time to make sure I didn't forget anything, then walk forward and make a sharp turn into the long hallway.
Alone.
Or... maybe not.
I walked up to his office, ready to tell him I was heading out.
I knocked once.
Nothing.
He must've left. Thank God.
I was exhausted.
I pushed the door open a little-
And froze.
It was pitch black inside.
Not even the glow from the massive floor-to-ceiling windows.
Just cold, dark, empty nothing.
A shiver ran up my spine.
"Hello?" I whispered.
No answer.
I took one cautious step inside, hugging my arms around myself because it was freezing-like the AC was blasting on arctic mode.
Then I heard it.
A sound I've never heard before.
A deep, broken groan from somewhere in the dark.
I stopped breathing.
And then-
A voice.
His voice.
Low.
Rough.
Throaty.
Shaking.
"...Raven..."
Not like he was calling me.
But like he was feeling me.
My eyes went wide.
Oh god-did he think I was someone else?
Did he think I was already inside?
"Um... yes?" I whispered back, confused.
I fumbled against the wall, trying to find a switch-if rich billionaires even used normal switches. My fingers slid across cold marble, then finally pressed something big, flat, expensive-feeling.
The lights snapped on.
I gasped so loud it echoed.
Dominic Derveaux was in his chair.
Not sitting.
Collapsed into it.
His head thrown back.
His throat exposed.
His breath coming out in hard, uneven shudders.
The buttons of his shirt were undone halfway down his chest-
revealing thick muscle, hard shadows, black and color ink swirling everywhere.
The tattoos Jamie showed me online the other day...
I was seeing them live.
His chest rose fast.
Too fast.
Like he couldn't catch his breath.
His hair was a mess, falling into his eyes.
A thick, pulsing vein stood out at his temple, throbbing like he was seconds from combusting.
And his hand-
God.
His hand was shaking violently on his thigh.
The moment the lights hit him, his eyes snapped open-
dark
wild
desperate.
He saw me.
And he groaned.
A deep, guttural, torn-from-his-soul sound.
His whole body jerked, trembling harder.
His eyes dropped to my chest-
then lower
and lower-
Until heat flooded my entire face.
"Dominic?" I whispered, panic and confusion mixing in my throat. "Are you-oh my god-are you okay?"
His fingers clawed at the armrest.
His jaw clenched so hard a muscle jumped.
Then he choked out:
"Raven..."
Like my name was being pulled out of him.
Like he couldn't stop saying it.
His eyes rolled back for a second, his body arching off the chair, muscles tight everywhere.
"Why-why do you keep saying my name?" I blurted, stepping closer even though my brain said run.
"I'm right here."
He sucked in a breath through his teeth-sharp, helpless.
And whispered, strained and broken:
"...shit..."
Like seeing me made everything so much worse.
I was the last person he wanted in his office.
And the only one he wanted.
His breathing was ragged.
Harsh.
Uncontrolled.
His body jerked once-
like a shiver, but too intense to be just a shiver.
I froze.
And then-
something flicked upward, fast, like a splash of something catching the light.
I blinked hard.
My brain short-circuited.
"What... what was that?" I whispered before I could stop myself.
Dominic's eyes snapped to mine.
Wide.
Dark.
Unhinged.
Then-
to my shock-
a slow, wicked smirk curled at the corner of his mouth.
Like he knew exactly what I saw.
Like he wasn't ashamed at all.
Like he was daring me to figure it out.
His chest rose and fell in sharp, uneven breaths as he forced his head back against the chair, swallowing hard, eyes shutting as if he was still riding whatever the hell just happened to him.
When he opened them again-
The look he gave me was lethal.
Possessive.
Embarrassed.
Cocky.
Infuriated at himself.
All at once.
"Turn around," he said hoarsely.
My brows knit. "Why?"
His jaw clenched.
"Just. Turn. Around."
I stumbled a step back, startled, heat rushing to my cheeks even though I didn't fully understand what I'd walked in on.
He shifted under the desk-
fast
frantic
like he was trying to fix something, hide something, clean something before I turned back.
I turned around like he asked, staring at the wall, heart pounding.
Drawers opened.
Fabric rustled.
A low curse punched out of him.
Then-the unmistakable sound of a zipper.
My brow furrowed. My pulse jumped. I didn't understand what I'd just heard.
He was breathing hard behind me.
Too hard.
Too uneven.
Too... sinful.
"What were you doing?" I whispered before I could stop myself.
A long pause.
Then, voice lower than I'd ever heard it:
"Nothing you need to worry about."
My stomach flipped.
His tone-
that dark, rasping, wrecked tone-
was a lie.
A terrible, obvious lie.
He cleared his throat, trying to sound normal.
He didn't.
It came out strained.
Shaken.
Completely ruined.
"You can turn around now."
I did.
He was fully sitting up now, shirt fixed-
too fast, too sloppy, a few buttons wrong-
like he'd rushed to look composed.
But the flush on his neck...
the tension in his jaw...
the faint tremor still in his hand...
He was absolutely not composed.
His eyes dragged over my face, then flicked away fast.
His voice dropped, rough:
"You shouldn't walk into my office without knocking."
"I did knock," I whispered.
He stared at me.
Realization.
Embarrassment.
Annoyance.
Heat.
All flickered through his eyes at once.
And then softly-dangerously softly-he breathed:
"Not when I'm... busy."
He wouldn't look at me.
Not really.
Just quick, sharp glances like he was checking if I was still standing there after ruining his entire night.
I swallowed hard, clearing my throat.
"Um... okay, I'm- I'm leaving now."
His head snapped up so fast it startled me.
The look he gave me?
Cold.
Sharp.
Like knifepoint anger wrapped in silk.
"Good," he bit out. "Do that."
My stomach dropped.
I stepped backward, gripping my bag tighter, heart slamming against my ribs as he adjusted his sleeve like I was a bother he couldn't even tolerate breathing the same air as him.
"I didn't mean to interrupt-"
"You did."
His voice cut through mine like a blade.
I blinked, heat creeping into my cheeks.
"I just thought you left-"
"You should've thought harder."
It wasn't loud.
That made it worse.
Quiet.
Controlled.
Like he was holding something back with his teeth clenched around it.
I nodded, throat tight. "Okay. Sorry."
He let out an angry, humorless breath-more like a quiet snarl.
"Don't apologize. Just go."
My chest stung for reasons I didn't even understand.
I turned toward the door, my fingers trembling slightly on the handle.
Before I could step out, his voice hit my back again-low, venomous, vibrating with something I couldn't read.
"You don't just walk in here whenever you want."
I froze.
He continued, slower now, each word dripping with a different kind of anger-
not irritation,
not frustration,
something heavier, darker.
"You don't come in here unless I tell you to."
My brows furrowed. "I work for you. I thought-"
"You thought wrong."
I shut my mouth.
Because something in his tone...
something in the way he wouldn't look at me...
something in the way his breathing still hadn't evened out...
It felt personal.
Too personal.
Like me walking in had exposed something he didn't want anyone to see.
I tried again, softer. "I honestly didn't know you were in here."
He let out a short, dark laugh that wasn't a laugh at all-more like frustration strangled down his throat.
"You weren't supposed to see that," he muttered, voice gravel.
My heart thudded. "See what?"
He looked at me then.
Really looked.
His eyes dragged down my body in one slow, tortured sweep, then snapped back up to my face.
His jaw locked.
Painfully.
"Just leave, Raven."
It wasn't a request.
It wasn't even an order.
It was a threat to himself.
I opened my mouth to respond-
"Now."
The sound of it sliced right through me.
I fumbled out the door, pulse racing.
But before I walked away, before I even breathed-
I heard it.
His voice.
Low.
Harsh.
Raw.
"Fuck..."
A chair scraped.
Something hit the desk.
Then, quieter, like he was trying to strangle the words back:
"You weren't supposed to see me like that-
I wasn't supposed to think of you like that."
My breath caught.
I closed his office door with shaking fingers.
The second it clicked shut, my breath finally left me in one long, trembling exhale. "What the... what the fuck..." I whispered to myself, heat still blooming across my cheeks, my legs weak and unsteady.
I didn't look back.
Couldn't.
I just walked-half-stumbled-toward the elevator and jabbed the lobby button with a hand that wouldn't stop shaking.
The elevator doors slid shut and I felt like I could breathe again... but only barely.
The numbers glowed as they dropped from 30... 29... 28... all the way down, my heartbeat thumping in the same rhythm.
I hugged myself tightly, my forehead pressing against the cool elevator wall.
What did I even see?
What the hell was he doing?
Why did he-why did he say my name like that?
The elevator chimed softly as it reached the lobby, snapping me out of my spiraling thoughts. I stepped out on shaky legs.
The lights were already dimmed for the night, the massive lobby almost completely dark except for the few floor lamps that stayed on after hours. It felt like the whole building was holding its breath with me.
I pushed open the heavy glass doors-even that felt like a struggle with how weak I suddenly was-and stepped into the night.
New York hit me immediately.
Not loud, not chaotic... just alive, even at this hour.
Cold air bit at my skin as I wrapped my arms tighter around myself, wishing I'd brought a sweater. The glow of streetlights bounced off windows, traffic lights, the occasional taxi rolling by with its engine humming. People were out-just not enough to make me feel less alone.
I blinked hard.
All I could think about was Dominic.
His voice.
That sound he made.
His goddamn smirk while-
My throat tightened, face burning.
I needed air.
I needed distance.
I needed to forget what I just saw.
The bus wouldn't be here for a while anyway, so I decided to walk toward the next stop, heels tapping too loudly on the pavement.
At least moving kept me warm.
The city wasn't dead, but it wasn't awake either. Sleepless enough to have a few cars passing by, but quiet enough that the shadows between buildings felt deeper than they should.
And I was still replaying it in my head, every second of it burning behind my eyelids.
Then-
The unmistakable feeling of eyes on me.
My shoulders tensed. A chill slid down my spine.
I didn't look back.
Not at first.
I just picked up my pace slightly, heels clicking a little faster. But the second I sped up...
So did the footsteps behind me.
Matching mine.
Perfectly.
My breath stuttered. My heart punched against my ribs.
It's probably just someone walking the same direction.
Stop being dramatic.
Just breathe.
But something in me-something deep, instinctive-kept screaming that something was off.
I swallowed hard, forcing air into my lungs as my steps grew quicker.
But so did theirs.
And that's when the fear really hit.
My lungs were barely working.
I swallowed hard, trying to convince myself it was nothing - just someone walking the same direction. People lived in New York. People walked. People existed.
But then I heard it.
That voice.
"You walking home all alone, sweetheart?"
Everything inside me froze.
My blood went cold.
My feet locked to the pavement.
No.
No, no, no-
I turned my head just enough to see him.
David.
The same man from the meeting.
The same one whose foot had slid against mine like a snake.
The same one whose fingers Dominic twisted in front of the whole conference room.
His smirk stretched across his face like he had won something.
He stepped out of the shadow, hands in his pockets, shoulders loose, eyes crawling up and down my body like he was peeling layers off with his gaze.
"I thought you looked good in that little office," he murmured, licking his lips. "But out here, in the dark? Damn. You look even better."
My stomach twisted so hard I thought I'd be sick.
I stepped back. "I-I have to go."
He stepped forward.
"Aww, don't be like that." His voice was dripping with something oily and rotten. "We didn't get to talk earlier. Thought I'd catch you now."
My heart was beating so fast it hurt.
Everything in me screamed run.
But my legs wouldn't listen.
"I don't want to talk," I whispered. "Just... please, let me-"
He grabbed my wrist.
Hard.
I gasped, jerking, trying to pull free, but his fingers clamped down like a trap.
"Relax, baby," he purred, yanking me closer. "I just wanna feel you. You've got a body men dream about. Ain't no way you don't know that."
"Stop-" I shoved his chest, panic shooting up my throat. "Let me go!"
He chuckled.
Chuckled.
"Nah," he said casually, like he was choosing a drink instead of pinning me. "I don't think so."
Before I could scream, his mouth crashed onto my neck - wet, slobbering, disgusting - and I gagged, every part of me recoiling in horror.
He didn't even flinch.
The noise of the street faded as he yanked me into a narrow service corridor between two closed shops-metal gates pulled down, lights flickering overhead. The smell of damp concrete and trash hit me instantly.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
I opened my mouth to scream-
His weight crashed into me.
My back hit the wall hard, the breath knocked clean out of my lungs. Cold brick pressed into my spine as his body boxed me in, one arm braced beside my head, the other pinning me there.
"No-" My voice came out broken.
His face dipped toward my neck, too close, his breath hot and sour against my skin. I gagged, every nerve in my body screaming as I turned my head away, skin crawling.
"Get off me," I whispered, shaking. "Please."
He didn't listen.
Didn't care.
His hands were on my waist, sliding down, bold and filthy, pressing me harder into the wall.
"Mmm," he whispered against my skin, obscene. "You smell good. Bet you taste even better."
Tears pricked my eyes.
I thrashed, nails digging into his arm, twisting, shoving, but he only laughed, his weight crushing me.
"Please-" My voice cracked. "Somebody-stop-"
His hand was still on my waist when something in him changed - his grip shifted, harsher, hungrier.
Suddenly his fingers slid up to my shoulder and grabbed, yanking me closer so fast I stumbled.
I cried out, the sound small and broken in the corridor.
My whole body shook.
"Please-let me go," I begged, tears finally spilling down my cheeks. "Please-"
He didn't even hesitate.
"You're too damn pretty to be walkin' around untouched," he snarled, pushing me harder into the wall. My spine hit the cold brick, pain shooting up my back. "I wanna feel you. All of you."
I tried to shove at his chest again, hitting him, pushing, clawing-
He didn't budge.
Not even a millimeter.
It was like pushing a wall.
Panic ripped through me so fast I almost choked on it.
"Stop!" I sobbed. "Stop, please-"
His breath hit my ear, rotten and hot.
"I'm gonna enjoy you slow," he whispered, voice low and filthy. "Then I'm gonna fuck you so deep you'll-"
"NO!" I screamed, my voice cracking as disgust twisted my stomach. "Get AWAY from me!"
He slammed me harder against the wall, his hand gripping the back of my shoulder so tightly it burned.
My chest heaved.
I felt so helpless.
So damn weak.
I wasn't strong enough.
I wasn't fast enough.
His body pressed into mine again, trapping me completely.
His disgusting mouth tried to latch onto my neck again-
I sobbed and twisted my face away.
"Please-please-someone-"
And then-
I felt his hand.
Sliding down.
Cold.
Violating.
Filthy.
His fingers hooked under the waistband of my dress pants.
I froze.
No thought.
No air.
Just pure terror.
"NO!" I shrieked, louder than I'd ever screamed in my life.
My voice cracked as I grabbed his wrist, nails digging in, trying to stop him. "STOP, PLEASE! STOP!"
He kept tugging.
My breath came out in broken gasps.
My face burned with humiliation and fear.
Tears streamed down my cheeks, hot and uncontrollable.
He was really going to-
Oh God-
I was really going to get-
"HELP!" I screamed, voice shredding. "SOMEONE-PLEASE!"
The street was empty.
No cars.
No footsteps.
No doors opening.
Just my own sobs echoing back at me.
I felt the waistband slip a little.
I screamed again, harder, desperate, my whole throat raw.
"LET ME GO!"
I felt him breathe out a laugh against my neck.
And then-
The air changed.
Again.
Heavier.
Colder.
Like the night itself stopped breathing.
Something shifted behind us.
A presence.
A shadow.
A silence so sharp it sliced through the street.
A sudden, violent force ripped David away from me.
His weight was torn off my body so hard that my back stumbled forward, slamming into the cold brick behind me. I let out a strangled cry-half fear, half relief-my legs shaking so badly I nearly fell.
"What-" I gasped, wiping the tears blurring my vision.
But I didn't need to finish the thought.
Because Dominic was there.
Dominic was right behind him.
His hand was fisted in David's collar, yanking him backward so savagely David's feet left the ground for a second before crashing onto the concrete.
I froze.
Oh my god.
How did he even-?
He knew I was taking the bus...but I'd already walked blocks away from the stop. David had dragged me in that corridor.
And still-
He found me.
In the dark.
In a place no one could see.
No one could hear.
My stomach dropped.
This wasn't a coincidence.
This wasn't luck.
He'd been watching.
Dominic's face-
I had never seen anything like it.
His expression wasn't angry.
It wasn't even furious.
It was inhuman.
His jaw clenched so hard I could hear the grind of his teeth. His fists were trembling. His chest was heaving like he'd sprinted through hell to get here.
And then he snapped.
He snapped like something inside him broke.
He slammed David into the ground so hard the man gasped for air.
"NO-no no no-Dominic!" David choked.
But Dominic didn't hear a thing.
He straddled him, giant frame pinning him to the asphalt, and brought his fist down-hard, brutal, unrestrained.
The impact echoed through the empty street.
David's head whipped to the side.
I flinched, covering my mouth with shaking fingers.
Dominic didn't stop.
Another hit.
And another.
And another.
His knuckles split.
Blood splattered across his white rolled-up sleeves, across his chest, dripping down the veins bulging at his temples.
His voice tore from his throat, deep and monstrous.
"I warned you," he growled, the words vibrating with a dark rage that made my whole body shake.
His hand fisted David's shirt and yanked him up just to slam him back down.
"I told you-"
Another punch, harder, vicious.
"-that if you ever touched her-"
He leaned down, his lips against David's ear, voice a gravelly, terrifying whisper.
"I'd take your fucking knee."
My breath caught.
I hugged myself tighter, trying to hold in the sob ripping up my throat.
Dominic didn't slow down.
He was a storm.
A violent blur of muscles and rage, towering over David like some fury-possessed monster.
His white shirt stretched across his massive shoulders, veins popping everywhere-especially that thick one pulsing down his temple like earlier in his office-
Oh God.
Everything about him was terrifying.
And I had never been more grateful for anyone in my life.
I pushed myself away from that filthy corridor I almost-
I almost-
A sob strangled me.
My pants were still half loose on my hips.
I pulled them up with trembling hands, choking on my tears as Dominic continued beating David like he wasn't even human.
My knees buckled.
Dominic slammed David's head back onto the ground and stood, chest heaving, his huge frame towering like something sculpted out of violence and fury.
He wasn't done.
But I was breaking.
"Please..." My voice cracked. "Dominic-please..."
I wasn't sure if I was begging him to stop
or begging him not to leave me.
The word please left my mouth broken... barely a whisper...
but it hit him like a bullet.
Dominic froze.
His fist stopped mid-air.
His body locked.
And David's limp weight slipped from his grip and hit the pavement in a heavy, pathetic thud.
For the first time since he appeared, there was silence.
Dominic's back rose once, twice-massive shoulders expanding under the ruined, blood-splattered white shirt.
Then-
"Get in the car."
His voice was a dark roar, low and vibrating through the street.
He didn't even look at me, just turned his back, chest still heaving violently.
I shook my head, trembling. "N-No."
His neck snapped sideways like he couldn't believe I'd said that.
He growled-
"Raven, get the fuck in the car. NOW."
I stumbled back, hugging myself. "I said no."
That one small word made something inside him break.
Dominic spun around, his jaw ticking, hair wild, eyes black with fury and something else-something he was fighting like hell to hide.
Then he turned back to David.
Who was coughing blood on the ground, barely able to lift himself.
Dominic's voice dropped into something lethal.
"You're fired," Dominic snarls at David without even looking at him. "Effective immediately. You don't step foot near my company again. You don't speak her name. You don't breathe in her direction."
"If I ever see you again," he says quietly, dangerously, "I won't stop."
David choked, "D-Dominic-"
"Get the fuck out of my sight."
The roar shook the air.
Dominic kicked him hard enough to make him roll across the concrete.
"Before I rip your fucking tongue out for what you tried to do."
David stumbled to his feet, half-falling, half-running, disappearing into the dark.
Dominic didn't chase him.
But he wanted to.
I could feel it in the violent rise and fall of his chest, the twitch in his clenched fists.
He finally turned to me.
His chest was still heaving, but he wasn't tired-just caged, shaking fury under his skin.
His eyes... God... when they swept over me, I felt naked.
His gaze dragged from my trembling hands...
to my torn-up shirt...
to the waistband of my dress pants.
His expression shifted.
Dark.
Conflicted.
Almost... pained.
His jaw flexed.
Then, deep and low:
"Your zipper's undone."
I gasped, looking down-my pants were still half open from where David yanked them.
Humiliation burned my face as I fumbled to zip them quickly.
I adjusted my shirt, he scratched the back of his neck, looking away, breathing hard, like he was fighting every instinct he had.
He stepped closer.
His heavy footsteps.
His huge frame blocking the cold wind.
His shadow swallowing mine.
He didn't look at me at first-just behind me.
His jaw hardened again.
Then he bent down, and for a second I panicked-
only to see him reaching for my worn-out bag on the ground.
David must've ripped it from my shoulder.
Dominic picked it up effortlessly, his giant hand dwarfing the straps.
He handed it to me.
His fingers brushed mine-warm, rough, huge-
My breath hitched.
I took it silently, clutching the bag to my chest like a shield.
He shoved his hands into his pockets, staring at me with an unreadable expression.
His voice came out low, deep, rumbling:
"Are you okay?"
"No."
The word shattered out of me, sharp and broken.
More tears spilled down my face.
"I'm... I'm not..."
Something in him tightened visibly.
His throat bobbed.
Then, softer-almost strange coming from him:
"Come here," he murmured.
But he didn't move toward me.
Didn't open his arms.
Didn't reach out.
It was like he didn't know what the hell to do with the command he just gave.
So I did the only thing my body could do.
I ran to him.
More like stumbled, shaking so hard I could barely breathe-
And I wrapped my arms around his huge torso.
Dominic jerked like I'd electrocuted him.
His entire body went hard, every muscle tensing beneath me.
He didn't breathe.
Didn't move.
Didn't speak.
But he didn't push me away.
And I sobbed-
full-body, ugly, shaking sobs-
into his chest.
And slowly, slowly, like he was fighting something inside him...
His hands lifted.
Hovering.
Unsure.
Then one large warm palm touched the back of my head-
the gentlest thing he had probably ever done in his life.
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