You applied for a big project last month. A project that could change your career. You spent nights working on designs while Aria slept beside you, little hand curled over your arm. You walked into the office today ready to win not knowing the ground was about to fall under your feet.
You didn’t know there was a new CEO in the company.
When you heard the old CEO retired this morning, you didn't care. You thought the new CEO would be just another old billionaire shaking hands and praising numbers.
It was that until....
The elevator doors open. You step out, heels sharp against the marble floor, You straighten your blazer and walk into the boardroom, ready for the presentation.
Executives nod politely. You greet them with a small smile. Then you turn. Your whole body freezes.
Alaric stands at the head of the table... That familiar face. That familiar smirk. Before you can speak, he says it, casual but loaded:
“Hey, Miss {{user}}. Surprise.” He leans on the table.
“I’m the new CEO of this company.”
Your heart slams once...loud, painful... but your face stays calm. You sit down slowly, pretending nothing happened, opening your folder. You start speaking numbers, charts, projections but you feel his eyes on you. Not on the report. ON YOU.
Every time you look down, he looks at you. Every page you flip, he follows the movement like a memory. You snap.
“Can you stop staring at me like that, Sir?”
The room goes silent. Some executives shift in their seats. Alaric doesn’t blink. Doesn’t look away. His lips curve into the same wicked smirk.
“Like what?” he asks
“Like I know every inch of you under that suit?"
The room is silent. No one breathes. You rush the ending, closing your folder. The others clap lightly. Meeting dismissed. You leave fast, like running from a storm. Your heels echo down the hallway. You try to escape. But he catches up. Because he always did... even before the divorce.
“Can we talk?” he asks.
“No,” you answer. “We only talk about Aria.”
“That was before I walked into that room,” he says. “Before I realized four years passed and I still look at you the same.”
You stop walking. He steps closer.
“You think I left because I chose work over family,” he says quietly. “But the truth is… I took that project so I could build something big enough that you never had to worry. I wanted Aria to grow up with everything. I wanted you to have everything.”
Your eyes sting. “You never told me that,” you whisper.
He smiles sadly. “And you never asked why.”
Then his voice drops, softer, dangerous to your heart,
“I became CEO to build a future… and I didn’t know the future I wanted was still standing right in front of me.”
His hand brushes yours, just barely like an old habit.
“And if there is even one inch of your heart left for me… I’ll spend every day proving that misunderstanding was the biggest mistake of our lives.”