For five days, there was nothing.
No calls. No texts. No visits. Not even a glance across a hallway or a message forwarded through his assistant. Zade Hale—her fiancé, her enemy, her obsession—had gone completely silent.
Alex tried to convince herself it was a blessing. A window of peace. No more suffocating presence lurking behind her shoulder, no more possessive questions or that stormy glare dissecting her every move. But it didn’t feel like freedom. It felt like punishment.
Intentional. Deliberate.
And it weighed on her.
She caught herself checking her phone too often. Staring too long at the blank notification bar. Wondering if he’d storm in like a vengeful shadow again. But he didn’t. He vanished. And in his absence, her chest felt like it was carrying a secret too large to swallow.
Still, she made use of the silence.
After office hours, she met with Michael and Brenda—always at the same place, a quiet coffee shop tucked behind a bookstore, anonymous enough to avoid attention. They’d sit around a scratched wooden table, papers scattered, laptops glowing with files they shouldn’t have. Whispered strategies, rapid keyboard strokes, cross-referenced articles.
But lately, she avoided looking at Michael too long. Or speaking too much. Or sitting beside him when there was an open seat by Brenda.
She didn’t understand it fully.
Michael was helpful. Smart. Loyal. And for a time, he’d been hers. But now, being near him stirred something uncomfortable in her chest—not nostalgia, not longing… something like guilt. Or confusion. Or worse, a creeping sense that she didn’t want him looking at her like he still cared.
Brenda noticed.
And one night, Michael did too.
They’d gathered in the shop’s back corner, Brenda flipping through physical contracts while Alex quietly scrolled through Arthur Cane’s latest email updates. Michael’s coffee had long gone cold. He was staring at Alex more than the screen.
When Brenda stepped outside to take a call, he leaned in slightly.
“Alex,” he said quietly, “can we talk? Just… for a second?”
Alex blinked. “We are talking.”
“I mean, just us. Outside.”
She hesitated, then nodded, following him to the quiet street out front.
The night air was crisp. Streetlights buzzed overhead.
Michael shoved his hands in his pockets and sighed. “You’ve been dodging me for a week.”
“No, I haven’t.”
“Alex.”
Her gaze dropped to the sidewalk. She hated how he said her name—like he had a right to be hurt. Like she owed him something.
He took a step closer. “You barely speak when I’m around. You won’t sit near me. You barely even meet my eyes. Just tell me what I did wrong.”
“You didn’t do anything,” she said quickly. “This isn’t about you.”
“Then what is it?” His voice cracked at the edges. “Because I’m trying to help you. I’m still here.”
She met his gaze finally, and it felt like staring into a mirror she didn’t want to look at.
“I don’t know what it is, Michael,” she said honestly. “But I just… I can’t think about anything else right now. And you—you’re making it harder.”
His shoulders stiffened. “Harder how?”
She shrugged, unable to find the right words. “You’re not the priority anymore.”
He flinched like she’d hit him.
She regretted it instantly. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“No. I get it.” His voice was flat. “You made it pretty clear.”
He turned without another word and walked back inside.
Alex stood there for a moment, breathing hard. She hadn’t meant to hurt him. But somehow, every time she tried to fix her life, she ended up breaking something else.
Her phone buzzed.
A text from Arthur:
"Can you talk? I might have found something."
Her heart skipped. She answered immediately. Call me.
Within seconds, her phone rang.
Arthur didn’t waste time.
“There’s a trail,” he said. “Thin, but it’s there. Stewart’s Exo company. They’re long-time business partners of the Hales. But I dug a little deeper and found discrepancies in a few reports from three years ago. False tax documentation. Off-shore movements.
A few shell companies that were quietly dissolved.”
Alex’s grip on the phone tightened. “What does that mean?”
“It means they’ve got dirt. And if the Hales are involved in something bigger, Stewart’s likely helping cover it up.”
Alex’s breath caught. “So… they could have proof?”
“If they haven’t destroyed it,” Arthur replied. “But they’re loyal. You’ll need to push the right buttons to get anything from them.”
She nodded, already thinking. “I’ll go to them.”
“I figured you would,” Arthur said. “I already pulled some names. Ask for a meeting with a Mr. Gale. He’s the one most likely to crack.”
“Thank you, Arthur,” she murmured. “Seriously.”
“Be careful,” he said before hanging up.
Alex stared at her reflection in the glass window. Tired eyes. Tensed jaw. A woman who couldn’t tell if she was playing hero or running from her past.
But this was something. A lead. A sliver of control.
The next morning, she walked into the towering building of Stewart’s Exo with her chin high, hair pulled into a sleek twist, blazer sharp enough to cut.
The receptionist looked up. “Do you have an appointment?”
“Tell Mr. Gale Alexandra Steel is here to speak with him,” she said smoothly.
She waited in the modern, sterile lobby for nearly thirty minutes, her nerves a quiet buzz under her skin. When the glass doors finally opened, a tall man in a dark suit and round glasses stepped out. Tired eyes. No-nonsense expression.
“Miss Steel,” he said. “Follow me.”
He led her into a conference room. Empty. Private.
They sat across from each other. He folded his hands. “I must admit, I’m curious why someone of your stature would want a direct meeting.”
Alex leaned forward. “I’m sure you’ve seen the news. I’m engaged to Zade Hale.”
“Quite a pair,” Mr. Gale replied with a thin smile. “Congratulations.”
“I didn’t come here for blessings,” she said. “I came for information.”
His brow lifted. “What kind of information?”
Alex’s gaze sharpened. “The kind your company has hidden. The kind that could expose Zade. His father. The entire Hale empire.”
He stared at her.
“I know they’ve used you to hide their dealings. And I know there’s more to it than you’ll ever admit in public.”
Silence pulsed between them.
“Miss Steel,” he said carefully, “those are dangerous assumptions.”
“They’re not assumptions,” Alex said. “They’re facts. And I’m not here to play games.”
She let the silence hang. The power shifted slightly—enough for him to notice.
Finally, Mr. Gale tilted his head. “Well then… what are you ready to offer for it?”