Elara’s POV
I spent the morning telling myself I could do this.
Three weeks at Wolfe Industries, and today was the day I proved I belonged here. Not just as the assistant who organized calendars and fetched coffee, but as someone who could stand in front of a room full of powerful investors and hold her own.
The quarterly presentation was mine to lead. My projections. My analysis. My chance to show Aiden—and myself—that I was more than the sum of my secrets.
I dropped the kids at daycare with extra kisses and promises of ice cream after dinner. Lily clung to my neck again, her dark eyes searching my face with that uncanny intuition four-year-olds shouldn't possess.
"You're scared, Mama."
"Just nervous, baby." I smoothed her hair back. "Big day at work."
"You'll be brave," she said solemnly. "You're always brave."
If only she knew how much of my bravery was just terror wearing a better outfit.
I arrived at the office an hour early, smoothing my best blazer in the elevator mirror, reviewing my notes until the words blurred together. I was ready. I was prepared. I was absolutely terrified, but motherhood had taught me to function through terror.
Sleepless nights with three screaming newborns prepared you for anything a boardroom could throw at you.
Aiden found me in the conference room, adjusting the projector for the third time. "You'll be great," he said quietly from the doorway.
I turned, and the warmth in his voice made my chest tighten. Things had shifted between us since that night in the elevator—since he'd shown me his vulnerability and I'd shown him mine. Since he'd asked me to dinner on Friday and I'd said no, and he'd looked at me like my rejection only made him want to try harder.
He knew about the kids now. Knew I was raising three of them alone. And instead of running like most men would, he'd called it extraordinary. Called it strength.
The way he looked at me lately—like I was something precious, something worth pursuing—made it harder to keep my walls up.
"Thank you," I managed. "For the opportunity."
"You earned it." He stepped closer, adjusting my lapel with careful fingers.
The touch was brief, professional, but it sent electricity skating down my spine.
The investors began arriving at ten. I stood near the door, greeting each one with a professional smile, handing out folders, directing them to seats around the massive conference table.
My heart pounded, but my hands stayed steady. I could do this. I'd survived worse than a boardroom full of wealthy strangers.
Then the elevator chimed. The doors slid open, and a voice drifted down the hallway. Deep. Smooth. Achingly familiar.
My blood turned to ice.
That voice. I knew that voice.
I'd heard it whisper my name in the dark, heard it leave desperate voicemails I'd deleted without listening, heard it echo through five years of nightmares.
No… It couldn't be.
I turned slowly, hoping I was wrong, praying my mind was playing tricks.
Michael stepped onto the executive floor.
He was broader now. More polished. Wearing a bespoke suit that probably cost more than my monthly rent, an investor badge hanging around his neck.
He was talking to another man, laughing at something, and he looked successful, confident—nothing like the boy who'd sat outside my mother's house waiting for answers I couldn't give.
My lungs forgot how to work. I took a step backward, then another, desperate to disappear before he saw me.
Too late.
His gaze swept the hallway and landed on me like a physical blow. The laughter died on his lips. The color drained from his face. He went completely still, staring at me like I was a ghost risen from the grave.
I watched five years of questions crash across his features.
Confusion. Disbelief. Anger. Grief. All tangled together in a single devastating moment.
Across the room, Aiden noticed. His eyes narrowed, tracking the silent exchange, and something dark flickered in his expression. Confusion. Suspicion. The beginning of a jealousy he had no right to feel but felt anyway.
I was frozen between them. My past and my present. The man I'd abandoned and the man I was terrified to want. I couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't do anything but watch the collision unfold.
Michael crossed the distance in three long strides. His voice came out hoarse, trembling, like he was afraid saying my name would make me vanish again.
"Elara..?"
The sound of it shattered something inside me. Five years collapsed into nothing. I was twenty-one again, waking up in a stranger's arms, fleeing a hotel room, sending a breakup text I never explained.
The guilt I'd buried rose like a tide, drowning me.
I opened my mouth—to explain, to apologize, to run—but no words came.
"Elara," he repeated over and over like he’s seen a ghost. "I can't believe my eyes... What are you doing here? Where have you been all this time? I've been looking for you for so long…”
Aiden moved before I could react.
He stepped forward, positioning himself slightly between us, his posture shifting from observer to protector. His voice came out calm, controlled, but there was steel underneath.
"Mr. Hale." The name was measured, professional. "I wasn't aware you and my assistant were acquainted."
Michael's jaw tightened. He looked at Aiden—really looked at him—and something shifted in his expression. His gaze flicked between Aiden and me, noting the protective stance, the proximity, the tension crackling in the air.
"Your assistant," he repeated slowly, the words dripping with implication. "I see."
The two men stared at each other, and I watched them both realize the same thing simultaneously.
I knew them. Both of them. In ways that went far beyond professional courtesy.
The air thickened with unspoken questions. With jealousy neither man had the right to feel. With the dawning understanding that they were standing on opposite sides of a secret none of them fully grasped.
Michael's smile was sharp, polite, and entirely without warmth. "Mr. Wolfe. I've heard impressive things about your company. I look forward to the presentation." A pause, letting the words land. "And to catching up with old friends afterward."
The threat was barely veiled.
Aiden's expression didn't change, but his hand brushed my elbow—a small gesture, protective, possessive.
"Of course. We value our investors' time." His tone matched Michael's. Cordial on the surface. Razor-edged beneath. "Shall we proceed to the conference room?"
Michael held his gaze for a beat too long. Then he turned to me, eyes blazing with five years of unanswered questions.
"We're not done," he said quietly, just for me. "Not even close."
He walked toward the conference room, investor badge swinging against his chest.
I stood shaking in the hallway, watching him go. Watching my carefully constructed life crumble around me with every step he took.
Aiden moved closer, his voice low and urgent. "Who is he to you?"
I couldn't answer. Couldn't explain. Couldn't do anything but stare at Michael's retreating back and realize the truth I'd been running from for five years.