The glass doors of the executive floor slid open without a sound, but somehow, his presence arrived before the motion did.
No one had announced him.
No assistant called ahead.
Still, the entire office seemed to shift—like the air itself had recognized something powerful had entered it.
She did't know he has arrived .
Seated behind her wide marble desk, the CEO, Valerie Sterling continued signing the last page of a contract, her pen gliding with practiced precision. Calm. Unbothered. Untouchable. That was the image everyone knew. The door opened.
And her fingers paused—just slightly.
"…You're late," she said, her voice even, almost indifferent.
A quiet chuckle followed.
"I didn't know you were expecting me."
Now she looked up.
And there he was.
Standing just inside her office like he had never left her life—like the years between them were nothing more than a brief inconvenience. Impeccably dressed, composed, and carrying that effortless authority that came with being the richest man in the country.
Her childhood sweetheart.
The one person she had never quite erased.
"And who said I was?" she asked, leaning back in her chair, crossing one leg over the other. "Everyone does."
He walked in anyway.
No hesitation. No permission.
Just like before.
His eyes moved around the office, taking in the clean lines, the cold elegance, the quiet dominance of the space. Then they settled back on her.
"You've changed ," he said.
"I've changed in everything."
A beat of silence passed between them—thick, familiar, dangerous.
He stepped closer to her desk.
"You didn't come yesterday "
"I told you I'm busy ."
"Hmmm or were you jealous?" He asked
"Of what?" she questioned back softly, meeting his gaze without flinching.
Not loudly—but deeply.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then he smiled, but it wasn't entirely warm.
"You said you have been busy,of what?" he asked
"Well, Expanding. Acquiring. Owning half the city." She responded calm and steady.
"You are really capable. I love that."
She smirked. "Then careful, I might take the position of the richest person from you"
And he responded with a laugh and his laugh caught her off guard, and something light and unsteady stirred in her chest, like her heart had forgotten its rhythm for a second.
"That's alright by me". He said in his deep manly voice.
To keep him from noticing her fluttery expression, she rolled her eyes instead.
Another silence. This one sharper.
He rested his hand lightly against the edge of her desk, leaning just slightly forward. Close—but not too close.
"Why are you avoiding me?" he asked.
She held his gaze, steady, unreadable.
"I don't avoid people," she said. "I outgrow them."
But instead, something else flickered in his eyes—something that didn't belong to the richest man in the country.
Something older.
Something unfinished.
"Do you believe that?" he asked quietly.
For the first time since he walked in, she hesitated.
It was brief. Almost invisible.
But it was there.
And he saw it.
Before she could respond, a soft knock came at the door.
Neither of them moved.
Neither of them looked away.
"Come in," she said finally.
The door opened, and her assistant, Charles stepped in carefully, clearly aware he had walked into something he didn't understand.
"Ma'am," he said, "your next meeting—"
"Cancel it."
The assistant blinked. "All of it?"
"All of it."
A pause.
"Yes, ma'am."
The door closed again.
Silence returned.
Only this time, it wasn't empty.
It was charged.
"You're staying?" he asked.
She stood slowly from her chair, walking around the desk until she was standing directly in front of him.
Close enough to remind him.
"That depends," she said. "Did you come here as a businessman… or you're trying to fix something between us?"
For once—
he didn't have an immediate answer.
And that was the moment the game truly began.