The door swung open, and there she stoodCatherine, her eyes cold as ever, her smile deceptively calm. In her hand, she held the contract that had just been discussed over the phone, the one we’d worked tirelessly to secure. The weight of it was more than symbolic; it felt like a chain being tossed at our feet, a final attempt to bind us to her game.
I stood frozen for a moment, the air around me thick with the sudden tension. This wasn’t just about business anymore. This wasn’t just a contract. This was a confrontation. And from the way Catherine’s eyes glinted with something darkly triumphant, I knew she had calculated this moment down to the last detail.
Alexander stiffened beside me, his jaw tightening as his eyes moved between the contract in her hand and the resolve I could see building in him. We weren’t the same people who had been thrust into this battle months ago. We had grown. We had changed. And now, we weren’t backing down. Not to her. Not to anyone.
“What are you doing h
