5. Is it really her?

Ronan Foley POV

Two Years Later

“You know the new CEO of M&A is being introduced today?” Jules said as we rode the elevator up to the firm’s offices, starting another day of work.

I held an espresso in one hand, my briefcase in the other. The morning felt calm, and I hoped it would stay that way. But at Jules’s words—my best friend’s voice cutting through the quiet—my brow furrowed, irritation creeping in. “Something I still can’t wrap my head around,” I muttered, displeased.

Mr. Conner, the old CEO, had been ousted after a shareholder meeting without so much as a plausible reason, completely shaking up the firm’s dynamics with this new CEO.

“Word is, it’s Lowell Morgan’s own daughter, the god of this whole operation,” Jules said with a chuckle. “They say she’s a spoiled, self-centered brat who got tired of her lavish jet-setting lifestyle and decided to meddle in the family business. Bet she’s gonna be a handful.”

I sighed, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. The last thing I needed was to deal with some entitled rich girl. “Weird that we’ve never seen her around,” I commented, racking my brain to think if, in all my years working here, I’d ever caught a glimpse of this mysterious woman.

“You’re not wrong, dude,” Jules said, leaning in, excited. “Just like President Morgan, who we barely see and is always surrounded by security, they’ve kept her out of the media to protect her. Her face has never been plastered anywhere.”

I glanced at him. “Sounds like you did your homework, huh?”

“Hahaha!” he laughed. “Gotta be ready to face this beast, right? Flash my charm, maybe melt the ice queen’s stone-cold heart, and she’ll make me her lapdog. Next thing you know, you’ll see me up on the top floor.” He pointed upward with a grin.

The elevator doors slid open as we reached our floor. “I just hope my department doesn’t get screwed over with these changes,” I muttered, stepping out and heading to my usual wing, the familiar bustle of the firm’s employees filling the air.

I was the head of the commercial law department. Under my leadership, my team had closed countless high-stakes contracts between major corporations—billion-dollar deals that only brought more prestige to Morgan & Associates. I loved my job, poured my heart into it, but that didn’t stop me from making the dumbest decision of my life.

From my office, seated at my desk, I saw my phone light up with an incoming call. I ignored it, pretending nothing was happening, focusing on my work instead. I’d gotten good at that lately—shutting out the noise. Today would be no different.

But then the phone pinged with a text: “I need money to buy medicine for your son.”

I sighed deeply and sent her the money, just as she wanted. I knew the kid wasn’t mine. I knew Andrea had always been unfaithful, but I chose to ignore it and live with it. After all, this was the consequence of my mistake.

The mistake I made when I left Destiny, something I never should’ve done.

At the time, it felt like the right call. I was riding high on my recent promotion and finally free of leukemia. In that moment, I felt like the world was mine to conquer, like I could do whatever I wanted without a care for the promises Destiny and I had made to each other, without a thought for whether I was destroying her. I felt entitled to be selfish, to chase what I wanted.

But soon after the divorce, as the euphoria faded, I realized I’d already had my happiness—right there with Destiny. I’d recklessly traded it for something fleeting with Andrea. It didn’t take long to see there was no love between us, that we were completely different people with different values.

Andrea wanted me for what I could offer. She knew my promotion came with perks and status, so she seduced me, convinced me to leave my wife for her. And I… I was the biggest idiot on the planet for abandoning the woman who’d practically given her life for me. The woman who stood by me through all the agony of chemo, who, without her, I never would’ve survived.

She was my talisman, the one who made everything in my life fall into place the moment she walked in. Her love, her devotion—they blessed me so much that I was reborn, transformed into a new man. It was all because of her. Because of Destiny, I beat cancer. Because of her, I finished my degree and landed this job at one of the best law firms in the city.

Everything was because of her. She fought for me, gave me strength, encouraged me. “I know you’ll make it,” she’d say with that steady, hopeful smile, and it was in her that I found my courage, my fearlessness.

But I’d let her go without so much as… without so much as a thank you. I’d let her walk away like she was nothing. And yes, I regretted it bitterly. I’d even gone after her, searching all over New York—Manhattan haunts, the hospital where we first met, everywhere. But no one had seen her, no one had heard of her. She’d vanished without a trace, leaving me wondering if those five years together had been a delusion.

In the end, I realized Destiny just wanted to disappear and forget me. Even though she never took the divorce settlement money, even though I knew she was jobless and broke, probably alone and lost in the world, I knew she was strong enough to rise again. Still, I wanted to find her, to offer some kind of support, even if she hated me and wished me dead.

Now, I was stuck dealing with this mess with Andrea, the consequence of my own stupidity.

---

“How do I look? Presentable enough to meet the spoiled queen?” Jules asked, adjusting his tie. He, I, and the rest of the firm’s employees were gathered in the conference room, waiting for the woman who’d be introduced any moment.

A buzz of excitement and curiosity filled the air as employees whispered among themselves about the firm’s future. “I’m sure this so-called queen will fall head over heels for you, buddy,” I said with a smile, clapping his shoulder.

Truth be told, I didn’t care. Jules could charm any woman he wanted, and this new CEO might fall for him, but as long as she didn’t mess with my work, I couldn’t give a damn about her or Jules.

“Oh, you’d better start calling me Jules Morgan from now on,” he joked, as cheerful as ever.

Then, the double doors at the front of the room swung open. I caught her scent first—soft like roses, yet striking—the same perfume she’d worn since the day I met her, a fragrance that unleashed a flood of bittersweet memories in my head.

Surrounded by security and the firm’s top executives, there she was: Destiny, in the flesh. Her hair was different, cut into a sleek bob, her body a bit slimmer than I remembered, but still stunning.

She wore a tailored women’s suit, crimson lipstick accentuating her full lips, her face commanding, her eyes sharp as they scanned the room. The entire room fell silent, struck by her commanding presence.

“What? What’s going on? Isn’t that your ex, Ronan?” Jules said beside me, dumbfounded.

“My name is Destiny Morgan, and I will be your CEO from now on,” she announced, her voice firm and clear, resonating through the room.