An Unfinished Chapter

The conference room smelled of polished wood and fresh coffee. Elena adjusted the cuff of her blazer, her fingers tightening around the leather portfolio she carried. This was just another business deal. Just another client.

Then she looked up.

Adrian Wolfe sat at the head of the table, his presence as commanding as ever.

Her breath caught in her throat.

Three years. Three years since she’d walked out of his life, out of his world. And now, here he was—unshaken, unreadable, watching her with the same piercing gaze she remembered.

“Elena.” His voice was smooth, unreadable, but there was something in the way he said her name. Like he wasn’t expecting to say it again in this lifetime.

She straightened her spine, forcing her expression into polite neutrality. “Mr. Wolfe.”

A flicker of something passed through his eyes—surprise, maybe even amusement—but it vanished as quickly as it came.

The tension in the room was thick enough to choke on. Around the table, other executives and project heads exchanged confused glances. None of them knew. None of them understood the history simmering beneath the surface.

Adrian leaned back in his chair, fingers steepled. “I wasn’t aware Montgomery & Co. was sending you as their lead architect.”

She met his gaze evenly. “We won the bid fairly, Mr. Wolfe. I assume that’s what matters.”

A slow smirk touched the corner of his lips. “Of course.”

He was testing her. Pushing to see if she would falter. She wouldn’t. Not now.

The meeting resumed, and for the next hour, Elena forced herself to focus. She walked through the project details, laid out Montgomery & Co.’s vision for the high-rise Adrian’s company was funding, and maintained her composure under his scrutiny.

But she felt it. The weight of his gaze, the unspoken words pressing between them.

When the meeting concluded, chairs scraped against the floor as executives gathered their things, exchanging pleasantries before exiting. Elena took her time closing her laptop, waiting for the last of them to leave.

She had every intention of walking out as well.

“Elena.”

She froze.

Slowly, she turned. The door had shut behind the last executive, leaving just the two of them.

Adrian had risen from his chair, hands in his pockets, his gaze unreadable. “You don’t call. You don’t write,” he said, voice deceptively light. “And now, three years later, you walk into my boardroom like a stranger.”

Elena forced a steady breath. “That’s because I am a stranger to you now.”

His jaw ticked. “That’s what you tell yourself?”

“I don’t tell myself anything, Adrian.” She lifted her chin. “I moved on. Just like you did.”

A beat of silence stretched between them.

Then Adrian took a step closer.

“Elena,” he said, softer now. “Are you happy?”

The question caught her off guard. She opened her mouth—then stopped.

Was she?

She had a successful career. A life that was hers, without the shadow of Adrian Wolfe looming over her.

But happy?

She couldn’t answer.

Not when looking at him stirred something deep inside her.

Elena forced a small, empty smile. “I think that’s irrelevant, don’t you?”

Adrian studied her for a long moment, as if searching for the truth beneath her words.

Then, to her frustration, his lips curved into a smirk. The same arrogant, knowing smirk that used to drive her crazy.

“Alright, Elena,” he said, stepping back. “Let’s play it your way.”

And just like that, the walls between them solidified once more.

She turned without another word, her heels clicking against the marble floor.

But as she reached for the door, Adrian’s voice came again, softer this time.

“It’s not over. You know that, don’t you?”

She hesitated. Just for a second.

Then she walked out.

And with every step, her heartbeat betrayed her.