MasukHarper stopped as soon as they stepped out of the elevator and pointed ahead. “That one on the right.”
Violet glanced up. Sure enough, the number matched the one Olie had given her. She looked at Harper, her voice calm but edged with meaning. “Thanks.”
Something flickered in Harper’s eyes—surprise, maybe—but she said nothing. She
Allison’s eyes went blank for a second. It felt like her heart had just dropped into a bottomless pit.“Dr. Jones… check again,” she said, her throat tight. “He kicked last night. There’s no way there’s no heartbeat.”Dr. Jones was the most respected OB-GYN in their hospital—and Allison’s own specialist. If anyone could be trusted right now, it was her.And Allison didn’t believe in that cold “survival of the fittest” bullshit anyway. From the moment she found out she was pregnant, she’d booked every test possible. Even after twenty weeks—when things were usually considered stable—she still came in every week for routine monitoring.This couldn’t be happening.“Sometimes the monitor just can’t pick it up right away,” Dr. Jones said gently, trying to calm her. “That doesn’t automatically mean there’s no heartbeat. It could be the baby’s position. Let’s do an ultrasound to confirm.”“Bring the ultrasound in,” the doctor told the nurse.A few minutes later, the machine was ready.The fam
“Miss, we’re here. It’s raining pretty hard—give me a sec, I’ll grab an umbrella.”The driver’s voice pulled Allison back to reality. She blinked, focus snapping back. The light drizzle from earlier had turned into heavy rain, thick drops racing down the window.The door opened. The driver was already standing there with a big black umbrella. She stepped out slowly and looked up at the apartment building in front of her.It had only been a few months, but standing downstairs at Marcus’s place again felt like stepping into another lifetime.Ever since Richard asked her to “go see Marcus,” the thought had been stuck in her head. Fine. Just a vi
Allison caught the earliest flight back to New York the next morning.She was surprisingly calm. Emily, on the other hand, still looked shaken even after they landed.“We should’ve brought a couple more managers on this trip,” Emily muttered as they walked through the terminal. “If there were more of us, Mr. Hill wouldn’t have dared pull that shit.”Allison let out a quiet sigh. “The company’s swamped because of the Medi AI project. And Mr. Beaumont doesn’t like meeting a crowd of unfamiliar faces. It made more sense for me to go alone.”She adjusted her coat. “Besides, a guy like Mr. Hill? If it wasn’t yesterday, it would’ve been some other time. He was going to try
The meeting with Sofi was held at their headquarters, and it went smoothly from start to finish. Allison didn’t feel what people meant when they described them as “traditional” and “stubborn.”Sofi was a private, family-owned company. Most of the top roles were still held by family members. But the younger generation had stepped up. This round of talks was led by them, with the older generation present for support. The balance gave Allison a sense of stability—solid, calm, unified.It was exactly the kind of family-business model she secretly admired. Strong company. Strong family. Both intact.The newly appointed CEO, Mr. Beaumont, seemed genuinely impressed.“I didn’t expect Winthrop’s future successor to be such a
The second she stepped out of the restaurant, Allison felt like her skin was crawling. She texted the materials to Emily and told her to handle all communication with Mr. Hill from now on.Most of the process could be delegated anyway. She didn’t need to see him again unless absolutely necessary. But once due diligence wrapped up and they locked in preliminary terms with the European manufacturer, she’d inevitably have to deal with him face-to-face again.She didn’t like it—but she’d handle it when it came.Two weeks later, background checks were basically done. Winthrop had tentatively secured cooperation with the French pharmaceutical company Sofi. Next came legal review, compliance, regulatory procedures—the usual grind.
The list landed on Allison’s desk fast. She picked three names and had Emily reach out.Strangely—or maybe not so strangely—they all gave the same answer. The decision-makers were “out of the country.” End of year, conference season, sure. But the timing was too clean.Allison didn’t buy it for a second. Marcus had probably made a few calls.That narrowed her options.Emily tapped one name on the list. “This one’s well connected with several European pharma manufacturers. But… his reputation’s not great.”Allison’s eyes scanned the name. Mr. Hill.It rang a bell. A few seconds later she remembered. “Was
The biggest business gathering of the year—officially framed as a relaxed reunion—was, in reality, a prime opportunity for networking across industries. These days, any two sectors might find room for collaboration or cross-promotion, and events like this were often the only chance to catch sight
By three in the afternoon, as the sunlight began drifting west, a sudden rush of hurried footsteps broke the stillness inside a hotel suite in the city. Someone ran up to a bedroom door and knocked urgently.“Boss—Violet and Josef just left their house by car. They’ve entered the highway and seem t
On a winter street in France, the sky shifted from dim to a washed-out gray. Pale light pressed close to the cloud cover and spread over the rooftops, signaling the arrival of a new day. Yet the faint warmth in the color did nothing to raise the temperature—it was still cold enough that every brea
Violet had no idea how long she’d been asleep. When she opened her eyes, the lights in the room had already been dimmed to their lowest setting. Her gaze drifted toward the window—outside, the sky looked even darker than before, the trees reduced to nothing but blurred silhouettes.“Awake?” Josef’s







