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BOOK 3 - CHAPTER 5: THE INTRODUCTION
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2026-02-04 00:27:44
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I’m Back, Mr. CEO BOOK 3 - CHAPTER 6: THE FRUSTRATION
Three days.It’s been three days since the coffee shop, and I’ve typed and deleted approximately forty-seven messages to Maya.Okay, maybe not forty-seven. But close enough that Derek’s threatened to confiscate my phone.I’m in my office, pretending to review quarterly reports, but the numbers blur together into meaningless shapes. My phone sits on the desk, screen dark, mocking me with its silence.She texted me once. The morning after our coffee meeting.Maya Sterling: Made it back to SF. Thanks again for the conversation.That was it. Professional. Polite. The kind of message you send to a networking contact you’re never planning to speak to again.I’ve drafted responses ranging from casual (“Glad you made it safely”) to desperate (“When can I see you again?”) to honest (“I can’t stop thinking about you and I’m terrified”).I’ve sent exactly none of them.“You’re spiraling.”I look up. Clara’s standing in my doorway, arms crossed, wearing one of Mom’s ETHEREAL designs and an expres
I’m Back, Mr. CEO BOOK 3 - CHAPTER 5: THE INTRODUCTION
The coffee shop smells like burnt espresso and broken dreams.I’m fifteen minutes early, sitting at a corner table with a clear view of the entrance, nursing a black coffee I haven’t touched. My leg won’t stop bouncing under the table. I force it still, then it starts again thirty seconds later.Derek wanted to come. “Moral support,” he called it. I told him absolutely not. Some things you have to crash and burn alone.The door opens. Not her. Just some guy in a suit talking too loud on his phone.I check my watch. 6:58 AM.What if she doesn’t show? What if she googled me last night and figured out who I really am? What if she remembered something and this whole plan is already burning before it even starts?The door opens again.Maya.She’s dressed down from yesterday. Jeans, a cream-colored sweater, hair loose around her shoulders. Without the armor of her business clothes, she looks younger. Softer. More like the girl I remember, and that makes everything worse and better at the sa
I’m Back, Mr. CEO BOOK 3 - CHAPTER 4: THE CONFERENCE ENCOUNTER
The hotel ballroom is packed with the kind of people who think wearing a hoodie to a business event makes them revolutionary.I adjust my badge for the third time, making sure it says “Ethan James” and not “Ethan Moore” in some cosmic mix-up that would ruin everything. Derek’s beside me, scanning the crowd with the intensity of a secret service agent, which is both helpful and making me more nervous.“Relax,” he mutters. “You look like you’re about to rob the place.”“I feel like I’m about to rob the place.”“You’re just talking to a girl you used to know. Normal people do this all the time.”“Normal people don’t have to pretend to be someone else while doing it.”Derek sighs. “Last chance to back out. We can leave right now, you can send her an honest email explaining everything, and…”“No.”“Didn’t think so.” He nods toward the stage. “She’s up in twenty minutes. Keynote speaker, remember?”I remember. I’ve had it marked on my calendar for four weeks, counting down the days like a p
I’m Back, Mr. CEO BOOK 3 - CHAPTER 3: THE MOTHER’S WISDOM
“But you didn’t.”“No. Because I learned the hard way that love built on lies is just another kind of prison.” She turns to face me. “Your father lied to me. By omission, by action, by silence. Every lie eroded what we had until there was nothing left but ashes.”My throat tightens. “This is different.”“Is it?”“Mom…”“I’m not saying don’t pursue her.” She crosses back to me, takes my hands in hers. “I’m saying be careful. Be honest. The Moore name is heavy, yes, but it’s yours. You’ve earned the right to carry it with pride.”“She’ll hate me if she knows.”“Maybe. Or maybe she’ll surprise you.” Mom squeezes my hands. “But if you start this relationship with a lie, you’re building a house on sand. Eventually, it will collapse. And when it does, you’ll lose her all over again.”I want to argue. I want to tell her she’s wrong, that this is different, that I know what I’m doing.But the thing is, she’s probably right.She’s always right about this stuff.“What if the truth means I never
I’m Back, Mr. CEO BOOK 3 - CHAPTER 2: THE SEARCH THAT NEVER ENDED
Mom’s penthouse always smells like jasmine and expensive candles.I stand in the elevator, watching the numbers climb, and try to figure out how to explain this without sounding completely insane. Hey Mom, remember that girl I was obsessed with as a kid? The one whose father’s company Dad destroyed? Yeah, I found her and I’m planning to lie about my identity to make her fall in love with me. Totally normal, right?The elevator dings. Too late to back out now.Lucas opens the door before I can knock. He’s got reading glasses perched on his nose and a tablet in hand, probably reviewing contracts or whatever retired CEOs do for fun.“Ethan.” He steps aside, letting me in. “Your mother’s in her office. Fair warning, she’s in one of her moods.”“What kind of mood?”“The kind where she’s redesigning an entire fashion line because one stitch was off.” He gives me a look that’s half sympathy, half amusement. “Tread carefully.”Great.I find Mom exactly where Lucas said she’d be, surrounded by
I’m Back, Mr. CEO BOOK 3 - CHAPTER 1: THE GHOST IN THE BOARDROOM
{ETHAN’S POV}The conference room smells like expensive cologne and desperation.I’m pretending to listen to Jenkins drone on about quarterly projections, but my mind’s somewhere else. Somewhere it shouldn’t be. My phone’s face down on the table, screen dark, but I can feel it there. Waiting. Mocking me.Three days since I saw her picture. Three days of no sleep and too much coffee and this gnawing thing in my chest that won’t let me breathe right.“Moore, you with us?”I blink. Jenkins is staring at me, bushy eyebrows raised like caterpillars having a conversation. The rest of the board members are watching too, various states of concern and irritation on their faces.“Yeah. Sorry.” I straighten in my chair, force myself to focus. “Continue.”Jenkins clears his throat, clearly annoyed, and goes back to his presentation. Numbers flash on the screen. Revenue streams, market analysis, competitor movements. I should care. This is my company. My baby. Built from the ground up with nothing
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