CHAPTER FIVE

“Miss Baker? Miss Baker!?”

The flashback ended as quickly as it came, her head was throbbing, she was not over the whole travel sickness, she had been suffering from it for a long time, ever since she left Cali. Her head flew back to the voice that called her name. It was Armstrong.

Leila smoothed the lines on her dress and smiled, She nodded like nothing had happened.

“Yes? Can we begin?

Gavin sat at the edge of the conference table. As usual, his whole presence was intimidating but she was prepared for it. The whole room was silence, He broke the silence. “The Almighty Leila Baker, to what do we owe you the pleasure?”

It took Leila all she had not to break into laughter, Gavin Hasters was trying to break her and she was not going to stand for it. He did it once and he would not get the chance to do it again, “You should not believe everything you read online, take it from someone that has been involved in one too many scandals”

The moment she said it, she wished she could take it back when she saw a flicker of hurt on his face. He deserved all that was coming for him, she wanted to reach over to caress his cheek, to tell him she still loved him and she still cared for him despite everything.

In the past, she would have kissed him and he would have given her that million dollar smile that seemed to make everything better even if the world was on the verge of collapsing.

But she didn’t move. She couldn’t afford to.

Those days were long gone. The man she loved no longer existed. And she wasn’t that girl anymore

She sighed heavily, bringing herself to reality. This was not the past; it was better off this way.

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The meeting took a total of forty five minutes, longer than what she had intended to spend. Forty five long and draining minutes of her avoiding Gavin Hasters’ eyes. She was not over him yet and she was a fool to think that in the first place, the whole point of her coming to New York was to make him pay for everything she went through and to think that her stupid feelings were about to get in the way of all that. She had to call herself to order fast because a lot of things were at stake. This wasn’t just a business meeting. This was the first step in a plan she’d been building piece by piece for years.

As the board members scurried out of the room one by one, murmuring polite goodbyes and nodding at her with mixed curiosity and respect, Leila played with a strand of her hair, rolling it over and over again with her fingers.

“You didn’t answer my question,” Gavin said suddenly.

She froze. It was remaining the two of them now. The door clicked softly behind the last person. Leila looked up slowly. “Which question?”

He stood, hands in his pockets, eyes fixed on her like he could see through every layer she’d carefully built.

“To what do we owe you the pleasure?”

She tilted her head, trying to mask the tremble in her hands with a confident smile. “Business. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Gavin stepped closer. “Come on, Leila. You don’t just disappear for five years and show up at the biggest deal of the quarter for business. What do you really want?”

She stood, the chair squeaking lightly behind her. “Careful, Gavin. Are you accusing me of something?”

He smirked, but his eyes darkened. “You’re playing with fire.”

“I know,” she whispered, brushing past him. But as she reached the door, she paused. “And fire burns, remember?”

Before he could answer, she was gone.

In the hallway, Armstrong was waiting. “I know we have not been on good terms in the past but I just wanted to apologize for my shortcomings”

Leila smiled, typical Armstrong,best in playing it safe and removing himself from any situation that he knows he won’t win. That’s one of the things she admired about him and she was a little bit happy that he seemed to think she had the upper hand, she was not a hundred percent sure of herself now that she was back on familiar grounds. The easier part was plotting. To execute was way harder.

“It is fine honestly,” she said

She’d spent the last five years building a new life. A life forged from loss, betrayal, and one brutal night she could never forget. They thought they buried her but all they did was plant something.

Armstrong caught up with her again near the elevator. “Just curious… what’s really going on? Why now?”

Leila glanced at him, her eyes clouded with something cold

“I’m here to collect what’s mine.”

The elevator doors slid open. She walked past him, heels clicking against the floor. Her mind was already moving ahead next steps, next strike. She didn’t come back to New York to play it safe. She came back to destroy. And taking the company was just the beginning

Gavin Hasters didn’t know it yet, but the walls around him were already crumbling. And by the time he realized what was happening, it’d be too late.

She was going to take it all.

The company.

The life he built.

And eventually, she was going to rip the truth out of him and make him pay.