WE ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH EACH OTHER

Ria stepped into the lobby of the Williams Group and she froze.

Her heart caught before she even reached the front desk. The air in this company— it was cold, sharp and almost judgmental. And suddenly all the confidence she had while riding the bus over just... vanished.

She gripped her bag tightly, her fingers shaking slightly as she held on to her sketchbook— that was her truth— the only thing she could use to prove herself. But now that she was here, she felt like a fraud pretending to be bold.

Ria embraced herself; she wasn't going to back down now— it wasn't just about revenge, it was also about her survival.

The past week was hell.

She had tried to make an appointment with the Williams Group but it felt like she was chasing shadows. She had sent emails, left voicemail but no response. Ria knew that without an agent or a company backing her they weren't going to consider even looking at her portfolio but still she kept trying because no fashion company agreed to hire her.

Every fashion house she approached ghosted her after seeing her name. Suddenly no one was hiring. The moment they saw her name, they shut her up before she could even say anything.

All to polite to say it straight, but she knew Nathan had quietly blacklisted her and no one in the fashion industry would like to go against Nathan— The Rising Star in the fashion industry, just for a nobody like her.

She took a step forward even though her legs felt heavy.

The receptionist who looked like a woman in her early twenties glanced up— barely looking at her before returning her gaze to the computer in front of her.

"Do you have an appointment?" She asked, her voice flat, almost bored.

"I tried to get one," Ria replied, her voice shaking slightly. "I wasn't able to but this is important. I'm here to apply for the Van Arden Fashion contract.

The receptionist stopped typing. This time around she looked up at Ria, as if she never knew Ria was standing there before. The look in her face shifted from surprise to amusement and then a slow knowing smile crept cross her face, like she'd seen this story play out a hundred times before. Her brows arched slightly and the corner of her mouth curled in disdain.

"Are you sure you're in the right place? She asked, her voice was now rigid with sarcasm. "Do you even understand what you just said?. The Van Arden Fashion contract?. You really walked in here to apply for that".

She let out a short, dry laugh, "Is this some kind of new trick? Another act of desperation dressed up as ambition?. You better leave before I call security". She mocked, her expression already sour.

Ria felt a storm swirl inside her, she trembled as she tugged at the edge of her sleeve.

What now?

She had no other plan apart from this. The Van Arden Fashion contract was supposed to be her way in— not just into the industry, but into herself— into the version of her that was very closed up because of Nathan. It was a way to reclaim her name, her pride and everything Nathan had stripped her of.

And now, it was slipping through her fingers.

She bit the inside of her cheek hard enough to taste copper.

If Nathan got the deal... no. She wouldn't let him. He needed to know what it felt like to loose something... really lose it— the way she had.

"Can you just..," Ria was mid-sentence, when a voice sliced through the air like ice down her spine.

"Ria"

She froze.

That voice. Calm, confident— dangerously familiar. She didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

Nathan.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, his voice steady, but with enough edge to make her stomach twist.

Before Ria could find her voice, the receptionist— Nicole, who had been eyeing her with disdain from the moment she told her about her application— let out a mocking laugh.

"Mr Cooper, can you believe this?" She said practically oozing condescension. "She actually claimed she wants to enter the bidding contest for the Van Arden Fashion contract".

Her words hung on the air like poison.

Ria clenched her jaw. She bit back the words pressing at her lips. She wasn't going to let them see her flinch. Not him.

"The last time I checked, this wasn't your company," Ria said coolly, lifting her chin as she Nathan's gaze with a tight smile— one that never touched her eyes. "So I don't think I owe you an explanation."

Nathan's expression hardened. "Don't tell me you're doing this because we broke up."

Broke up?

The words echoed bitterly in her chest.

He had the audacity to call it a break up? The hell he did. He didn't even have the decency to end things properly with her. He just cut off communications with her— no explanation whatsoever after that night, leaving her to stitch the pieces of herself in silence.

What gave him the right to say anything now?.

"Mr Cooper" her tone flat but laced with venom. "I don't think we're familiar enough to have this conversation, if you'll excuse me."

She turned to leave.

"I've already signed the contract," Nathan said in a firm voice."I'll advise you not to try anything funny."

Ria stopped in her tracks, her heart pounding.

He signed the contract.

That was her only shot. The one opening she had to claw her way into the industry — and now it was gone just like that.

But if Nathan thinks she was going to give up just like that, he had more coming.

Without another word, Ria walked out of the building, not looking back for once.

From the entrance of the elevator, Alex watched everything unfold.

He'd come down with Nathan after the contract was finalized, and though he hadn't intended to eavesdrop but he wasn't able to tear his eyes away from Ria.

The moment she heard Nathan say he'd secured the deal, something shifted in her— her face didn't crack but Alex saw it— felt it. The way she held herself, the ache she tried to bury, it clawed at something deep inside him.

She was good. Damn good. And if the circumstances were different, he might have backed her bid himself. But the vote had already been cast and Nathan's proposal had won by majority— it was also her design so it's no surprise it beat all the other proposals.

Still something stirred in his chest. A feeling he couldn't ignore.

"Contact her," he turned to Noah, who was trailing beside him. "Tell her to come in for a job interview."

Noah blinked, he was startled, "But there's... no open position right now. I mean, where is she even..."

Alex gaze sharpened, "Am I supposed to teach you how to do your job?".

Noah straightened instantly. "No sir I understand." If the boss said there was a job opening, then there was one— even if it had to be created from scratch.