Chapter 2

I had just reached the underground parking garage when Selena hurried after me, her heels clicking sharply against the concrete.

She caught up and grabbed my wrist. "Adrian, what was that? Today is the most important day of Julian's career, and you walked out in front of all those reporters. What are people going to think?"

I stopped. "What they think has nothing to do with me."

She was clearly taken aback.

In eight years, I'd rarely spoken to her that way.

I handled the tech; she handled the business.

Whenever she needed me at an event, I showed up. Whenever she canceled a date at the last minute, I waited. Whenever she said the company came first, I pushed my plans aside.

Over time, she must have genuinely believed I would always be standing in the same spot.

I looked at her. "Selena, do you remember what you got me for my last birthday? A three-hundred-dollar belt."

She frowned. "It was just a gift."

"Exactly. Just a gift." I nodded. "I never cared how much it cost. But you went into my private account and stopped me from investing in Ethan. Then you turned around and gave Julian a hundred million. You even stood there while an entire room joked about you marrying him right in front of me."

Her expression hardened. "Why are you mixing two completely different things together?"

My tone was cold. "They were never two separate things. The issue is that you've never respected boundaries."

Selena's expression froze for a second. "Adrian, I was just managing the risk for you."

"My money, my friend, my choice. Who gave you the authority?" I shot back.

She couldn't answer. After a few seconds, she pulled a black bank card from her clutch and shoved it into my hand. "Fine. It's just money, isn't it? That card has no per-transaction limit. Give Ethan five million or fifty million. I don't care."

I glanced down at the card. In the bottom-right corner, there was a line of tiny embossed text.

Julian Cross.

The absurdity hit me all at once. "Whose card is this?"

She followed my gaze, and her expression changed. "I had it issued to Julian as an authorized user. He never used it."

"So your way of making this up to me is giving me something Julian didn't want?"

"Adrian." Her voice turned sharp. "How far are you going to take this?"

Her phone rang. The second she saw the caller's name, all the irritation disappeared from her face. "Julian?"

I couldn't hear what he said, but Selena immediately replied, "Stop drinking. Your stomach can't handle it. I'll be right back."

She hung up and looked at me. "I need to go back inside. Go home and cool off. Don't make an even bigger scene tonight."

I said nothing.

She took a few steps, then said with her usual confidence, "We'll talk tomorrow."

After she was gone, I snapped the black card in half and tossed it in the trash.

Half an hour later, Julian sent me a screenshot of his messages with Selena. They were from the day Ethan signed his funding agreement.

Julian wrote, "Five million down to five hundred. Adrian must look like a joke to his friend now."

Selena replied, "Don't push it too far."

Julian challenged, "Scared of him?"

Selena answered, "I just don't want him coming after you."

I stared at Selena's last message for a long time.

She'd known exactly what that five hundred dollars meant. She knew Julian was trying to humiliate me. But what worried her wasn't how I felt. It was whether I'd go after Julian.

Then Julian sent me a voice recording. He sounded amused. "So when are you going to hand over the Orion system?"

Selena answered, "After legal finishes the authorization."

Julian's voice was flat. "Will Adrian sign?"

Selena answered with perfect confidence. "It doesn't matter whether he signs."

Julian pressed on. "What if he finds out?"

There was a brief silence before Selena answered. "He'll be upset, but he won't leave. He walked away from his family for me eight years ago. He barely speaks to them anymore. Other than Nexora, he has no career. Other than me, he has no real home."

Julian chuckled. "You're sure he can't live without you?"

She laughed. "Julian, you don't know Adrian. He cares too much about us. I'll say a few nice things, and he'll get over it."

The recording ended there.

I sat alone in my car. Strangely, I wasn't angry or sad. Everything had simply become clear.

Eight years ago, I'd turned down my place on Hale Global's board and walked away from my position as heir.

As I left the Boston estate, my father had asked me this. "Are you sure you want to let someone else decide what you're worth?"

Back then, I'd thought he was arrogant. Now I realized the truly arrogant one wasn't him. It was me.

I'd believed that if I kept giving enough, Selena would eventually give me the same respect in return.

I opened an encrypted email account I hadn't touched in eight years. More than three hundred unread messages were waiting for me. The newest one came from Hale Global's corporate secretary. "Mr. Hale, the chairman's surgery went well, and he is recovering smoothly. Your seat on the board remains open. The board requests your final decision before the end of the month."

I stared at the message for a few seconds, then typed one sentence. "Tell them I'm coming back."

The moment I sent it, I felt as though the chapter on the last eight years had finally closed.