Chapter 1

Confetti draped over my shoulder, with one strip falling into the coffee I'd just poured.

After a brief silence, Joel Harrington was the first to react. He subtly moved away from Elodie Shaw and took a few steps toward me.

"What brings you back to the office?"

It was a strange question.

Crestwell was the company I'd founded from the ground up. Since when did I need to give him advance notice before coming in?

I plucked the confetti off my shoulder, doing my best to keep my voice calm.

"My client will be here in 20 minutes. I came back to get some documents."

Joel glanced toward the conference room, frowning slightly.

"Didn't Leah inform you? I asked her to tell you about this afternoon's event."

"She mentioned the company outing, but she didn't say the records room would be locked, too."

"The original plan was to go out for the gathering, but Elodie said there was no need to make a big fuss, so everyone agreed to celebrate here instead."

He paused, then continued, "You've been working on that project for so long that you should know the details by heart. Not having the documents shouldn't affect your negotiations."

I looked at him and said nothing.

Joel wasn't wrong about my familiarity with the project. Even without the documents, I could recite the entire proposal from memory, but my client was visiting Crestwell for the first time, and there was no one in the office. The conference room hadn't even been prepared.

A celebratory banner bearing Elodie's name was hanging in the workspace. This wasn't something he could simply brush aside by claiming it wouldn't affect the negotiations.

Besides, the documents he considered dispensable contained details that would determine our final quotation.

"Unlock the records room first," I said. "Then have the administrative team prepare the conference room."

Someone behind Joel murmured an acknowledgment but made no move to act, clearly waiting for his response.

A few seconds later, he nodded. "Do as she says."

Only then did the frozen crowd begin to disperse.

Elodie handed the flowers she was holding to a colleague and approached me.

"Ms. Landry, I should have thought this through more carefully," she said. "I assumed Mr. Harrington had already coordinated the schedule. I didn't realize you had an important appointment."

She glanced at her watch. "We can celebrate anytime, but your project can't be delayed. Let me help you retrieve the documents."

Her tone was polite, and she made no attempt to show off.

Even so, I caught the implication of her words.

"Do you have access to the records room?"

Elodie paused for a moment, then nodded.

"Mr. Harrington gave me temporary access so I could familiarize myself with Crestwell's core business."

I turned to Joel.

As though he'd anticipated my question, he calmly explained, "Elodie can't spend her entire career handling small deals, and Crestwell can't rely on you to carry everything forever. I intend to gradually involve her in major projects."

"How long has she been working here?"

"Ability has nothing to do with how long someone's been employed."

"So you gave someone who's still on probation access to our core records without even informing the project lead?"

Joel glanced around before lowering his voice. "This was a management decision. If you have a problem with it, we can discuss it after the client leaves. There's no need to embarrass Elodie in front of everyone."

I suddenly remembered our first year in business, when Joel had spent several sleepless nights worrying about a financing deal that had fallen through. Back then, I'd canceled an out-of-town project I'd already secured so I could stay and help him revise the proposal over and over again.

At three in the morning, he sat beside me at the table, took my hand, and said, "Theresa, whatever happens to Crestwell, let's always talk things through together."

I'd held on to those words all these years.

Now, it seemed that he kept his promise only when Elodie wasn't around.