All Chapters of Mister Dream Man: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

* Jana *A glimpse of the past.....Graduation day smelled like sun-warmed stone and old books. My robe didn't fit quite right, it was too long in the sleeves, and the hem dragged with each step, but I wore it proudly. Leticia pinned a brooch over my heart, a small thing made of silver and glass beads. It had belonged to her mother, she said."You earned this," she told me, her fingers brushing my cheek before letting go.Mateo hooted the loudest when my name was called, his voice echoing across the courtyard. I laughed through my tears. I walked that stage not just for me, but for Mom. For Geraldine. Even for the brother I hadn't seen in years.After the ceremony, Leticia handed me a folded piece of paper. On it, scrawled in her tight, loopy handwriting, were names. Shelters. Offices. Places I might find something, someone."I know you've been waiting to look," she said softly, "but maybe now is the time."I nodded, holding the list like it was a compass.Weeks later, I finally get th

* Jana *The keys trembled in my hand, not from cold, but from the storm still brewing under my skin. My pulse hadn't settled, not since the ride, not since the brush of his fingers over mine, that deceptively casual contact that ignited something raw and aching inside me. The silence between us in the car had been laced with heat, each stolen glance from him stoking the fire burning just beneath my skin.I slipped the key into the lock and pushed the door open, heart thudding, breath shallow. The soft amber glow from my living room lamp spilled into the hall, catching the angles of Lawrence's face as he followed me in. The door shut behind us with a quiet thud that echoed like a heartbeat, one we both felt.I stood in the center of the room, unsure of where to go, what to say. His presence filled the space behind me like gravity. Every cell in my body was suddenly aware of him. My pulse had no rhythm. My thoughts scattered like ashes in a breeze."Nice place," he said, his voice lowe

* Lawrence *The conference call had run ten minutes over, and I hated that. Time wasted was money lost, and at Dankworth & Co., neither were things I tolerated lightly.I set my phone down, tapped the edge of the contract in front of me, and signed the final page with a clean, decisive stroke. Another deal sealed. Distribution rights for the quarter secured. No loose ends. That's how I liked it.Still, even with the ink drying, my mind was already on the next move.I hit the intercom. "Clara, get the department heads into the main boardroom at three. Marketing, finance, operations. I want the projections on the big screen before I walk in.""Yes, Mr. Dankworth," she replied, her voice crisp."And Clara—" I leaned back, rolling my pen between my fingers. "Tell them no dead weight today. If someone's there without a reason to be, I'll notice."She didn't miss a beat. "Understood."I hung up and glanced at my phone, scrolling through emails. The last quarter's figures were strong, but n

* Lawrence *The morning after the meeting with Jana, I barely had time to go over the latest numbers before my father's voice came over the intercom."Now, Lawrence."Not a request. Never a request.I closed the ledger, smoothed down my tie, and stepped into Lance Dankworth's office. The air here was different, colder, heavier, like the walls themselves carried the weight of the Dankworth name. He sat behind the desk that had been his since I was old enough to understand the word "legacy.""Sit," he said, not looking up from his papers.I took the chair opposite him, back straight.Finally, he set his pen down. "I spoke to Mrs. Pitman last night." His eyes, pale and sharp as cut steel, fixed on me. "She says you've ended things with Dianne."It wasn't a question."Yes," I said evenly."Care to tell me why?"I could have lied. I could have told him we weren't compatible, that the timing was wrong. But my father didn't respect excuses. He respected results."It wasn't going to work," I

* Lawrence *She walked away before I could say more, her heels striking the marble in a rhythm I'd come to know, measured, deliberate, like everything she did. I stood there longer than I should have, jaw tight, the conference room door still swinging closed behind me.No one made a fool out of me in business. Not for years. Not since I learned the hard way that trust was a liability and that everyone, no matter how loyal they looked, had a price. And yet, here I was, my first major loss in years, and it stank of sabotage.Back in my office, I pulled the blinds shut. I didn't want the city view today. I wanted focus. I wanted blood."Get me everything," I told Connor, my chief of operations, who'd been standing in the corner like he was hoping I wouldn't notice him. "Emails, phone logs, internal forecasts, anyone who touched this deal in the last sixty days."He hesitated. "That's a wide net, sir. It'll raise suspicion internally—""Good," I snapped. "Let them be suspicious. Maybe th