All Chapters of The Algorithm of Her Heart: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Monday morning started with an email from Kane Enterprises. The subject line was simple: "Acquisition Analysis - Confidential."Elena opened it at her kitchen table, coffee growing cold beside her laptop. The email was from Dominic's executive assistant with a brief message: "Mr. Kane requests your evaluation of the attached acquisition opportunity. All materials are confidential and covered by the NDA you signed. Please provide your analysis at your earliest convenience."Elena clicked on the attachments and watched as hundreds of pages of documents downloaded. Financial statements, market analyses, competitive intelligence reports, technical specifications, legal documentation. The target company was a tech manufacturing firm called Apex Systems, valued at two billion dollars.This was no small consulting project. This was a major acquisition that could reshape entire market sectors.Elena should have been intimidated. Instead, she felt a thrill of excitement she hadn't experienced

The Riverside Family Center was designed to look cheerful and welcoming, but Elena thought it felt institutional. Bright primary colors, educational posters on the walls, shelves full of toys and games that had been touched by hundreds of children. It smelled like cleaning solution and old carpet.Elena arrived fifteen minutes early for her scheduled two o'clock visit. The receptionist checked her identification and had her sign in on a clipboard."You can wait in the lobby. Ms. Chen will come get you when it's time."Elena sat in an uncomfortable plastic chair and tried to calm her racing heart. This was her first official supervised visit with Lily since the custody arrangement had been formalized. Two hours, once a week, in this neutral location with a social worker watching everything she said and did.It felt wrong. Artificial. Like her relationship with her own daughter needed a referee.But this was what the court had ordered, so this was what she would do.At exactly two o'clo

The third supervised visit started like the others. Elena arrived early, signed in at the reception desk, and waited in the cheerful but sterile room for Lily to arrive.Ms. Chen brought Lily in right at two o'clock. The child was wearing jeans and a sweater today, her hair in a simple ponytail. She looked more like herself, less like she'd been dressed up for display."Hi, Mommy," Lily said quietly."Hi, sweetheart. How was your week?""Okay, I guess."They settled at the table with the puzzle they'd been working on. Over the past two visits, they'd made good progress. The border was complete and several sections were filled in.They worked in comfortable silence for a while, sorting pieces by color and pattern. Elena had learned not to push conversation. Lily would talk when she was ready.After about twenty minutes, Lily spoke without looking up from the puzzle. "Can I ask you something?""Always. You can ask me anything."Lily was quiet for another moment, carefully placing a blue

Marcus Ashford sat at his desk on Monday morning, scanning through business news on his tablet the way he did every day. Coffee growing cold beside him, emails piling up in his inbox, another busy week beginning.Then he saw the headline: "Elena Cordova: The Analyst Reshaping Strategic Investment."He stared at it for a long moment before clicking through to the full article.There was a photo of Elena at some business event. She wore a sleek black dress, her hair styled elegantly, standing beside Dominic Kane. She looked confident and sophisticated, smiling at something off camera.Marcus barely recognized her.He started reading."Elena Cordova has become one of the most sought-after strategic analysts in the industry despite having been virtually unknown just months ago. Her exclusive consulting arrangement with Kane Enterprises, reportedly worth two million dollars annually plus equity participation, has positioned her as one of the highest-compensated analysts in the field.Sourc

Elena was reviewing financial projections for a medical technology investment when her phone rang. Marcus's name appeared on the screen.She stared at it for two rings, debating whether to answer. They'd barely spoken since that tense conversation after Lily's weekend visit. Their communication had been mostly through lawyers and brief text messages about custody schedules.On the fourth ring, she answered. "Hello.""Elena." Marcus's voice sounded tired. Strained. "Do you have a minute to talk?""I suppose. What is it?"There was a pause, like he was gathering courage. "Vivian had the baby. Three days ago. A boy."Elena set down her pen and leaned back in her chair. She'd known this was coming, of course. Vivian had been visibly pregnant for months. But hearing it stated so plainly still felt strange."Congratulations," she said, because that seemed like the appropriate response."Thank you." Another pause. "His name is Cameron. Cameron James Ashford. He was born three weeks early but