Elias POV

Business first.

That was the mantra I repeated to myself as I sat in the glass-walled conference room, the morning sunlight reflecting off the polished surfaces, glinting faintly in the metal nameplates before me.

But thinking about her was a mistake, one I kept making.

Those thoughts weren’t harmless. They pulled me off balance.

I didn’t need that.

Still, my mind kept drifting back to her…

wondering how she was holding up back there,

wondering if she was fine.

The investors from China, South Korea, and Dubai had come for a multibillion-dollar joint partnership. After tense negotiations, contracts and assurances, the deal was sealed, trillions in projected revenue,...