"He Stopped a Multimillion-Dollar Deal Just to Hear My Secret. Then He Changed My Life."

When we stepped out of the private elevator onto the executive floor, the whispers among the staff were no longer speculative gossip—they were looks of profound, undeniable awe. Word had leaked through the grapevine that Eleanor Vance’s hostile equity syndicate had officially withdrawn their merger terms after federal regulators began reviewing the offshore disclosure documents Nathan’s legal team had uncovered.

Northstar was completely, independently ours.

I sat at my desk on the third floor, sipping my morning coffee, looking down at the simple silver band gleaming on my left ring finger. The sunlight catching the polished metal felt like a quiet blessing.

Harper practically flew down the aisle between the cubicles, sliding into the guest chair with her eyes as wide as dinner plates.

"Okay, I need details. Every single one," Harper demanded in a frantic whisper, slamming her notebook onto my desk. "Did he really dump a four-hundred-million-dollar equity partner for you? Is it true that you're moving into his Gold Coast penthouse? Are you quitting? Are you getting married in Santorini?!"

I laughed out loud, shaking my head as I tapped her nose with my pen. "Slow down, detective. First of all, we're taking things one step at a time. Second of all, I am not quitting my job—I just earned a promotion to senior data director, remember?"

"Right, right, senior director of data forecasting," Harper waved her hand dismissively, grinning ear to ear. "Handed down directly by the CEO who looks at you like you invented oxygen. I still can't believe it. Twenty-eight years old, complaining about being a late bloomer in the cafeteria, and three days later you're the heroine of a corporate fairy tale."

"It wasn't a fairy tale, Harp," I said softly, looking over toward the frosted glass doors of the private conference room ten feet away—the exact room where my confession had floated out across the carpet on an ordinary Monday afternoon. "Fairy tales happen by magic. This took courage, truth, and two people refusing to let fear make their choices for them."

Before Harper could reply, the intercom chime sounded across the department, followed by the deep, resonant voice of the executive assistant.

“Maya Bennett, please report to the CEO’s office immediately.”

Every head in the department snapped up, followed by a chorus of knowing grins and suppressed snickers from my coworkers.