Chapter 7 - Sunrise Over Manhattan
Three months later, the boardroom of Reed Global was packed to capacity.
The quarterly shareholder meeting was underway, but the tension in the room wasn't about Q3 revenue projections or European expansion milestones—though both were exceeding all expectations.
The whispers buzzing around the mahogany conference table were centered entirely on the handsome, formidable CEO sitting at the head of the table, and the woman sitting quietly to his right, managing the digital presentation with effortless grace.
When Victoria Sterling’s family had attempted to mount a hostile proxy battle to oust Cameron from the board, they had severely underestimated one critical factor: Cameron Reed had spent six months preparing for financial independence from their legacy holdings, utilizing secure restructuring plans finalized the very week his engagement ended.
By the time the vote was called, the proxy challenge was crushed by a ninety-two percent majority. The Sterling family’s influence in Reed Global was officially, permanently eradicated.
Now, as the board members filed out of the room murmuring congratulations and handing over signed approval forms, the heavy mahogany doors finally clicked shut, leaving Cameron and me alone in the sprawling executive sanctuary.
Cameron leaned back in his leather chair, loosening his tie with a heavy sigh of relief, though a warm, victorious smile played across his lips.
“Well,” he murmured, resting his chin on his hand as he looked across the desk at me. “It seems the board didn't eat me alive after all.”
I smiled, closing my tablet and standing up to gather my notes. “Only because you outmaneuvered them six moves in advance, Mr. Reed. Per usual.”
“Cameron,” he corrected softly, standing up and walking around the desk.
I paused, my heart doing that familiar, traitorous flip as he closed the distance between us. Even after three months of late nights working side-by-side, shared dinners in my cramped apartment, and a relationship that had upended both of our lives, the sheer magnetic pull of him never faded.
He stopped right in front of me, slipping his arms around my waist—the exact same spot he had grabbed on that chaotic, drunken midnight three months ago.
“You know,” Cameron murmured, leaning down so his forehead rested gently against mine, “you still haven't answered the most important question I asked you that night.”
My breath hitched. “Which one?”
“Why you didn't slam the door in my face when I showed up at midnight looking like a disaster in your hallway.”
I smiled softly, lifting my hands to rest against the warm wool of his lapel, feeling the steady, strong beat of his heart.
“Because even when you were falling apart, Cameron,” I whispered, looking up into his gray eyes, “you were still the only man brave enough to show me your real self.”
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He didn't say anything to that. He simply pulled me closer, sealing the distance between us with a deep, slow kiss that tasted like victory, warmth, and a future neither of us had expected to find.
Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the golden morning sun broke over the Manhattan skyline, bathing the gleaming towers of the city in brilliant, unbroken light. The corporate titan and his former assistant had finally found their footing, proving that sometimes, the best disasters in life are the ones that lead you exactly where you were always meant to be.
