Corner Office Confessions

Chapter 13: A Familiar Face

The name on the visitor's log stopped Nerisa cold: **Vivian Cole.**

She didn't know the name meant anything until she saw Nathan's face when Marla mentioned it — the way his whole body went rigid, the color draining slightly from his expression.

"Who's Vivian Cole?" Nerisa asked once Marla had gone.

Nathan's jaw tightened. "Someone from a long time ago."

"That's not an answer."

"She's a board investor's daughter. We were... involved. Years ago." He said it carefully, like each word had to be weighed before release. "Before I understood what I was worth to people who only wanted what I could give them."

Nerisa felt something cold settle in her stomach. "What happened?"

"She used what I told her. Things I'd never told anyone. Used it against me in a business deal that nearly cost me the company." His voice went flat, distant. "I swore after that I'd never let anyone that close again."

*Until me,* Nerisa thought, the weight of that unspoken truth pressing against her chest.

The office door opened without a knock. A woman swept in — polished, confident, achingly beautiful in a way that made Nerisa acutely aware of her own intern badge still clipped to her blazer.

"Nathan." Vivian's smile was all edges. "You're looking well. And who's this?"

Nathan's hand found Nerisa's, steady and deliberate. "Nerisa Smith. She's not someone you need to concern yourself with."

But Vivian's eyes lingered on their joined hands, calculating, and Nerisa felt the first cold thread of dread settle into her chest.

Whatever Vivian Cole wanted, it wasn't a friendly visit. And something told Nerisa the past Nathan had spent years burying was about to claw its way back to the surface — with both of them caught in the wreckage.