HOSTILE ATTRACTION

Elara Vance never cried in public. Not when her parents died. Not when she was thrown out of her childhood home. Not even when she signed her first billion-dollar deal at twenty-six. Crying was weakness. And weakness was something she buried long ago. The glass walls of her office stretched from floor to ceiling, reflecting the skyline of Velmora City—a city that once swallowed her whole and now bowed at her feet. “Elara,” Nora’s voice broke through the silence as she stepped in without knocking. “You’ve been staring at that contract for twenty minutes.” “I’m thinking,” Elara replied without looking up. “You don’t ‘think’ this long unless something’s wrong.” Elara finally lifted her gaze, sharp and unreadable. “Nothing is wrong.” Nora crossed her arms. “Then why does it feel like a storm is coming?” Because it was. Elara could feel it—something shifting beneath the surface of her carefully controlled world. Something dangerous. She turned back to the contract. A major investor had quietly acquired a significant percentage of her company. Anonymous. Strategic. Intentional. A threat. And Elara Vance did not tolerate threats. “Find out who’s behind this,” she said. Nora hesitated. “Already tried. Whoever it is—they’re good.” Elara’s lips curved slightly, not in amusement, but challenge. “Good,” she said. “I was getting bored.”