Almost Strangers

Chapter Two

The Proposal he wasn’t talking about

Vera’s POV

I left Aries's office that morning with my head full of questions and a strange weight sitting in my chest. I told myself I had probably misread the look on his face, that maybe fifteen years had changed him enough that the boy I remembered really was gone. But I knew better. There had been no mistaking that flash of recognition before he shut it down and put the cold expression back in its place.

He remembered me,He just didn't want me to know it. I said in a whisper .

I pushed the thought aside as I settled into my new desk outside his office, reminding myself I hadn't come to Morgan Technologies to reopen the past. I'd come because I needed the job, and more than that, I needed the salary attached to it. My father had left behind enough unpaid bills to make every one of them feel like another weight on my shoulders, and I'd promised myself long ago that I would never depend on anyone else to dig me out.

For the first few hours, everything felt ordinary ,until his assistant set a thick stack of documents on my desk.

"Mr. Aries wants these organized before the end of the day," she said.

I looked at the stack, then at her. "All of them?"

"I'm afraid so," she said, with a look that was somewhere between sympathy and warning.

"Alright," I said. "I'll get them done."

By lunchtime, another stack had appeared. Then another. Every time I thought I'd cleared my desk, something new arrived from his office ,meeting schedules to rearrange, reports to organize, calls to return, documents to review before they went out to other departments. None of it was impossible on its own, but the sheer volume made his intent obvious. He was testing me, maybe hoping I'd quit, maybe hoping a miserable first week would be enough to send me running.

He clearly didn't know how many years I'd already spent proving I don't scare that easily.

When the last file landed on my desk late in the afternoon, I leaned back and rubbed my eyes, glancing toward his closed office doors and imagining the satisfied look he was probably wearing behind them. Instead of giving him anything, I picked the file back up and kept working.

Aries’POV

I watched her through the glass expecting frustration, complaints, a request for help, maybe her walking in to tell me the workload was unreasonable. Instead she'd spent the entire day working in silence, refusing to give me the satisfaction of watching her break.

She was exactly as stubborn as I remembered.That was the problem.

I stood behind my desk, I had recognized her the second she walked in. There had been no confusion in it, no uncertainty, and no need at all for the question she'd asked me.

I remembered everything. Her blue eyes. Her laugh. The way she used to trail after him no matter how much he complained about it. The silver bracelet I'd clasped around her wrist the summer before our families were torn apart.

Most of all, I remembered what came after. For fifteen years I believed her family destroyed mine. I watched my father carry that anger night after night until it became my own. Until she walked back into my life and brought all of it up with her.

Facing those memories was harder than burying them again, so I decided to take the easier road by pretending not to know her.

A knock cut through my thoughts. My father walked in without waiting to be asked.

Marco Morgan carried himself with the same authority he always had, his expression stern as he settled into the chair across from my desk.

"We need to talk about the merger," he said.

I returned to my seat. "Then talk."

Marco laid several documents on the desk. "The board wants stability before the agreement is signed. The other family expects you to settle down before the deal moves forward."

"You're talking about marriage."

"I'm telling you marriage will strengthen your position." he said firmly, his voice low and authoritative.

"I don't need a wife to run my company."I said flatly.

Marco leaned back, studying him. "You need the confidence of the people who've invested in it. Whether you like it or not, your personal life is part of the arrangement now."

My jaw tightened. I spent years building this company so no one could dictate my decisions, and now my father was sitting across from me, telling me who to marry.

"I won't marry a woman just because you think it'll make a deal easier."

Marco's eyes narrowed. "Then find someone yourself."

Silence settled over the room. My gaze drifted toward the glass wall separating my office from the reception area, where Vera sat still bent over another document, completely unaware of the conversation happening a few feet away.

An idea began forming reckless, probably the worst decision I could make, and somehow the only one that made sense.

Vera needed money. I could solve years of financial trouble for her without much effort. I needed a wife who would satisfy my father's demands without expecting love, or affection, or any permanent place in my life. And Vera, of all people, understood the terms of a contract better than anyone I knew.

Marco stood. "Well?" Aries looked up. "I'll handle it."

My father studied him a moment longer, suspicious but silent, and left the office.

The second the door clicked shut, I leaned back and stared at the ceiling, wondering when exactly my life had gotten complicated enough that Iwas actually considering marrying the woman whose family I'd spent years blaming.

I know she wouldn't agree easily. I also know exactly what would make her hesitate.

Money.

I looked through the glass again. She was still buried in work. I picked up my phone.

"Send Vera Collins into my office when she's finished," I told my assistant.

There was a short pause. "Is everything alright, sir?"

My eyes stayed on Vera.

"Yes," I said evenly. "I just have a proposal for her."

And this time, it had nothing to do with business.