BROKEN TIES; Bound By What Broke Us

Chapter 5; Nathaniel’s POV

Nathaniel's POV

The report on my desk had been open for the past forty minutes or so.

I have been going over the same line.

I leaned back in my chair, staring at nothing in particular.

Outside my office window, the city buzzed the way it always did.

Fragments of last night kept coming back in pieces.

The ballroom. The music. The way the room’s atmosphere changed the moment she walked in.

I hadn't been prepared for that.

Ten years.

I had told myself enough time had passed, and that seeing her again would mean nothing.

She'd walk in, and I'd nod.

Simple.

But then she walked through that door and every thought I had prepared dissolved immediately.

She has changed.

The quiet, awkward, chubby, shy girl I remembered was completely gone.

In her place stood a confident woman, who moved like she knew exactly what she was doing.

The black dress. She's always worn baggy clothes throughout high school.

Those curves!!!

I tried so hard to look away.

I told myself it was the right thing.

Just two strangers sharing a room.

Nothing more.

But then our eyes met across the room and for a second, everything else blurred.

I looked away again.

I was good at that.

Stop Nathaniel.

I exhaled and pulled the report closer, forcing my eyes to look at the jumping numbers.

It didn't work.

I kept seeing her face when I walked past her at the end of the night.

The way she stiffened.

The flash of something in her eyes before she buried it.

She was good at that too, burying things.

Better than she used to be.

Miss Collins.

Two words. A nod. The most I could do without giving myself away.

I rubbed my face, frustrated with myself in a way I hadn't felt in a long time.

I'm thirty years old for God's sake. I run a company worth billions.

I had sat across tables from men who tried to intimidate me and felt nothing.

But one look from Ava Collins and I couldn't read a single page.

Pathetic.

My phone buzzed on the desk.

I glanced at the screen.

Vanessa.

I stared at it for a moment before picking it up

.

"Vanessa."

"Nathaniel." Her voice was deliberately low. "You disappeared so quickly last night. I barely got to talk to you properly."

"I had an early morning."

"Mm." A pause. "I was thinking we could have lunch today. That new place on Fifth, I know you lik…"

"I can't."

Silence.

"You're always saying that," she said, her tone shifting slightly.

"I've been busy."

"You're always busy when it's me." She laughed with a hint of complaint.

"Nathaniel, I just want to—"

"Vanessa." I kept my voice even. "I have a meeting in a minute. I'll talk to you later."

"Fine," she said finally. "What abou__”

I hung up before she could add anything else.

I placed the phone face down on the desk.

Vanessa had a way of making simple things complicated. She always had.

I turned back to my report.

Ten minutes passed. Maybe fifteen. I had almost convinced myself I was finally focused when my office door opened without a knock.

I already knew who it was before I looked up.

My father stood in the doorway, dressed the way he always was. Perfectly pressed.

He scanned the room briefly before his eyes settled on me.

"You're busy," he said

"I'm always busy."

He stepped inside anyway, closing the door behind him.

He moved to the chair across my desk and sat down slowly, the way older men did when they wanted to appear casual but had already decided what they came to say.

I waited.

"How was last night?" he asked.

"Fine."

He nodded, glancing around my office briefly.

I could tell he was looking for a way to start the conversation.

We had always been like this, my father and I.

He wasn't a cold man exactly, more like a man who had spent so many years leading with business that he had forgotten how to relate with anything else.

Our conversations usually had an agenda.

"The Collins girl was there," he said.

I looked at him

.

"Ava." He said it like he was testing something. "I heard she attended."

"She did."

He nodded again, slower.

Then he leaned forward slightly, clasping his hands together on my desk.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about something. I had a conversation with Richard Collins last week."

I said nothing.

"Both families go back a long way, you know right." He paused. "There's been a discussion. About the companies. A merger of sorts, something that would benefit both sides significantly."

"What kind of merger?"

He met my eyes. "A marriage alliance."

The room felt very quiet suddenly.

I kept my expression exactly where it was.

"Between who?"

"You." He held my gaze. "And Ava Collins."

I didn't move.

Something happened in my chest that I refused to acknowledge.

A sharp, sudden thing that was gone almost as quickly as it came. I pressed it down immediately.

"Richard is offering shares in Collins Corporation," my father continued. "It's a strong deal, Nathaniel. The timing is right, both companies are positioned well, and the alliance would …”

"Are you asking for my opinion?" I asked.

"Of course, I am." He leaned back. "I'm not forcing anything. I'm telling you what's on the table."

I turned to look out the window.

Ava Collins.

I thought about what Richard was offering.

The Collins Corporation was old money, deep roots, the kind of name that opened doors.

A merger wouldn't just make sense on paper, it would make sense everywhere.

Two companies. One alliance. Logical.

That was the word I needed to convince myself I didn't feel anything else. Logical.

I turned back to my father. "I'll think about it."

He studied me for a moment, as if he expected more resistance.

Then he nodded and stood. "Don't think too long tho. Richard wants an answer by Saturday."

He left without saying anything else.

The door clicked shut and the room was quiet again.

I stayed still for a long moment.

Ava Collins.

I was going to marry Ava Collins.

The thought sat there, strange and heavy.

I thought about the business angle first, the way I always approached things. The shares. The merger. The long term position it would put both companies in. It made sense. Anyone looking at this from the outside would see it immediately.

That was the reason.

That can only be the reason.

I pulled my chair forward and reached for my pen.

Then I stopped.

My mind drifted, against my will, to what her face would look like when she found out.

Ava had never been good at hiding her feelings.

Even last night, with all that composure and the dress and the new version of herself she had clearly worked hard to build, I could still read her.

The slight tension in her jaw when she was holding something back.

The way her eyes went still when something hit too close.

When she heard my name attached to the words marriage, I already knew exactly what would happen.

Her cheeks would puff out like an angry rabbit.

Her eyes would go wide, then narrow.

That expression she always made when she was furious but trying to stay composed.

I didn't realize I was smiling until I heard the sound of my laughter.

A short laugh. Almost involuntary.

I stopped it immediately.

I set my pen down and straightened in my chair, clearing my expression.

Get it together Nathaniel.

This was a business arrangement. Nothing more, nothing less.

She would sign the contract, I would sign the contract, and we would both do what needed to be done.

Nothing more.

I picked up my pen again and turned back to the report.

This time, I actually read it.