The Life we never Planned

Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

HER POV

I arrived at the chairman's office at exactly 9:47 a.m.

I hated being late.

I hated waiting even more.

So when the receptionist told me, “The chairman will see you at ten,” I simply nodded and took a seat.

My folder rested on my lap.

Everything was ready.

The financial projections.

The expansion strategy.

The partnership structure.

The risks.

The expected returns.

I had prepared for every question I could think of.

Except one.

The chairman himself.

I had met him once.

Barely.

Yet somehow, that short meeting had stayed in my mind.

Not because I was attracted to him.

I wasn't.

It was something else.

There was something about the way he looked at me.

Like he wasn't simply listening to my presentation.

Like he was studying me.

I shook the thought away.

This was business.

Nothing more.

At exactly ten, the assistant appeared.

“Ms. Williams?”

I stood.

“Yes?”

“He's ready for you.”

I followed her through the familiar hallway.

The large office door opened.

And there he was.

Behind the desk.

The most powerful man in the company.

The man whose name alone could make executives nervous.

His eyes met mine.

For a second, neither of us spoke.

Then he stood.

“Angela.”

My steps slowed.

He remembered my name.

Of course he did.

I'd been in his office before.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning.”

His voice was calm.

Controlled.

He gestured toward the chair opposite him.

“Sit.”

I did.

He sat across from me.

For a moment, he simply looked at the folder in my hands.

Then he looked at me.

“I've reviewed your proposal.”

“And?”

“I have questions.”

I almost smiled.

Of course he did.

“Go ahead.”

His eyebrow lifted slightly.

“You're not nervous.”

“Should I be?”

“No.”

“Then I'm not.”

Something changed in his expression.

Barely.

But I noticed.

He leaned back.

“Your company is young.”

“Yes.”

“You're young.”

“I know.”

“And you're asking my company to invest a considerable amount of money into an expansion you intend to control.”

“I intend to lead it.”

“That's different.”

“Very.”

His eyes stayed on mine.

“You don't trust easily.”

I frowned.

“That wasn't in my proposal.”

“No.”

“Then why are we discussing it?”

“Because I want to know the person I'm doing business with.”

I paused.

There was something strange about that answer.

Most investors cared about numbers.

This man seemed interested in everything.

I crossed my legs.

“I'm not asking you to trust me blindly. I'm asking you to look at the numbers.”

“I have.”

“And?”

“They're impressive.”

I waited.

“But?”

“There is always a but.”

He gave the faintest smile.

I wasn't sure whether it was amusement or something else.

“You're ambitious.”

“Yes.”

“Very.”

“Yes.”

“And you don't like being told what to do.”

I stared at him.

“That depends on who's doing the telling.”

For the first time, he actually smiled.

It was brief.

But it changed his entire face.

I quickly looked back at my folder.

“Let's focus on the proposal.”

“Agreed.”

We spent the next hour going through everything.

He challenged almost every assumption.

I defended every one.

He questioned the market.

I gave him the research.

He questioned the timeline.

I explained the strategy.

He questioned my funding structure.

I gave him three alternatives.

By the end, my coffee had gone cold.

My throat was dry.

And somehow, I was smiling.

Not because the meeting was easy.

Because it wasn't.

But I respected a person who actually knew what he was talking about.

He closed the folder.

“I'll approve the preliminary partnership.”

I blinked.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

I hadn't expected it to be that simple.

“But there will be conditions.”

There it was.

I smiled.

“Of course.”

He slid a document toward me.

“Read it.”

I picked it up.

Then stopped.

There was one condition that wasn't financial.

Angela Williams will personally oversee the international expansion project.

I looked up.

“You want me to lead it?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

His gaze held mine.

“Because I don't trust anyone else to build it the way you described.”

My heart gave one strange beat.

I ignored it.

“That makes two of us.”

He leaned back.

“Then we have an agreement.”

I stood and gathered my things.

“Thank you for your time.”

I turned toward the door.

“Angela.”

I stopped.

I looked back.

His expression had changed.

Softer.

Almost unreadable.

“Welcome to my world.”

I frowned slightly.

Then I smiled politely.

“I'm not here to enter your world.”

His eyes narrowed.

“I'm here to build mine.”

For the first time, I saw something flash across his face.

Not anger.

Something closer to admiration.

“Then build it.”

I walked out.

And I had no idea that those four words would become the beginning of something neither of us had planned.