The Life we never Planned

Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13

HIS POV

The meeting ended three hours ago.

I remembered none of it.

Not because it had been unimportant.

Because my mind had been somewhere else.

“Sir?”

I looked up from the document in front of me.

My assistant stood across the desk, waiting.

“Yes?”

“The board is waiting for your decision.”

I glanced at the file.

“Approve it.”

He hesitated.

“You haven't reviewed the final numbers.”

“I already reviewed them yesterday.”

He nodded and left.

I leaned back in my chair.

Three years.

Three years of wondering where she was.

And now that I had found her, I was suddenly being reminded of how little I actually knew about her.

Angela.

Twenty-four.

Self-made.

Independent.

Ambitious.

And apparently determined to keep me at arm's length.

I almost smiled.

Apparently, she still had no idea who I was to her.

That was fine.

I didn't need her to know yet.

I wanted her to know me first.

Not the man whose name made boardrooms go silent.

Not the man governments negotiated with carefully.

Not the man people called ruthless behind closed doors.

I wanted her to meet the man underneath all of that.

If she ever chose to.

My phone vibrated.

A message from my assistant.

Angela Williams has requested confirmation for another meeting.

I stared at her name.

She hadn't asked when I would return.

She hadn't tried to contact me personally.

She had simply left her availability.

Business first.

I respected that.

Perhaps more than I should.

“Move my schedule.”

My assistant looked at me.

“Which meetings?”

“All of them tomorrow morning.”

“Sir, you have—”

“I know what I have.”

He immediately stopped talking.

“I want Angela's meeting at ten.”

“Yes, sir.”

He turned to leave.

“Wait.”

He stopped.

“Don't tell her I'm rearranging my schedule for her.”

His eyebrows lifted slightly.

“Understood.”

After he left, I picked up my phone again.

I opened the message.

Then closed it.

Opened it again.

Ridiculous.

I was a man who could negotiate billion-dollar deals without blinking.

Yet one woman's name could hold my attention for minutes.

I stood and walked toward the window.

The city stretched beneath me.

Everything I had built was down there.

Companies.

Banks.

Hotels.

Factories.

Influence.

Power.

People who wanted something from me.

People who feared me.

People who would do almost anything to stay on my good side.

And yet the one thing I wanted couldn't be bought.

Her.

Not her company.

Not her success.

Not her attention.

Her choice.

I had known that from the beginning.

That was why I had never searched for her.

If I used my power to find her three years ago, whatever happened between us would never have been genuine.

But now she had walked into my world on her own.

And tomorrow, she would walk back into my office.

I wondered if she would recognize me.

Not from our first meeting.

She had barely looked at me that day.

But perhaps something would click.

Perhaps she would remember the man she had seen three years ago.

I wasn't counting on it.

I turned away from the window.

My phone vibrated again.

This time, it was my mother.

Dinner. Tonight. Don't make me come to your office.

I almost laughed.

She was one of the few people in the world who could threaten me without consequences.

I typed a reply.

Fine. Eight.

Her response came immediately.

Seven.

I stared at the screen.

Then typed:

Seven-thirty.

Seven.

I sighed.

Fine. Seven.

I put the phone away.

Tomorrow was more important.

Tomorrow, Angela would sit across from me again.

And this time, I wasn't going to ask only about her business.

I wanted to know the woman behind it.

What she wanted.

What she feared.

What made her angry.

What made her smile.

And whether there was already someone in her life.

Because if there was...

I needed to know.

Not because I intended to interfere.

I simply needed the truth.

I had waited three years.

I could wait a little longer.

But I wasn't going to spend another three years wondering.

Tomorrow, I would start getting to know Angela Williams.

And for the first time in my life, I was looking forward to a meeting for a reason that had absolutely nothing to do with business.