My Ex-Fiancé Uncle's Obsession

The Acquisition

Few days later, I was running late for work which was very unusual for me.

I woke with a start to the sound of my alarm screaming from the nightstand.

8:17.

“Oh, hell.” I practically launched myself out of bed. I was supposed to be at the office by eight-thirty.

I showered in under five minutes, burned my tongue on coffee, ruined my first blouse with mascara, and finally left my apartment nearly twenty minutes late.

By the time I reached the office building, I was breathless, irritated, and ten minutes from having a breakdown.

Then I stepped inside the lobby and stopped.

Something was wrong. People were everywhere.

Clusters of employees stood whispering near the elevators. Executives hurried through the lobby with files clutched in their hands. Assistants rushed past looking stressed and pale.

Even the receptionist looked like she was about to cry.

“What’s going on?” I asked, dropping my bag onto my desk.

Serena looked up from her computer, eyes sharp.

“You haven’t heard?”

“Heard what?”

“There’s an emergency board meeting. Apparently the acquisition has happened.”

My stomach dropped. I still had hopes that it wouldn’t come to this.

For months, the company had been bleeding money. Clients were leaving. Investors were backing out. Rumors about buyouts and restructuring and the possibility of Layoffs. Everyone knew we were in trouble.

I just lost my relationship and I wasn’t ready to lose my job too

“Everyone’s upstairs,” Serena said. “Now.”

I barely had time to catch my breath before I was hurrying toward the elevator.

The elevator doors opened onto the executive floor.

The hallway outside the boardroom was packed. Department heads, board members, assistants—everyone looked tense.

Mia appeared beside me instantly.

“Where have you been?” she hissed.

“Running late.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You look awful.”

“Thank you.”

“I mean it. You look like you haven’t slept in days.”

I hadn’t really, every time I closed my eyes I saw Ethan’s betrayal, then him—I shoved the thought away immediately. Now was not the time.

Before Mia could say anything else, the boardroom doors opened.

Everyone went silent as we filed inside.

I took my usual seat near the back, clutching my notebook a little too tightly.

At the front of the room, our acting CEO, Mr. Richard looked exhausted. Pale. Older than he had last week.

“As of this morning,” he said, his voice tight, “Aurelius Group has officially been acquired.”

The room erupted into whispers, my stomach sank. This was it, the end.

Then he stepped aside.

And the man who walked into the room made my world stop.

“Good morning,” he said smoothly. “I’m Adrian Blackwood.”

The room erupted instantly.

People whispered his name like they couldn’t believe he was actually standing there.

“Adrian Blackwood?”

“The Adrian Blackwood?”

“We’re finished.”

“No,” someone else whispered. “Maybe we’re saved.”

At the front of the room, Richard Whitmore stepped aside, looking almost relieved to be handing the disaster over to someone else.

I barely heard any of it.

Because I was staring at him.

At the man I had left sleeping in a dark apartment three mornings ago.

Then the boardroom doors opened again.

“Sorry I’m late—”

The voice made my stomach drop.

Ethan Cole walked into the room, still shrugging into his suit jacket.

He froze the second he saw the man standing at the front.

For the first time since I had met him, Ethan looked genuinely shocked.

“Uncle Adrian?”

The room went dead silent. My heart stopped.

Uncle.

I looked at Ethan. Then at Adrian. The same dark hair. The same sharp jaw. The same cold eyes.

How had I not seen it before?

Then murmuring ran through the room.

“Uncle?”

“Wait, Ethan is related to him?”

“Well, I guess Ethan’s job is safe.”

“Lucky bastard.”

I felt sick.

Adrian, meanwhile, looked completely unbothered.

“Nice to see you again, Ethan,” he said coolly.

There was nothing warm in his voice.

Nothing familial.

Just a warning.

Ethan swallowed hard and slowly took his seat.

I couldn’t breathe.

“Since we’re all here,” Adrian continued, like he hadn’t just destroyed my entire life in under thirty seconds, “let me make one thing very clear.”

The room fell silent again.

“I did not acquire this company to watch it continue to fail.”

He began pacing slowly at the front of the room.

“Over the last year, this company has lost clients, investors, and millions of dollars because people in charge made careless decisions and expected everyone else to clean up their mistakes.”

Nobody moved.

Nobody even breathed.

“There will be changes,” he said. “Some of you will keep your jobs. Some of you won’t. I have no interest in loyalty, excuses, or office politics. I care about results.”

A few people shifted nervously in their seats.

“If you are good at what you do, you have nothing to worry about.”

Then his gaze found mine.

“But if you are not…”

He let the sentence hang.

I gripped the edge of my chair so hard my fingers hurt.

Beside me, Mia Carter leaned closer.

“Why does he keep looking at you?” she whispered.

“I don’t know.”

“That is a lie.”

“I said I don’t know.”

Ethan looked from Adrian to me. Then back to Adrian, a frown pulled at his face.He looked confused more than anything else, like he knew something was wrong but couldn’t figure out what.

“Oh my God.” Mia’s eyes widened. “Do you know him?”

“No.”

“You absolutely know him.” I shot her a look.

She looked between me and Adrian again, then gasped quietly.

“No way.”

“Mia—”

“You slept with him?”

“What?” I hissed.

Her mouth fell open. “You slept with a mystery man and that mystery man is Adrian Blackwood?”

“Keep your voice down!”

“Oh my God,” she whispered excitedly. “Your life is a disaster.”

“Thank you, that’s very helpful.”

Before she could say anything else, Adrian stopped speaking.

The room went still.

Then he looked directly at me. “Miss Sinclair.”

Every head in the room turned towards me .

I froze. “Yes?”

“I’m told you know this company better than almost anyone.”

I could feel Ethan staring at me.

“I—yes.”

“Good.” Adrian’s expression didn’t change. “I’ll see you after the meeting.”

The room erupted into whispers again.

Beside me, Mia grabbed my arm so hard it hurt.

“What,” she whispered, eyes huge, “the hell?”