I had signed important contracts before, stood in boardrooms, and defended ideas in front of men who doubted for the sake of it. But this was different. Not because of the company. Not because of the project's scale.
But because of him… the day before the meeting, I knew I wouldn't be the only one there… I knew Ethan would be in this very building.
Faced with that, I felt something strange, greater demand and not because I was competing with him... it's just that, I felt that the world had that cruel and precise way of crossing paths when you least want to... or when you need it most.
When the elevator doors opened, I took a deep breath and moved forward. My team was already in the room; I had two senior consultants, concentrated, serious. They greeted me naturally, as if this were just
