The CEO hidden heir

Chapter four

Old Enemies

Adrian

The glass doors of the municipal office swung open, and I strode inside, expecting another routine redevelopment site.

The local mayor scrambled forward, his sweaty hand darting out to meet mine while he fumbled with a stack of blueprints.

"Mr. Hale, we didn't expect you until noon. The preliminary demolition permits for the north block are already on your desk."

"Demolition starts when I say it does, Mayor," I said, my voice cold, keeping my expression flat. "My grandfather’s final will came through yesterday morning. We aren't turning this coastline into a resort anymore. We need to preserve the core and turn it into a heritage site, or I pull every dime of funding and let this town rot."

The mayor’s face was drained of color. "Heritage site? But the resort contracts…."

"Go away," I cut him off, tossing my briefcase onto the oak table. "Send in the local architect in charge. Let’s get this over with."

The mayor practically dove out the door, clicking it shut behind him.

I rubbed the back of my neck, the familiar irritation clawing at my chest. It had been six years of building an empire, remembering an empty apartment and a note written in rushed handwriting telling me I was just a distraction.

I had grown cold and I didn't care about local politics or small-town drama. I just wanted the walkthrough done.

The wooden door creaked open. "You wanted to see the lead restoration planner, Mr. Hale?"

The voice hit me. My spine locked and every breath in my lungs stopped.

I turned around slowly, my eyes cutting across the room. She stood just inside the room, holding a leather portfolio against her chest. Her hair wasn't the long, dark chestnut fall as I remembered; it was cropped short and dyed a striking, vibrant ginger.

Her jaw was sharper, her expression completely iced over, but those stormy eyes belonged to the person I had spent years trying to forget.

"Nora," I breathed, the name scraping raw over my tongue.

She didn't flinch or drop her portfolio. She just planted her boots firmly on the floorboards, her chin lifting as her gaze locked onto mine with a dead-eyed, biting chill.

"It's Miss Jonas," she corrected, her voice ice-cold. "Nora Jonas. Now, are we going to talk about the structural blueprints for the old warehouse district, or did you just bring me down here to waste my morning?"

My jaw tightened. A bitter, furious heat surged straight to my chest, overriding the shock. I stepped around the table, the space between us shrinking.

"You," I spat out, the disbelief sharp in my teeth. "You're the local architect? You're the one fighting my development firm?"

"And you're the billionaire who buys up towns just to play with it," she fired back instantly, her lips curling into a razor-thin, mean smile. "Small world, isn't it? Though I figured you'd be too busy playing with Celeste to bother slumming it in a coastal town."

The name hit me and I looked at her all confused. Yes, Celeste and I had f****d a couple of times but that was after she broke my heart and left me.

"Celeste?" I stared at her, my brow furrowing into a hard scowl. "What the hell does Celeste have to do with anything? I threw Uncle Victor out of my office six years ago when he tried pushing that trash onto me!"

Nora let out a dry, venomous laugh. "Spare me the performance, Adrian. I saw the papers. You got what you wanted—your board seat, your corporate dynasty. Leave Seabrook Cove alone. We don't need your blood money here."

My blood ran ice cold. "Papers? What are you talking about?" I stepped closer, reaching out to grab her arm. "Nora, look at me. I never touched Celeste. I spent weeks tearing apart New York looking for you after you left that damn note!"

She slapped my hand away so hard the skin of my wrist stung.

"Don't you touch me!" Her voice shook with suppressed fury. "You think I wanted to leave? You think I packed up my life and walked away because I was bored? You called me a distraction. You said I was just a pretty little project you couldn't afford to keep while you built your empire. Well, congratulations, Adrian. You won."

I stared at her, the sheer absurdity and unfairness of her words igniting a blind, raging fire in my chest and I was confused as f**k.

"I never said that!" I shouted, my voice cracking with raw anger as I towered over her. " I searched for years while you ghosted me and threw everything we had in the trash, and you're standing here looking at me like I'm the villain?"

She didn't flinch. She just stared up at me with eyes full of pure contempt, turned sharply on her heel, and yanked the door open.

"Lose the paperwork, Mr. Hale," she threw over her shoulder without looking back. "I'm not working with you."

The door slammed shut behind her, the echo ringing off the walls.

I stood frozen in the center of the empty office, my chest heaving, my hands clenched into tight fists so hard my nails dug into my palms. A hot, suffocating wave of fury surged through my veins.

How dare she?

After she walked out on me, lied and abandoned our entire future without a single word of truth, she had the absolute gall to look at me with disgust and walk away?

I kicked the edge of the table so hard it groaned, a dark, raging anger settling deep in my bones.

My phone vibrated violently against the table. I glanced at the screen, expecting another board member.

Instead, my head of security spoke in a strained voice. “Sir… we’ve found a little boy locked in the old warehouse and it's stopping the demolition. I think you need to see it immediately.”

Before I could answer, the line went dead. I looked toward the slammed door, unease replacing my anger.