CHAPTER 2: THE RETURN
1026 Words
Two years later.
London had not changed.
But Eleanor Whitmore had.
The glass doors of Hale & Rowe Investments reflected a woman no one inside that building was prepared for.
Tailored black suit.
Minimal jewelry.
Red heels.
Not the bright, romantic red from two years ago.
This shade was darker.
Controlled.
Intentional.
The security guard straightened instantly when she approached.
“Good morning, miss. Do you have an appointment?”
Eleanor removed her sunglasses slowly.
“Yes.”
Her voice was calm.
“With the board.”
He frowned slightly. “The quarterly shareholder meeting is private.”
“I know.”
She handed him a sleek black envelope.
“Kindly inform them their majority shareholder has arrived.”
Upstairs.
Inside the executive boardroom.
Sebastian Hale stood at the head of a long obsidian table, reviewing projections displayed on a screen.
Confident.
Sharp.
Untouchable.
Two years had only made him more powerful.
“Expansion into Singapore will close by Q3,” he finished smoothly. “We are positioned to dominate the Asian market.”
The board members nodded approvingly.
Until the doors opened.
Every head turned.
Sebastian didn’t.
Not at first.
“Excuse me, sir,” the assistant said nervously. “There’s someone here claiming to be the majority shareholder.”
Sebastian’s jaw tightened.
“That’s impossible.”
A calm voice interrupted.
“Is it?”
The sound hit him before the sight did.
Slowly, deliberately, he turned.
And there she was.
Eleanor Whitmore.
Alive.
Unshaken.
More dangerous than he remembered.
The room fell silent.
She stepped forward, red heels striking the marble floor in steady rhythm.
Not rushed.
Not hesitant.
Controlled.
Sebastian’s expression didn’t change.
But his knuckles whitened against the table.
“Eleanor,” he said evenly.
She offered a polite smile.
“Mr. Hale.”
The distance in her tone was surgical.
One of the board members cleared his throat. “Miss Whitmore, this is a private—”
She placed a folder on the table and slid it toward them.
“I acquired thirty-two percent of Hale & Rowe shares over the past eighteen months through Whitmore Holdings International.”
Murmurs exploded around the table.
“That makes me,” she continued calmly, “your largest shareholder.”
Sebastian’s eyes darkened.
“You’ve been buying my company.”
She tilted her head slightly.
“Your company?”
A faint smile touched her lips.
“You taught me something valuable two years ago.”
“And what’s that?” he asked coldly.
“Never attend a negotiation without leverage.”
The room felt smaller.
He dismissed the board with a single look.
“Leave us.”
They didn’t argue.
Within moments, they were alone.
The door shut.
Silence.
Sebastian stepped around the table slowly.
“You disappeared,” he said.
“You didn’t come looking.”
His jaw tightened.
“You humiliated me publicly.”
She let out a soft laugh.
“I humiliated you?”
He stopped in front of her.
Close.
Too close.
“You think this is revenge?”
“No,” she said quietly.
“This is business.”
He studied her face.
Searching for the girl who once loved him.
She wasn’t there.
“What do you want?” he asked.
Eleanor walked past him and took the seat at the head of the table.
His seat.
She crossed her legs.
Red heel swinging slightly.
“I want oversight on all major decisions.”
“You’re not CEO.”
“Not yet.”
His eyes flashed.
“You think you can walk back into my life and take control?”
“I already have.”
The confidence in her voice wasn’t arrogance.
It was fact.
Sebastian leaned both hands on the table.
“You don’t belong here.”
She looked up at him slowly.
“I built Whitmore Holdings into a multi-billion-dollar firm in twenty months.”
She slid another file toward him.
“Your last two acquisitions? Overpriced.”
He opened the folder.
His expression shifted.
Because she was right.
“You’ve been watching me,” he said quietly.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
A beat.
Her gaze locked with his.
“To understand my investment.”
The word investment lingered deliberately.
His voice dropped lower.
“Is that what I am to you now?”
She stood.
Slowly.
Their bodies inches apart.
“You were once,” she said softly, “my entire future.”
The tension between them thickened.
Heavy.
Unresolved.
His hand moved instinctively, brushing against her wrist.
Electric.
Her breath caught—
Just slightly.
But she pulled back first.
Professional.
Cold.
“I’ll see you at the next board vote, Mr. Hale.”
She turned toward the door.
“Eleanor.”
She paused.
But didn’t turn.
“You think you’re in control,” he said quietly.
She glanced over her shoulder.
And for the first time—
He saw fire in her eyes.
“I don’t think,” she replied.
“I know.”
She walked out.
Sebastian remained frozen in the boardroom.
Staring at the empty doorway.
Two years ago, he lost a fiancée.
Today—
He gained an opponent.
Downstairs.
Eleanor stepped into the waiting black car.
Her assistant handed her a tablet.
“Phase one is complete,” he said.
She nodded.
“Good.”
He hesitated.
“There’s one more thing.”
She looked up.
“Adrian Blackwood has requested a private dinner meeting tonight.”
Her expression didn’t change.
But her fingers tightened slightly.
Sebastian’s biggest rival.
Interesting.
“And?” she asked calmly.
“He knows about your share acquisition.”
Of course he did.
Men like Adrian always knew everything.
Eleanor looked out the window as Hale & Rowe tower disappeared behind tinted glass.
“Confirm the dinner,” she said.
Her assistant blinked. “Tonight?”
“Yes.”
Her red heel tapped lightly against the car floor.
Let Sebastian feel threatened.
Let him wonder.
Let him lose sleep.
Because this time—
She wasn’t the woman waiting for love.
She was the woman everyone wanted an alliance with.
And Sebastian Hale would soon learn something else.
He wasn’t the only billionaire in London.
- Writer
