Chapter 3: The Call

Elena's thumb hovered over the call button for the third time that evening.

Adrian Vale's name glowed on the screen like a ghost from a life she had buried five years ago.

One call.

That was all it would take to bring him back into her life. 

This could either save Rivera Corporation or reopen old wounds or even do both.

“Elena…” Marcus called. “Don't do it please. Adrian is no longer the man who loves you.”

“This isn't about love, this is about Rivera Corporation. Emotions have no place in this matter.”

“Many people knew about your past with Adrian. Teaming up with him now can generate more scandals. What if he lost his memory partially? Or what if your meeting forces him to remember?

Elena, now sitting on her chair, exhaled slowly, trying to steady the tension in her chest.

“In life,” she said quietly, "you have to take risks.”

“Even at the detriment of your wellbeing and status? Elena this could either make or break you” Marcus warned.

“Come to think of it… If you were Adrian Vale, you wouldn't forgive yourself for what you did.” Marcus added.

That struck a nerve. She unlocked her phone and moved her thumb toward the call button.

“Wait!” Marcus stopped her. “You know there's no going back after this right?”

Her finger hovered above the screen. For a moment, she couldn't move.

Adrian… how much would he have changed? Could she control him or the consequences?

She still had to do it anyway. Rivera Corporation was on the verge of collapse. *This was the only way*, she convinced herself.

She pressed the call button.

----

After long hours of working on his laptop and signing documents, Adrian was finally done with work for the day.

He leaned back on his seat massaging his forehead. Opening his drawer, he took out a pill bottle to take a few amounts in it, pushing it down with the water on his desk.

Throwing the pill bottle back, his eyes caught a ring box in his drawer. He stared at it for a second before pushing the drawer in.

His mind went back to the conversation he had with Daniel earlier. No one would be willing to help them at the moment. That's how the business world works. You may rise up with the help of other corporations but no one will be willing to fall with you.

He doesn't care anyway. He has no business with them. There's nothing linking them together.

He was just about to close his laptop when his phone vibrated on the desk.

An unknown number. He wanted to ignore it, but he picked it anyway.

“Adrian Vale” he said to the caller like he always does on business calls.

Silence followed his words. 

The kind of silence that made every second feel longer than it should.

Adrian's eyes narrowed slightly as he held the phone against his ear. Most people rushed to speak when he answered their calls, but this person didn't. The pause felt just long enough to feel deliberate. Something about it made the air in the room feel different, like the moment before a storm. Adrian didn't know why, but his instincts told him this call was not going to be ordinary.

The brief pause seemed like forever until a calm female voice replied.

“Mr Vale. This is Elena Rivera from Rivera Corporation. I apologize for calling unexpectedly.” Elena said her voice controlled.

“Rivera Corporation…” he repeated slowly. “That's strange… your voice sounds familiar.”

For a brief moment, her heart skipped, but her expression didn't change. Of all the things she had prepared for, hearing those words was not one of them.

Elena’s fingers tightened slightly around the phone as she listened to him. 

Five years.

And yet, hearing him again still made her chest tighten in a way she hadn't expected.

She forced herself to focus. This was not a personal call.

This was business.

She forced herself to breathe slowly, keeping her voice steady.

Panic would only make things worse.

Adrian Vale might feel that something was familiar but as long as he didn't remember why, she still had an advantage.

“Perhaps you've heard my voice in interviews before,” she said evenly. “Rivera Corporation used to appear in the news quite often.”

There was a brief pause on the other hand.

Adrian leaned back in his chair, turning his gaze toward the city lights beyond his office window. Something about that explanation felt too simple, yet he couldn't find a reason to question it further.

“Maybe,” he said finally. “Rivera Corporation has been in the news lately,”

The subtle emphasis on his voice made Elena understand immediately. He was referring to the company's current crisis.

She didn't deny it.

“That's why I'm actually calling,” she said. “I would like to request a meeting with you, Mr Vale. There are certain matters I believe would be better discussed in person.”

Adrian was quiet for a moment.

Most people who called him were desperate, nervous, or overly eager to impress him. But Elena Rivera sounded different—calm, controlled, almost as if she wasn't afraid of him at all.

That alone made the conversation more interesting.

“When?” he asked.

Elena allowed herself a small breath of relief.

“Tomorrow, if possible.”

Adrian glanced at the time on the watch before answering.

“Vale Tower, Ten in the morning.”

Before Elena could say anything else, the line went silent.

Adrian had already ended the call.

Elena slowly lowered her phone from her ear. Marcus was watching her closely.

“Well?” he asked.

Elena looked down at the dark screen of the phone, her expression unreadable.

“He agreed to meet.”

Marcus didn't look relieved. Instead, his frown deepened.

“You're playing a dangerous game, Elena.”

She didn't argue.

Her eyes drifted back to the city lights beyond the window.

Marcus shook his head slowly.

“You're opening a door that should have stayed closed.”

Elena didn't respond immediately.

Her gaze remained fixed on the city lights outside the window.

Somewhere in that city was the man she once planned to marry.

And tomorrow morning, she would see him again for the first time in five years.

“Yes,” she said quietly.

“I know.”

----

Miles away, Adrian Vale slowly lowered his phone.

The moment the call ended, the calm expression on his face disappeared.

He stared at the screen for a long moment.

Then he murmured a name he hadn't spoken in five years.

“Elena…”