LOGINBy the time Kennedy returned to the Miles Estate, the sun had already begun its slow descent across the horizon. The mansion felt peaceful, warm, nothing like the whirlwind of decorators and event planners he'd left behind earlier that afternoon.He handed his coat to one of the household staff before making his way upstairs. He knew exactly where he'd find her.The door to Shannon's room stood partially open. Kennedy knocked gently against the wood. "May I come in?"Shannon looked up from the sofa near the window. A book rested open across her lap. She smiled immediately. "Of course."Kennedy stepped inside. "You've been reading?""I've been trying to." She laughed softly. "I think I've read the same page four times."Kennedy smiled. "That's usually a sign your mind is somewhere else.""It probably is."He walked over and sat opposite her. For a moment neither of them spoke. Kennedy simply looked at his daughter. She seemed calmer than she had the previous day. There was color in her
Kennedy finally looked at her. "It still isn't enough."The planner blinked.Kennedy's expression softened ever so slightly. "I've waited twenty seven years for this day. "I'm not interested in saving money. If something needs to be imported, import it. If another designer is needed, hire them. I don't want anyone leaving this estate thinking I introduced my daughter with anything less than the very best."The coordinator smiled. "We understand."Kennedy gave a small nod. "Good."At that exact moment, his phone vibrated inside his pocket. A soft notification echoed through the room. He excused himself with a raised hand before pulling the device from his pocket.An email. His eyes immediately settled on the sender.Sean Vale.For a fraction of a second everything around him disappeared. The decorators, the planners, the ballroom., none of it existed, only that name, Sean Vale.He opened the email. His eyes moved quickly across the first few lines."This email is not about business...
Sean still stood motionless before the floor to ceiling windows of his office long after his assistant had left. The city bustled several dozen floors below. Everything looked exactly the same yet somehow nothing felt ordinary anymore.His gaze drifted toward the framed photograph sitting on one of the shelves behind him. It wasn't a family photo, an old picture of the first Vale headquarters, a reminder of where everything had begun.Sean slowly turned away from the window before walking back toward his desk. He lowered himself into his chair and opened his laptop. His fingers hovered above the keyboard. He knew Kennedy's email by heart. They had been competitors for years, rivals. Every major acquisition, every government bid, every overseas expansion, every corporate summit, whenever one company entered the room the other wasn't far behind.Formal communication between them had always gone through legal departments or executive assistants but he knew the email so he clicked Compose
One of the younger attorneys cautiously asked, "What... test?"Evelyn smiled as though the answer were obvious. "The test of whether I'm worthy of standing beside Vale Group." She lifted the pen from the table. "He already knows my achievements. He knows I took over Whitmore Group. He knows I transformed the company. This..." She raised the contract slightly. "...is simply his way of seeing whether I'm bold enough to match his vision."The legal team could only stare. Not one of them shared her interpretation. To them the contract was exactly what it appeared to be, a highly favorable agreement for Vale Group, nothing more, nothing less.The senior attorney tried one final time. "Chairwoman, if you authorize this, Whitmore Group will assume risks that are extraordinarily difficult to justify."Evelyn's smile never wavered. "Then we'll justify them with results." She uncapped the pen, signed her name with a single smooth stroke then slid the contract across the polished conference tabl
Sean's gaze drifted toward the floor to ceiling windows overlooking the city. "I have no interest in helping Evelyn build her empire." His reflection stared back at him through the glass. "But if she's foolish enough to hand Vale Group every advantage, I see no reason to stop her."A slow smile curved across his face. "I wonder..." He murmured almost to himself. "Will she be arrogant enough or desperate enough to sign our version?"The question lingered in the air.Sean already had his answer. People blinded by victory rarely noticed the ground disappearing beneath their feet and from everything he'd heard, Evelyn Whitmore had become very accustomed to believing she was the smartest person in every room. She had spent years manipulating people who trusted her, weaving lies until she mistook deception for intelligence. Negotiating with Vale Group would be different. For the first time she wasn't sitting across from someone she could emotionally manipulate, she was stepping onto a ches
Shannon's lips parted, she wanted to tell him, she wanted to hear his reaction, she wanted him to know that despite everything a piece of them still existed, growing, waiting, alive.Her heartbeat quickened. "...Sean..."His voice immediately softened. "I'm here."She closed her eyes tightly. The confession rose all the way to her lips then she thought of Kennedy, of the twenty seven years that had been stolen, of the hatred that still stood between both families, of the uncertainty surrounding tomorrow and slowly she lowered her head. "...Take things one step at a time."Sean's heart sank just a little, but he understood. He wasn't being rejected. She was simply asking him not to rush toward a future neither of them could see clearly yet.He smiled sadly. "I will."A long silence followed. Neither of them wanted to end the call because the moment one of them said goodbye they would once again return to missing each other from opposite sides of a war neither of them had started. Event
The hospital discharged them the next day.Shannon didn’t know whether that was fate or cruelty.She stood just outside the building, her fingers gripping the thin discharge papers in her hand as the sunlight hit her face. Too bright. Like the world hadn’t just ended for her.A few steps ahead Rowa
Shannon’s knees weakened beneath her. Three months of silence. Three months of absence. Three months where she wasn’t there. Her breathing grew uneven. Three months where someone else was. Her gaze slowly shifted back to Rowan. And this time she understood. Rowan watched her, something sharp
Rowan sat on the bed, his arm wrapped loosely around Evelyn.Evelyn stood close, too close, and Rowan leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to her cheek like it was the most natural thing in the world.Like he had done it a hundred times.Like it belonged there.“Stop!”The word tore out of Shannon befor
The first thing Shannon felt was the weight, like her entire body had been dragged beneath something heavy and invisible, pressing her down into a darkness that refused to let her rise.Then came the sound, a slow, steady beep... beep... beep...It echoed from far away at first, distant and unreal,







