Chapter 10 - THE AFTERMATH
Six months after the wedding, Evelyn stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows of her corner office in the Wolfe Meridian tower. The Chicago skyline glittered below her, a landscape of glass and steel that she had conquered not with cruelty, but with competence.
The door clicked open, and Adrian walked in. He didn't knock. He never did.
“The quarterly reports are in,” he said, tossing a leather-bound folder onto her desk. “The hotels are operating at a twenty percent higher profit margin than under Halston’s management. Employee retention is at an all-time high.”
“It’s amazing what happens when you actually treat people like human beings,” Evelyn said, turning away from the window.
Adrian walked closer, closing the distance between them until he was mere inches away. The formidable, ruthless billionaire was entirely unguarded when he looked at her.
“You’ve rebuilt the company,” Adrian said softly. “You’ve secured your legacy. What’s next, Evelyn?”
Evelyn looked up into his slate-grey eyes. The professional boundaries they had maintained for years, the careful lines drawn between senior partner and analyst, had blurred and vanished over the last six months of working side-by-side to dismantle the Halstons.
“I’m not sure,” she admitted, her voice dropping to a whisper. “I’ve spent so much time fixing other people’s messes, I haven’t really thought about what I want for myself.”
Adrian reached out, taking her hands in his. His grip was warm and solid. “Then let me offer a proposal. A merger, if you will. But this time, strictly personal.”
May you like
Evelyn’s breath hitched. “Adrian...”
“I love you, Evelyn,” he said, the words simple, direct, and holding more weight than any contract he had ever signed. “I loved you when you were a brilliant analyst crunching numbers in the bullpen, I loved you when you stood in a ruined dress and stared down a room full of cowards, and I love the woman standing before me now.”
