POV: Elena
I wasn't expecting much from the first day back at work. Just paperwork, coffee, and pretending I wasn't still dreaming about Zayden's bare chest under that kitchen apron.
What I didn't expect was to bump into someone from a life that felt so far behind me.
"Elena Ryes?"
I turned. "Noah?"
He smiled, still wearing that same half-shy, half-charming grin I remembered from college.
"It's really you," he said. "I just joined as a marketing intern. Didn't think I'd run into you of all people."
The timing couldn't have been worse.
---
POV: Noah
She hadn't changed a bit.
Same eyes. Same smile. The same soft voice that haunted me through every sleepless night back in college.
The last time I saw Elena, I was holding a bouquet behind my back, trying to confess my feelings under the stars after our final exam.
She'd smiled. Apologized. Said she didn't want to ruin our friendship.
But now—now maybe fate was giving me a second chance.
She laughed at something I said. Her laugh still made me feel like I was seventeen again.
But the moment her eyes flicked toward the glass office where some cold-looking guy was glaring at me—I knew there was a problem.
He wasn't just anyone. The way he looked at her? That was possession.
I clenched my jaw.
Too bad for him—I wasn't backing off this time.
---
POV: Zayden
What the hell was he doing here?
Every time I saw him standing near her—smiling like he had a right—I had to grip my pen not to crush it.
I kept it professional.
I didn't storm out.
But when I called Elena to my office, the mask came off.
"Who is he?"
"An old friend," she said, almost teasing. "You sound jealous."
Damn right I was.
She brushed her fingers down my tie. "Don't worry, Mr. Wolfe. I'm not interested in the past."
But that didn't stop me from ordering a background check on him an hour later.
---
POV: Celeste
I watched from across the hallway, arms folded, lips curled.
There he was. My fiancé—Zayden Wolfe. CEO of the company my father was practically begging him to merge with.
I wasn't stupid. I knew he didn't want this engagement. But I also knew Zayden was a man of duty. And duty? That was my leverage.
He didn't love me. Yet.
But he would.
That girl—the intern or assistant or whatever she was? She meant nothing. A fling, maybe. Temporary.
I was forever.
My mother always said: Don't let a pretty face steal your crown. Steal hers first.
And that's exactly what I planned to do.
---
POV: Elena
I was gathering papers from the printer when a stunning woman walked past me like she owned the floor. Sleek black dress. Ice-cold expression.
She didn't glance at anyone—until she stopped at Zayden's office.
He stepped out, looking visibly tense.
"Celeste," he muttered.
My brows furrowed. So he knew her.
She placed a manicured hand on his chest and leaned in to whisper something. I couldn't hear it, but I saw his jaw clench.
And then he pushed her hand away.
Good.
Still, the knot in my stomach didn't ease.
When I passed him later that afternoon, he pulled me into his office again.
"I didn't want her here," he said quietly.
"Who is she?"
He hesitated. "Someone my father thinks I should marry."
My chest tightened. "And what do you think?"
He stepped closer, eyes dark. "I think the only woman I want to come home to…is already standing in front of me."
---
POV: Noah
I watched them from the breakroom window.
Zayden leaned in, brushing a strand of Elena's hair behind her ear. Her shoulders softened. Her expression melted.
No.
I wasn't going to lose her again.
Not to him.
---