Nathan Hale waited at the private rooftop restaurant, eyes glued to the elevator.
He hadn't seen Elena in weeks, not since that unsettling merger meeting where she radiated a new kind of fire, untouchable, untamed. It was driving him insane.
Then, she arrived.
Elena stepped out in a sleek black dress that contrasted her glowing skin and icy aura. Heads turned. Even the waiters stood straighter. But she only had eyes for him, and they were empty.
"Thanks for coming," Nathan said, trying to sound calm.
"I had time to kill," she replied, gliding into the seat across from him.
Dinner was civil, on the surface. Nathan spoke of the past, of "what went wrong," of "second chances." Elena sipped her wine in silence, her expression unreadable.
Finally, dessert came. And with it, Elena's move.
She slid a manila envelope across the table.
"What's this?" Nathan asked, frowning.
"A Non-Disclosure Agreement," she said smoothly. "You'll sign it before you leave."
His brows furrowed. "What are you talking about?"
Elena leaned forward, her smile sharp as glass."I recorded our last three conversations. All of them. Every lie, every threat, every word about your shady offshore accounts."
Nathan's face paled.
"If you don't want the media to know what kind of man you really are," she said, voice cool, "you'll sign that NDA and keep my name out of your mouth forever."