For a few minutes after her words settled between them, neither spoke. The café continued to move around them…cups clinking, soft music playing, the low murmur of other conversations but Chad Harrison felt as though the world had been limited to the woman sitting right in front of a him.
He moved the watch around in his hands. Its familiarity was not lost on him yet it no longer felt like an extension of his control. It felt like a bitter reminder. Of vulnerability. Of a night lost in his mind. Of a woman who refused to be reduced to an afterthought in his life.
"You're asking me to reconsider a deal worth billions," Chad said at last, his voice low but clear. "Based on what?"
"Based on patterns," Lena replied calmly. "And history. And the fact that the markets you're expanding into are already filled with content that doesn't translate culturally. Editorial power isn't just ownership, it's trust. You're about to lose that."
His jaw tightened. "I've built an empire on knowing when to take risks."
"And you've survived because you've known when to listen," she shot back. "This isn't recklessness, Chad. It's overconfidence."
The way she said his name without fear made his heart race. No one spoke to him like this anymore. No one dared. He made sure if that.
"You fired me because I challenged you," she continued. "Not because I was wrong," she challenged.
He didn't deny it, didn't defend himself.
"That doesn't bother you?" he asked instead.
"It did," she admitted. "For about a day. Then I realized something…. you weren't rejecting me. You were defending something fragile."
His gaze sharpened. "And what would that be?"
"The illusion that you're never wrong."
The truth hit him hard, harder than he'll ever admit.
Chad leaned back slowly, studying her like he would a complex document….one that demanded careful reading. "You're not asking for your job back?"
"No," Lena replied. "I'm offering you a chance to fix a mistake. After that, what you do is up to you," she added.
"You don't negotiate like someone who wants leverage," he said slightly tilting his head.
"I don't need it."
That worried him more than any threat could have.
He glanced out the café window, watching people walk by, each caught up in lives that felt suddenly distant. "If I listen to you," he said quietly, "and you're wrong…."
"….you lose money," she finished. "If you don't listen and I'm right, you lose influence. One recovers faster than the other."
An uncomfortable silence stretched.
Chad thought of his father Timothy Harrison standing in the same posture he was now, dismissing opposition with proud certainty. He had vowed never to repeat that man's mistakes.
And yet.
"When did you stop being afraid of me?" he asked.
Lena tilted her head, considering. "I never was," she said confidently.
That answer hit deeper than she intended.
Chad exhaled, something inside him shifting, loosening. "Come back," he said suddenly almost in a plea.
Lena looked at him stunned. "To the company?" She asked….
"Yes," he said swiftly not waiting for her response….. "On your terms. Temporary advisory role. Full autonomy. You'll present your findings directly to me and the board."
"And when I challenge you again?"
A corner of his mouth lifted. "I'll try not to fire you."
She smiled, genuine this time.
"I'll think about it."
"Lena…?" He almost sounded desperate.
She stood, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "You asked what this would cost me," she said. "If I come back, it costs me peace if you don't change. I won't stay somewhere I'm not heard."
Chad rose as well towering over her, compelled by an unfamiliar urgency. "And if I do change?"
Her eyes softened, just slightly. "Then it might cost you more than money."
She walked away before he could respond, the bell above the café door rang softly as it closed behind her.
That night, Chad sat alone in his penthouse, the city lights gleaming below like celestial patterns he could never quite reach. He replayed the conversation over and over not for strategy, but for understanding.
He had expected anger. Revenge. Demands. Blackmail even.
He hadn't expected integrity… anything else but that.
For the first time in years, he poured himself a drink and didn't finish it. He thought of his mother Elizabeth; quiet, diminished, erased. He thought of Racheal, asking for more than he knew how to give. And now Lena, standing unflinching in front of him, asking for nothing but honesty.
He reached for his phone.
Chad: I went over your old report. You were right about the Southeast acquisition.
The reply came minutes later.
Lena: I know.
A pause.
Chad: Come in tomorrow. Ten a.m. No contracts. Just talk.
Another pause.
Lena: Talking is a start. I'll be there!
The boardroom was tense the next morning. Executives shifted uncomfortably as Lena presented her findings with clarity and conviction. Chad listened…truly listened interrupting only when necessary, asking questions instead of issuing commands.
When she finished, the room was silent.
Chad stood. "We're postponing the acquisition," he said firmly. "Pending revision."
Murmurs erupted, but he raised a hand.
"Meeting adjourned," he echoed!
As the room emptied, Lena gathered her things. Chad approached her, uncertain in a way that felt both dangerous and freeing.
"You didn't have to do that," she said.
"I know," he replied. "But I wanted to."
She studied him, searching for the man behind the empire. "This doesn't make us anything," she said carefully.
"No," Chad agreed. "But it makes us honest."
For a moment, something unspoken hovered between them; possibility, perhaps. Or consequence.
Lena nodded once and walked away.
Chad watched her go, his eyes fixed on her…. aware of a truth that could no longer be ignored.
Power had always obeyed him.
But Lena Moore had changed him.
This time, Chad Harrison was willing to find out who he might become if he stopped running from what he felt and started listening instead.