(Ethan's POV)
I didn't walk into Noor's Latte & Brew looking for anything definitely not her.
Bruce had mentioned it once, said something about "a latte that could change your life." I'd laughed. Nothing changes my life unless it's worth at least six figures and comes with a signature line. But there I was in the corner seat, crisp suit, phone in hand, pretending to check emails while trying to tune out the hum of chatter.
Then I heard her voice.
Soft, low, but full of effort. "Please, sir, I just need an extension. I have the plan right here"
The man across from her a loan officer, clearly interrupted with the kind of tone that reeked of superiority. "Miss Bayender, I'm sorry, but the system doesn't see potential. It sees profit."
Her silence stretched. The words must've stung.
I watched her face the polite, forced smile, the way her shoulders stiffened. I should've looked away. I didn't. She wasn't dramatic about it, didn't beg or plead. She just said, "I understand," and smiled like she was trying to convince herself she'd be okay.
Then she turned back to the counter.
Something about the way she carried herself grace, restraint, quiet dignity stirred something in me. Most people crumble when life says no. She just exhaled, rolled her shoulders back, and got to work like nothing happened.
The first cup she poured after that rejection? The foam was a perfect heart.
I couldn't help but smirk. A heart, of all things. Cute. Naive. Completely opposite of my world.
Love is chaos. Emotion is leverage. People pretend it's magic, but it's just a trade. I learned that from my father before I could even spell "Ellison Holdings."
Still, there was something magnetic about her. The way she focused, the steady rhythm of her hands, the fire behind her composure. I found myself watching longer than I should've.
I grabbed my phone and dialed Bruce. "I found her," I said.
He groaned. "Found who? The merger analyst?"
"No. The woman I'm going to marry."
A beat of silence. "Ethan. It's too early for whatever nonsense this is."
"I'm serious. Finish drafting that contract two years, full confidentiality. In return, I'll fund her business expansion."
"You're joking."
"Do I sound like I joke?"
Bruce's sigh crackled through the line. "You're offering some random barista a marriage contract?"
"She's not random," I muttered, eyes still fixed on her. "She's ambitious. Grounded. People will believe us. If I have to marry someone to secure that merger and stay in the will, it's going to be someone who looks the part."
He snorted. "So this is about optics?"
"It's always about optics."
I ended the call before he could moralize.
I left Noor's Latte & Brew before she could notice me. The Manhattan air slapped my face cold as soon as I stepped out. It was grounding, necessary.
Because whatever that spark was that flicker of curiosity in my chest it wasn't real. It was strategy. That's all.
Still, as I walked toward my car, I couldn't stop thinking about her. Noor Elsa Bayender. The name played in my mind like a song I didn't mean to like. I could still see her the cream blazer, the long legs, the soft confidence in her movements. Her eyes, though blue like dawn stayed with me longer than I wanted them to.
I don't do emotions. I don't do love.
Love makes men weak. I've seen it tear apart families, destroy judgment, blind ambition. My father loved my mother once before the boardroom swallowed him whole. I learned from the fallout. Affection is temporary. Power is forever.
But she… she unsettled me.
By the time I got back to my penthouse at the Ellison Estates, Bruce was already there, typing furiously, a whiskey half-finished beside him.
"You really doing this?" he asked without looking up.
"Yes."
He sighed, shaking his head. "You don't even know her."
"I don't need to. I know what I need."
Bruce leaned back, studying me. "You sound like your father."
That made me pause. I didn't like that comparison. "Don't ever say that again."
"Then prove me wrong."
I walked over to the bar, poured myself a drink, and stared out the window. The city shimmered gold, steel, relentless. Somewhere out there, Noor was probably cleaning counters, closing registers, dreaming up new recipes she couldn't afford to bring to life.
And here I was, a man about to turn her world upside down with one piece of paper.
I didn't feel guilty. Not exactly. Just… curious.
She was fascinating the way she smiled even when she was losing, the way she created art out of something as ordinary as milk foam. She had heart, and I was about to use it as leverage.
That thought should've made me feel powerful. Instead, it made me hesitate for half a second.
I masked it with a sip of whiskey. "Draft it tonight," I told Bruce. "I'll hand it to her myself."
"And if she says no?"
I looked at him, my voice cool and certain. "Then I'll make her say yes."
Bruce didn't reply. He just went back to typing, muttering about needing a vacation from my life choices.
I turned back to the city, my reflection blending with the skyline sharp suit, colder eyes, a man built for control. And yet… something flickered beneath all that steel.
Anticipation.
Excitement.
Something I refused to name.
My phone buzzed a message from my father's assistant: Board meeting confirmed. Your father expects results.
I turned off the screen.
She didn't know it yet, but Noor Bayender was about to become my biggest deal yet one that no amount of money could fully control.
And for the first time in years, that uncertainty thrilled me.