Returning to work felt both surreal and grounding. Her first few weeks passed in a rhythm of strategy meetings, product reviews, and gentle restructuring. Stone Tech had grown in her absence, but so had she. Her leadership carried a new kind of weight—measured, patient, fierce.
For once, everything seemed… peaceful. She'd fought her battles, buried her enemies, and forged a new chapter in her life. Even Charles, her once-estranged brother, had reached out with a quiet message of reconciliation.
---
Back at home, the evenings were sacred. Bath time for the twins often turned into a waterlogged festival. Emilia would sing lullabies softly while Sebastian read storybooks with exaggerated voices, making Hope giggle and Elian beam.
It was during one of these evenings, after the twins were down and the house was wrapped in a soft silence, that Sebastian's phone buzzed on the counter.
He almost didn't check it. He almost let it go.
But curiosity, that subtle devil, made him glance at the screen.
SARAH: "Saw your name in the papers. Didn't think you'd end up there. Guess I was wrong. Can we talk?"
His breath hitched.
He stared at the message for a long time. Her name felt like a ghost—one he thought he'd buried years ago. Sarah. The woman who had walked away when his life was a mess of busted engines and unpaid bills. The one who said he'd never be more than a man with dirty hands and empty dreams.
He didn't realize Emilia had walked into the kitchen until she reached for the kettle beside him.
"You okay?" she asked, noticing the tight grip he had on his phone.
He blinked and forced a smile. "Yeah. Just… thinking."
Emilia studied him for a beat longer than usual but let it go. "Come to bed soon, okay?"
"I will."
He watched her disappear down the hallway.
Sebastian turned back to the screen, heart heavy.
---
A week passed, and the message stayed unanswered. Yet, it haunted him. He hadn't told Emilia—not because he was hiding something, but because he didn't know what to say. What if Sarah wasn't done with him? What if she showed up and turned everything upside down?
But life continued. Emilia, in her full stride, was thriving—balancing motherhood, CEO duties, and nights filled with affections.
Until one morning, when Tasha walked into her office with a stack of media briefs.
"You might want to see this," she said, laying the folder down. On top was a photo of a man with ice-blue eyes and a headline that read:
"Adrian Wolfe: The Tech Titan Eyeing Stone Tech?"
Emilia raised a brow. "Wolfe?"
Tasha nodded. "New CEO of Titan Dynamics. They've been pushing aggressive campaigns and acquiring small firms left and right. Rumor has it, he's coming for us."
Emilia flipped the page. Adrian's smirk was calculated, the kind of man who knew his power and wasn't afraid to wield it. But there was something in his eyes—an unsettling familiarity.
"Keep him on my radar," Emilia said slowly.
Tasha nodded. "Already have. And Emilia…"
"Yes?"
"I have a bad feeling about this one."
As the office buzzed back to life, Emilia stared out the window, sensing the winds were shifting again.
Peace, it seemed, was only ever borrowed not owned.
.....