It was past noon, and my focus should have been unwavering, dissecting reports and strategies for the upcoming takeover – well, the hopeful upcoming takeover, anyway. But every few minutes, Ellie's image flickered across my mind, an unscheduled interruption that I couldn’t mute.

I leaned back in my chair, a leather-bound throne in a kingdom of numbers and ambition, wrestling with the implications of my own desires. It was a tactical risk, working with Ellie so intimately. She ...