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Alice’s hands shook as she gathered the briefing materials, her fingers fumbling with papers that normally organized themselves with effortless precision. She had rebuilt her composure in those five minutes, forcing her breathing to steady and her expression to smooth into professional neutrality, but inside she felt like she was breaking apart.

The memory of that night played in her mind, sharp and unwelcome. The hotel bar where she had stopped for a single drink after a brutal day, needing just one hour where she was not responsible for anyone. The stranger who had sat down beside her, whose easy smile had made her laugh for the first time in months. The way he had listened when she talked, really listened, asking questions that suggested he actually cared about her answers. For one night, she had felt seen, wanted for herself and not for what she could organize or fix.

That man had vanished, replaced by the cold executive now sitting behind the massive desk, his attention focused on his laptop screen as she entered.

“The briefing materials, Mr. Mendes.” Alice set the folder on his desk, careful to keep her distance. “I have included background on each department head, their current priorities, and key issues requiring your immediate attention.”

Harry did not look up. “Anything critical?”

“The Morrison account is entering final negotiations,” she reported, her voice a stranger’s, all business. “The previous CEO had promised terms we cannot sustain long-term. The marketing department needs sign-off on the holiday campaign, and there is a facilities issue in the Dallas office that is affecting productivity.”

Her professionalism warred with a surge of irrational hurt. Did that night mean nothing to him? She crushed the thought immediately. It had meant nothing. She had told him her middle name instead of her first and left before dawn without exchanging numbers. They had both known what it was. Except now she was pregnant, and he was her boss, and nothing about this situation was survivable.

“Solutions?” He still had not looked at her.

“I have drafted revised terms for Morrison that protect our margins while giving them the appearance of a concession,” she said, forcing her voice to remain steady. “Marketing just needs your signature. I have already authorized the Dallas repairs and arranged temporary workspace.”

“Fine.” Harry finally looked up, and Alice had to fight the urge to step back. His pale gray eyes assessed her with the same detachment he might use on a quarterly report. For a brief moment, his brow furrowed, a flicker of something she could not decipher, but it was gone before she could be sure it was ever there. “Going forward, I expect daily briefings at seven and summaries at five. No meetings before eight or after four unless critical. I need two hours of uninterrupted time each afternoon.”

“Of course.” Alice’s throat felt tight. “I will adjust the calendar.”

Before she could leave, another assistant, a perpetually nervous man named Leo, hovered at the door. “Mr. Mendes? Mr. Sterling from the London office is on line one. He says it’s an emergency regarding the merger.”

Harry’s gaze sharpened. To Alice’s surprise, he did not reach for the phone but instead directed a dry, almost amused question at her. “Ms. Winston, is our Mr. Sterling prone to drama?”

The unexpected question threw her. “He considers any issue that requires a decision to be an emergency, sir. Especially before his morning tea.”

A ghost of a smile touched Harry’s lips, a startling moment of warmth that vanished almost instantly. “Put him through. And Ms. Winston, see that Mr. Sterling receives a shipment of his preferred tea blend, with my compliments.” He turned his attention to the phone, and the cold mask was back in place. “Is there anything else?”

Yes, she wanted to scream. Do you remember me? Do you know what you did?

“No, Mr. Mendes. That is everything.”

“Good. Close the door on your way out.”

Alice returned to her desk, her movements mechanical. Around her, colleagues whispered about the new CEO. She heard the words “ruthless” and “brilliant” repeated in various combinations. None of them could possibly understand the nightmare her life had become. Her computer pinged with a new email from Harry, sent despite the fact that he sat less than thirty feet away. The subject line read simply, “Expectations.”

She opened it and found a detailed list of requirements and protocols. It was thorough, impersonal, and made it clear that to him, their professional relationship had begun this morning. Everything else was irrelevant. Good, Alice told herself firmly. That makes this easier.

If he could pretend that night never happened, so could she. She would do her job, save her money, and execute her escape plan. He would never know about the baby. He would never have the chance to complicate the life she was going to build for them. Her hand drifted toward her stomach, a gesture she immediately stopped and forced back to the keyboard. She could not afford habits that might give her away.

Harry’s door opened, and he emerged with his phone pressed to his ear, his expression sharp with irritation. He walked past her desk without a glance, heading toward the conference room.

Alice watched him go, this stranger who held her entire future in his unknowing hands. Her resolution hardened into something sharp and specific. She would not just disappear, she would create a new identity. She would research towns where no one would look for her, open a new bank account he could never trace, and build a firewall around the life she and her child deserved. She would survive this, and when the time came, she would vanish so completely that Harry Mendes would never find her.