Chapter 3 - Among the Sharks
The grand ballroom of the Metropolitan Club was a sea of velvet, crystal chandeliers, and tailored tuxedos. Elias felt entirely out of place in his rented suit, but Julian’s credentials as a high-end security consultant had successfully gotten him past the velvet ropes as part of the venue’s auxiliary security detail.
Elias stood near the perimeter of the room, his eyes scanning the crowd of corporate titans, politicians, and heiresses. His heart hammered against his ribs. He had spent his afternoon arranging for his sister to watch Leo for the night, making up a story about a late-shift contract job.
Then, the crowd near the main entrance parted, and the energy in the room perceptibly shifted.
Camila Montgomery walked in.
She was breathtaking, commands the room effortlessly. Dressed in a floor-length dark emerald gown, her dark hair swept up in an elegant arrangement, she projected absolute authority. Yet, as Elias watched her closely, he noticed subtle signs of tension—the slight tightness in her jaw, the way her gaze constantly swept the room, assessing every person who approached her.
Standing beside her was an older man with silver hair, sharp features, and a permanent, cold sneer: Arthur Montgomery, her late father’s brother and the senior vice-chairman of Montgomery Logistics. From Julian’s brief background check, Elias knew Arthur had been waging a quiet corporate war to oust Camila from the CEO position, claiming her management style was too erratic and secretive.
Elias watched as Camila skillfully navigated conversations, accepting praise for her company's fourth-quarter earnings while parrying passive-aggressive remarks from rival executives. She was a master of control.
He waited for the right moment. It came when Arthur stepped away to speak with a group of investors, leaving Camila alone near a quiet alcove adorned with marble statues.
Elias walked over, his steps deliberate. "The broken compass usually means you don't know where you're going, Mia."
Camila froze mid-sip of her champagne. The color visibly drained from her face. She slowly lowered her glass, her knuckles turning white against the stem. When she turned around to face him, her gray eyes—the exact same gray as the three little girls—locked onto his.
"Elias?" she whispered, her voice stripped of its corporate polish. For a brief second, the powerful CEO vanished, replaced by the young woman who had sat beside him on a rain-slicked bench in Seattle eight years ago.
"It's me," Elias said quietly, stepping closer so they wouldn't attract attention. "We need to talk."
Camila’s shock instantly transformed into acute panic. She looked around the ballroom wildly before grabbing Elias by the sleeve of his rented suit and pulling him into a private side hallway away from the main event.
"What are you doing here?" she demanded in a furious whisper, her eyes darting toward the door. "How did you find me? Do you have any idea how dangerous this is?"
"Dangerous?" Elias scoffed, though his voice remained low. "I ran into three seven-year-old girls in Central Park yesterday, Camila. They pointed at my tattoo and told me their mother had the exact same one. Today, two men in a silver sedan tried to intimidate them outside their school."
Camila let out a sharp gasp, placing a hand over her heart. "They... what? Are they hurt?"
"They're fine. I stepped in before anything happened," Elias said, his gaze searching her face. "They have your eyes, Camila. And the timing... eight years ago, Seattle. You disappeared overnight."
Camila closed her eyes, taking a shuddering breath. When she opened them, tears glistened in her long lashes, breaking her stern façade. "Elias... please. You don't understand what happened."
"Then explain it to me," Elias said, his tone desperate. "Are they mine?"
May you like
Before Camila could answer, the door to the side hallway creaked open. Arthur Montgomery stepped through, his sharp eyes narrowing as he looked from Camila’s distressed face to Elias’s rented suit.
"Camila, my dear," Arthur said smoothly, his voice dripping with venom. "Is this man bothering you?"
