Lila overheard her own fate again, the way some women overhear thunder before it rains.
She was delivering a fragrance distribution proposal to Hale Global's 52nd-floor investor lounge when voices drifted through glass doors accidentally left open by a schedule Dorian had probably not reviewed that minute:
"So the engagement is temporary." — that was Dorian.
"Yes, sir, but media believes permanence now." — Serena.
"Media is compounding narrative equity. I monitor narrative. She monitors molecules. We meet at valuation peak then exit."
Lila froze.Her perfume notes did not freeze. They stung like citrus even when silent.
She walked away quietly without stepping into view.
Later that night she stood in the lab before extraction glass rows glowing like possibility lining a failing legacy and said to June:
"He fears permanence more than scandals."
June sighed writing article metaphors she would never publish but would forever believe:
"Some men fear truth because truth stays. He feared losing your mother's brand, yet he fears keeping you more."
"And should love accept fear clauses?"
"Love accepts courage," June said, "fear always rents, never owns."
Lila exhaled and decided privately even if he avoided signing this contract, she might write love anyway.
But destiny was still rotating heels and she had more bottles to spill metaphorically now.