Aria Voss didn't believe in love.
Not because she was cold.
But because life had taught her that love usually comes with condition.
Be grateful .
Behave.
Remember that you don't really belong.
That was what her adopted family had always reminded her of especially now that she was successful. They smiled with her in public but caused trouble for her in private. They loved her wealth not her.
So Aria learned to rely on one thing only: herself.
She stood in front of the mirror in her office fixing her jacket , taking a slow breath, big meetings don't scare her anymore. She was not also afraid of failure. What she was scared of was letting people see to much.
The boardroom was already full when she walked in.
People went quite not because she asked them to, but because they felt her presence. Aria noticed it like she always did but she ignored it.
Then she saw him.
Lucien Hale
He wasn't smiling. He wasn't showing off. He just leaned back in his chair cold, calm, watching her like she was a puzzle he planned to solve.
She didn't like that
"You are late" someone said nervously.
"I'm right on time" Aria replied, sitting down.
Lucien's lips curved slightly. "Confident."
"So are you." She said without thinking.
Their eyes met.
Something strange happened something Aria didn't have a name for. It wasn't attraction. Not yet. It felt more like recognition. Like seeing someone who had survived through the same kind of issues.
The meeting was intense. Numbers. Proposals. Sharp words hidden behind polite smiles. Everyone felt small in the room.
Only Lucien and Aria didn't.
Everytime she spoke he listened.
Everytime he challenged her she pushed back.
No one was used to that.
When it ended, Aria gathered her things, ready to live and forget the whole thing.
Lucien stood up too.
"You don't trust people," he said quietly, not accusingly but as though he was stating a fact.
She paused.
"People leave." She replied
"Yeah they do." He nodded slowly.
For a second the room disappeared. No boardroom. No titles. Just two people who had learned how to stand alone.
Then Aria turned and walked away.
But late that night as she stared at the city lights from her window, she realized something she didn't like at all.
She couldn't stop thinking about him.
And somewhere across the city Lucien Hale was doing the same.