Government deals like this didn't come often. The government's multi-billion-dollar infrastructure project was the kind of contract that could define a legacy. Every major corporation had been circling it like sharks, but Wolfe Industries wasn't about to lose.
The negotiations had dragged on for weeks, and endless meetings, red tape, and power plays. Kelvin had prepared for battle, expecting the usual politics and corporate maneuvering. What he hadn't expected was her.
She had been a quiet force in the discussions, effortlessly dissecting complex agreements, anticipating challenges before they surfaced, and presenting solutions before anyone else had even considered the problem. Kelvin had known she was sharp, but watching her command the room was something else entirely.
The final meeting had been intense. The committee was wavering, reluctant to commit. Then Anna stepped in.
This isn't just about cost efficiency, she said, her voice clear, unwavering. It's about reliability. Wolfe Industries isn't offering a proposal; we're offering certainty.
Kelvin had watched as the tension eased, as the officials leaned forward, engaged. Within an hour, the contract was theirs.
When the ink dried on the deal, Kelvin found himself staring at Anna, fascinated in a way that unsettled him. She was focused, still flipping through documents, oblivious to the storm she had stirred in him.
She impressed him.
And that was dangerous.
Because for the first time in years, Kelvin Wolfe wanted to know someone not as a business partner, not as a conquest, but as something more.
And he wasn't sure what that meant.
The sound of breaking glass was always the first warning.
Anna Banner would sit frozen in her room, her small hands clutching the edges of her blanket as the shouting began. Her father's voice, slurred and venomous, would echo through the tiny house, followed by her mother's quiet pleas.
Please!, not tonight!! Her mother would beg. But the pleas never worked.
Mr Banner Anna's father was a man consumed by his demons. Alcohol had stripped away whatever kindness he once had, leaving behind a hollow shell of anger and bitterness. He had lost his job years ago, and with it, his pride. The weight of failure turned him cruel, and his family bore the brunt of his rage.
Anna hated him.
But more than that, she hated the helplessness. The way her mother would shield her from the blows, whispering, It's okay, Anna. It's okay, even as bruises bloomed on her arms. It wasn't okay. It was never okay.
One night, when Anna was ten, she made a promise to herself. She would get out. She would escape the suffocating cycle of poverty and violence. And she would take her mother with her.
That promise became her anchor.
She threw herself into her studies, staying late at the library, devouring every book she could find. Her teachers noticed her determination, her hunger for something more, and they pushed her to apply for scholarships.
When the acceptance letter arrived, offering her a full ride to one of the country's top universities, Anna cried for the first time in years. She had done it. She had found her way out.
But leaving wasn't as simple as she had hoped. Her mother refused to come with her, insisting that Anna deserved a chance to build a better life without the weight of their broken home dragging her down.
Go, Anna, her mother had said, her voice trembling but firm. You're my hope. Don't let him take that from you.
And so, Anna left.
But the guilt followed her. Every achievement, every milestone, was tinged with the knowledge that her mother was still trapped in that house, enduring the life Anna had escaped.
Now, standing in the gleaming halls of Wolfe Industries, Anna carried that guilt with her. It fueled her drive, her need to prove herself. She couldn't afford to fail, not when so much was at stake.
And yet, despite everything, she found herself distracted by him.
Kelvin Wolfe was everything she had sworn to avoid: charming, reckless, and far too dangerous for someone like her. But there was something about the way he looked at her, as if he saw past the walls she had built, that made her heart betray her.
She couldn't let herself fall for him.