Miles away, Azrael's world looked completely different.
There was no soft lighting.
No quiet apartment.
No late-night memories.
Only business.
And pressure.
Inside the sleek conference room of Hartwell Group headquarters, the atmosphere was tense.
Assistants moved quickly across the polished floor carrying documents and tablets.
Phones rang.
Emails were sent.
Schedules updated every minute.
Today was important.
Extremely important.
Azrael stood near the tall window overlooking the city skyline, adjusting the cuff of his dark suit.
Behind him, his assistant Daniel spoke rapidly while reviewing a tablet.
"Sir, the board meeting will begin in thirty minutes."
Azrael nodded slightly.
"The German investors have confirmed their arrival?" he asked.
"Yes, sir. Their representatives landed this morning."
Daniel scrolled through another page.
"And the rival company is also sending a delegation. They're pushing aggressively for the same contract."
Asher's expression remained calm.
But his eyes sharpened slightly.
The contract in question was enormous.
A long-term international development project worth hundreds of millions.
Winning it would secure Hartwell Group's expansion into European markets.
Losing it would allow their biggest competitor to gain control of the deal.
Neither outcome was small.
Which meant every detail had to be perfect.
Daniel continued speaking.
"The private jet is prepared for departure this afternoon. Your meeting in Germany with the executive board will take place tomorrow morning."
Azrael took the documents handed to him.
"Good."
He scanned through the proposal pages quickly, his mind already calculating possibilities and negotiations.
Numbers.
Terms.
Strategies.
Everything was carefully arranged.
Outside the glass walls of the conference room, members of the board were already arriving.
Serious faces.
Expensive suits.
Quiet conversations filled with corporate tension.
Today would decide a lot.
Within minutes, Daniel approached again.
"Sir, the board is ready."
Azrael straightened his jacket.
His expression shifted completely into the calm, controlled persona that dominated the corporate world.
The teasing man from the other night was nowhere to be seen.
Now he was only the CEO.
He walked toward the conference room doors.
The moment they opened, every board member turned their attention to him.
The meeting had begun.
And soon after…
He would be on a plane heading to Germany.
Completely unaware that somewhere across the city, a woman was lying on her bed thinking about him far more than she wanted to admit.