Two days.

It had been two days of talking to Rachel, Roger, and David about their thoughts on Amelia 'taking a new position, with high risk but high reward potential.'

Two days of running the numbers in the background, looking through the meager 'evidence' that barely counted as circumstantial that she had put together in her desperate attempt to get anywhere over the past three years.

Two days.

"It's good to see you again, Miss Foster," Ezra's assistant said with a slight bow as she walked toward Ezra's office.

"You know," Amelia paused, turning to the man, "I never did get a proper introduction to you."

"Oh!" the man blinked, smiling awkwardly, "My name is Blaise. It's an honor to make your acquaintance."

"And yours," Ameila said honestly, returning the small bow respectfully, "I imagine... we may be seeing quite a bit more of each other in the future."

Blaise smiled brightly, nodding in understanding as he guided her into Ezra's office.

"I have set out some tea and cookies," he said, gesturing at the small table between the two chairs, "Is there anything else you'd prefer? I can have them in the future too."

Amelia tilted her head for a moment, then looked at him.

"If mochi and coffee are options, I'd never say no. Matcha and chocolate mochi are my favorite. Not today but, if you're stocking up in the future, well... you know."

Blaise nodded in understanding, pausing before asking, "allergies?"

"Mango," Amelia said, her smile dropping with a tinge of seriousness, "Life threatening. I carry epi pens, but I'd prefer not to need them."

Blaise took out his phone and made a note, turning to Ezra with a final nod before walking out with a final, polite farewell.

Ezra watched from where he was sitting behind his desk, standing and buttoning his jacket as he did so. He made a mental note to have every trace of mango that may or may not exist removed from all spaces they might share in the future.

"Amelia," Ezra greeted her, walking toward the armchairs and encouraging her to sit, "Let's talk."

"I'm guessing you know my real name," she sighed, sitting, "You may use it, if you'd like."

"Do you prefer it?" Ezra asked, sitting across from her and picking up his own cup of tea as he watched her with interest.

"My father chose it," she said quietly, sipping the tea and humming approvingly at the quality, "So yes, I do. I simply haven't been able to risk using it."

Ezra nodded.

"In that case, it's my genuine pleasure, Blair."

The corner of her lips twitched up and a tinge of sadness flashed across her eyes.

It had been years since anyone had used her real name.

"I'm... still uneasy about all of this," Blair admitted, sighing and placing her tea down as she looked at him for a long moment, "but... I've decided to agree to your proposal. I have been trying to balance everything in secret and, if I'm honest, I've made little progress in the ways I want to. If anything, I may be slowly losing ground because I have to remain in the shadows. Before we move forward, though, I need to tell you a story... and make sure you still want to do this."

Ezra sat back, his face serious as he nodded to encourage her to continue - and he didn't miss the slight grimace she tried to hide as she took a deep breath.

Whatever she had to say was clearly unpleasant.

"I never wanted to lead my father's company," she explained quietly, looking out the windows beside them and over the skyline, "My brother was meant to lead. I got that MBA so I could be his confidant, but my real passion was art. History. My grandmother, whom I barely remember, loved antiques. She used to make my grandfather furious, I guess, going to auctions and collecting them. My father used to go on and on about it when I was a child, leading me through her giant collection like our own personal history museum."

Blair smiled sadly, studying the way the sun glinted off the metal giants beneath them but not seeing them through the memories.

"My brother was a business genius. Finance, strategy - that was his world. He and my father always spoiled me, and they let me pursue my art as long as I promised to keep my business and project management focus as well. My father tutored us from an incredibly young age to groom us into the perfect team to lead - my brother as the face, and me supporting him behind the scenes."

She turned to look at Ezra then, her smile fading.

"When I was old enough, I took an alias. Susan Marco - that's what everyone at the college knew me as. The administration knew who I really was, but everything had my fake name so I could go to school like a normal person. It was my first time in the real world, and the first time I wasn't waited on hand and foot. I grew up a lot in those 6 years, and decided I wanted to pursue teaching and art more seriously. My father and brother supported me unconditionally, and while it was hard to step away - they both believed it was good for me to go out and live like everyone else. I built a career as an art professor and made quite a name for myself in certain circles. All the while, I submitted my paintings to competitions and became a bit of a name in the art world as well... but I kept my face hidden because I was worried I'd be recognized."

Blair sighed, her shoulders slumping a bit.

"When I met Ryan, he was a rich playboy at the school studying business, and I actually despised him on principle. I'll skip the details, but the point is that over time we started dating. He knew me as Susan, the art professor, and when we started dating his mother despised me.

My father and brother's boating accident, or whatever you want to call it, came about 6 months after he and I got together. He didn't know, of course, but I took time off work to join the search and handle home affairs.

My mother wanted to push for them to be declared dead nearly immediately. She pushed for a will reading, and I refused. Two months later she brought home her new man and his daughter, saying they were my new family and I needed to include them in the family business. I refused again. Over the next few months, she became more and more aggressive, pushing to have my father and brother's inheritance transferred to me and then for me to hand it over."

Blair took a deep breath, straightening her spine and ignoring the ache in her leg as she looked at Ezra seriously.

"She arranged for me to be kidnapped. I was tortured and barely escaped with my life. I was hospitalized for months, and they visited regularly, whispering into my ear that if I didn't behave and do as they said they'd do it again. They had just enough influence to make my life truly miserable, and I... very seriously considered ending it all."

She looked away then, as if the shame of admitting the truth was too much.

Perhaps it was.

"Ryan's mother despised me... and had money. So I decided to leverage that hate. She helped me quietly leave the country and escape my mother - she had no idea she was saving me. She thought she was separating me from her son. Ryan spit and cussed, but we continued to stay in contact while I was away - between him and my time overseas I was able to recover enough to function. I took control of my father's assets and started implementing restrictions with the guidance of a clever businessman to prevent my mother from doing more harm."

Blair smiled at the memory of the old man, even if the sadness was still there.

"That old coot saved me," Blair admitted, leaning back with a smirk, "he is the one that helped me figure out how to run things from the shadows, set me up with my new identity, and eventually pushed me to come home. He gave me the tools to protect everything from them... but I don't seem to be capable of doing more than that. Keeping it running? Ensuring his legacy lives on? That part I've managed to do alright. Helping it grow? Investigating the boating incident? Dealing with my mother? That part... not so much."

She turned to him them with her lips pressed into a thin line as she prepared herself.

"I have no uterus, Ezra," she said quietly, "They couldn't save it. The beatings were so brutal, and I was bleeding internally when I was finally hospitalized... my hands aren't the same, and holding a paintbrush is excruciating. It takes twice as long to paint a piece now than it used to. My knees are garbage and my back is a nightmare... I'm not... I'm broken in ways you can't see. Ways you can't imagine."

She held his gaze, noticing the way his jaw clenched and his eyes darkened.

At her? At the truth? She wasn't sure, but she forced herself to keep going.

"I'm explaining this because if we do this... there's more to me than you see on paper. You said I was impressive in that alleyway... but I wasn't. I was back there, fighting for my life like I was three years ago. It was instinct, it was survival kicking in because I was living a memory in that moment that told me to fight."

She reached for her tea, but her hands were trembling so badly she put it right back down with a sigh.

"I won't give up volunteering at the hospitals," she explained softly, "I help those that are struggling with finding a reason to stick around... helping them find that reason to live gives me the drive to keep fighting. To keep pushing forward when the only people in the entire world I want in my life are lost at sea."

She looked up again, holding his eyes.

"I am not wife material," she said, repeating what she said the first time they sat in this room, "I can offer you friendship if you don't irritate me to death. I can offer you partnership and consulting the way I was groomed to for my brother. I can give you my thoughts and bad jokes, and maybe I'll let you lead me around on your arm if it makes sense at a gala or whatever other boring event you drag me to... but I can be high maintenance. I have panic attacks and when triggered I have flashbacks. That night in the hospital I struggled all night with them, and Dr. Shire stayed with me to help me through because she knew I might make a... rash decision... if left alone. Signing up to deal with me, even for two years, is a bigger workload than you realize."

She stopped then, leaning back and folding her hands in her lap - not quite sure what Ezra was thinking or what his next move would be, but fine with whatever he chose.

If discovering that she was a broken woman changed his mind, she was okay with that. It changed nothing. If it didn't... she'd commit to this. She'd sign the contract, marry the man in front of her, and help him keep his business while she fought to bring justice to her father and brother.

Either way she was okay with whatever decision he made - at least now he could make an informed choice.

They sat in a tense silence as Ezra processed what she had said, and she accepted that silence easily. She didn't need to fill it - she had said plenty. Instead she looked out over the cityscape, bright under the summer sun and cloudless sky.

She was inspired to paint it, and decided if he signed the contract she'd set up an easel right in this room to do just that.

"The old man that helped you," Ezra finally said, "are you still in contact?"

"No," Blair said, not looking toward Ezra but smiling warmly at the memory, "but we will be. We have a date in about a year, and he's not allowed to miss it."

Ezra raised an eyebrow in obvious interest, but when she didn't elaborate he decided not to push.

"I'm glad you told me this," Ezra said, leaning forward and placing his empty teacup down, "It doesn't change the proposal, but it does change how I approach it. You are an impressive woman, Blair, and I believe we will make a strong team. We all come with baggage, and I'm no exception. My situation may be quite different, but you'll find I'm not easy to deal with all the time either. We will have issues and given how strong both of our personalities are, I imagine we will bump heads quite a bit. I will approach this in good faith if you will."

Blair turned to him then, studying him for a long moment.

Ezra wasn't sure what she was looking for, but he held her gaze and waited for her to make whatever decision it was she needed to make.

What she had said had infuriated him, but that anger had a very particular direction - the people that dared. He didn't feel any romantic interest in Blair, but he already had a profound respect for the woman. He could tell they would genuinely make a good team, and hoped they could develop a strong friendship.

In the spirit of that hope, he was livid to learn what she had gone through. She wasn't weak, wasn't a victim, and didn't really need him - but she was also a human who had lost everything dear to her, had been beaten into a corner, and was fighting desperately to hold her ground.

He wanted to help her win that fight and step back into the life she deserved.

Did he also want to ensure his sister and brother-in-law didn't end up on his board of directors with a controlling stake in his company? Definitely. He had no delusions that he wouldn't have entertained this friendship without the motivation in front of him. He was a business man at heart, and building business relationships that benefited him was where he thrived.

However, he was approaching it in good faith - he really did believe Blair was the answer to his problem as much as he could be hers.

"Okay," she finally breathed, nodding, "Where do I sign?"

--

Did you know that voting & commenting on the chapter helps writers on the app out a TON? If you liked this chapter and you'd be willing to vote and/or comment, it would mean a lot to me <3