Page 30 of Claiming My Nemesis

Ethan

“Your favorite breakfast, Mr. Sterling,” Morris announced as he set the tray on my desk, the scent of freshly brewed coffee and a perfectly toasted bagel wafting through the room. “Anything else you need before your meeting?”

“Thanks, Morris. This is great,” I replied, forcing a smile as I glanced at the tray. The food looked good, but my stomach wasn’t having it. “That’ll be all for now.”

Morris nodded and left the office, closing the door quietly behind him. I stared at the breakfast spread, the bagel still warm, and the coffee steaming. But I just wasn’t hungry. My mind was too preoccupied, too filled with everything that had been piling up lately.

I pushed the tray aside, ignoring the growl of hunger that quickly faded under the weight of my anxiety. My phone was already in my hand, Natalie’s name staring back at me from the screen. It had been days since I’d heard her voice, and the silence between us was suffocating.

“You’ve got to make the call,” I muttered to myself, pacing the length of my office. But what could I possibly say that would make any of this better? How could I explain everything without sounding like an arrogant rich asshole?

I glanced out the window, the Dallas skyline stretching out before me like a sprawling reminder of the world I’d built—a world that felt like it was crumbling around me. The success I had once taken pride in now felt like a cage, each skyscraper a bar holding me in.

With a sigh, I loosened my tie and unbuttoned the top button of my shirt. The fabric had started to feel like it was choking me, like the responsibilities I couldn’t escape.

I finally sat down, my eyes flicking between the untouched breakfast and my phone. “Just do it,” I told myself again, and before I could second-guess it, I pressed the ‘Call’ button.

The phone rang, each tone dragging out longer than the last. My heart thudded heavily in my chest, a dull ache that matched the uncertainty gnawing at my gut. When the call went to voicemail, I let out a long breath, both disappointed and relieved.

“Hi, Natalie, it’s Ethan,” I started, trying to keep my voice steady and casual. “Just wanted to let you know I’m coming back to Cedar Cove soon. I miss you, and I can’t wait to see you again. Call me when you get a chance.”

I ended the call and tossed the phone onto my desk. The silence that followed was more oppressive than the unanswered ringing phone had been. I sank back into my chair, rubbing my temples as the weight of the situation pressed down on me. The voicemail was too short, and I knew it wouldn’t be enough to soothe Natalie’s concerns. Hell, it wasn’t even enough to soothe mine.

I leaned back, staring up at the ceiling as if it might offer some kind of answer. What was I even doing? Juggling two liveslike this was tearing me apart, and I was terrified that I’d drop everything—lose everything, including Natalie.

The clock on the wall ticked incessantly, each second a reminder that time was slipping away. I glanced at it, realizing I was already running late for my next meeting. Another part of this double life I couldn’t afford to neglect, even if it was the last thing I wanted to focus on right now.

But as I gathered my things, ready to leave the office, the nagging worry for Natalie lingered. What if she didn’t call back? What if she was already slipping away from me, and I was too wrapped up in this mess to stop it?

“Damn it,” I muttered, shoving the thought aside as I headed for the door. One thing at a time, I told myself. Get through today, and then I’d figure out how to fix the rest.

As the day wore on, I had barely made a dent in the mountain of paperwork that had piled up on my desk. Whenever I tried to focus on the numbers in front of me, my mind wandered back to Natalie and the voicemail I left her. It felt like I was trying to hold on to water. The more I tried to grip it, the more it slipped through my fingers.

I pushed my chair back, the leather creaking as I stood up and walked over to the window. Dallas spread out beneath me, a city full of energy and opportunity, but today it felt like a gilded cage. I had spent years building this life, achieving everything I thought I wanted, yet now it seemed to be the very thing keeping me from what I needed most.

My eyes drifted to the stack of papers on my desk—contracts, proposals, and one particular folder that seemed to glare at me from the edge. The Telluride deal. It was supposed to be a straightforward acquisition, a chance for our best client, Charles Whitmore, to diversify his portfolio with a prime ski resort property. But something in the back of my mind told me that nothing was going to be straightforward anymore.

As if on cue, my phone buzzed, cutting through the quiet of the office. I walked back to my desk, my gut tightening when I saw Whitmore’s name on the caller ID. I picked up the phone, trying to steady my voice. “Charles, how’s it going today?”

“Ethan, we’ve got a problem.” Whitmore’s voice was tense, frustration lacing each word. “The ski resort deal is off.”

His words hit me like a punch to the gut. “What do you mean, off? We had everything lined up.”

“Not anymore,” he snapped. “Recent changes in environmental laws have put new restrictions on the land. Renovations—expansions—none of these are allowed now. The whole plan is dead in the water because you didn’t foresee this issue.”

I sank back into my chair, the weight of the news pressing down on me. “There’s got to be a way around this,” I said, trying to keep the desperation out of my voice. “We can’t just walk away from this deal.”

Whitmore let out a sharp breath. “Well, you need to figure it out, Ethan. I need you to fix this, or the deal’s dead, and we both stand to lose a hell of a lot.”

I rubbed my temples, feeling the pressure building behind my eyes. “I’ll look into it,” I promised. “I’ll find a way to make this work.”

“Good,” Whitmore said, his tone softening just a fraction. “I’m counting on you.”

The call ended, but the anxiety lingered, coiling tighter around my chest. I set the phone down, staring at the pile of papers on my desk without really seeing them. This was the last thing I needed right now—a business crisis that demanded all my attention while my personal life was already teetering on the edge.

I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the desk and burying my face in my hands. How had everything gotten so out ofcontrol? One minute, I was managing it all—balancing the demands of Sterling Solutions with the simple life I was trying to build with Natalie—and the next, it was all falling apart.

The real issue was, I never expected to fall in love. When I decided to take this so-called break from my life as a billionaire, I thought I could keep things simple, keep my two worlds apart. But then Natalie came into my life, and everything shifted.

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