Part 2- The Woman He Could Not Reach

The acquisition negotiations lasted three months.

During that time, Adrian discovered something that unsettled him.

Lena was brilliant.

She understood business, negotiated without hesitation, and never allowed personal feelings to interfere with her decisions.

She also never mentioned their university days.

Not once.

At first, Adrian thought she was simply being professional.

Then he realized something much worse.

She had truly moved on.

One evening, after a long meeting, Adrian found her alone in the office.

“You’ve changed,” he said.

Lena looked up from her laptop.

“People change.”

“I didn’t recognize you.”

She smiled faintly.

“That makes two of us.”

Adrian frowned.

“What does that mean?”

“Nothing.”

She closed her laptop.

“Good night, Mr. Cole.”

He watched her leave.

For some reason, he hated hearing her call him that.

A week later, Adrian attended a charity gala.

He hadn’t wanted to go.

Until he saw Lena.

She was standing near the ballroom windows, speaking with another businessman.

When she laughed, Adrian felt something strange tighten in his chest.

He remembered the girl from university.

The girl who used to sit alone in the library.

The girl who always smiled when she saw him.

The girl whose feelings he had dismissed so easily.

Now dozens of men were trying to get her attention.

And Adrian suddenly understood something he hadn’t expected.

He was jealous.

Deeply jealous.

When the businessman beside Lena offered her his hand for a dance, Adrian walked over.

“Lena.”

She turned.

“Mr. Cole.”

“May I have this dance?”

She looked at him for several seconds.

Then she smiled.

“I’m sorry. I’m already promised.”

The other man appeared beside her.

“Shall we?”

Lena nodded.

Adrian stood there as she walked away.

For the first time in his life, he understood what rejection felt like.

And it hurt.

A few days later, Adrian finally confronted her.

“Why do you avoid me?”

“I don’t.”

“You do.”

Lena sighed.

“Adrian, what do you want?”

He froze.

“I don’t know.”

“Then don’t come looking for something from me.”

She turned away.

But Adrian caught her wrist gently.

“Did I hurt you?”

Lena became silent.

Then she looked back at him.

“You did.”

His expression changed.

“I was young.”

“So was I.”

“I didn’t mean—”

“You didn’t have to mean it.”

Her voice remained calm, but her eyes were no longer cold.

“I loved you when I had nothing to offer you except my feelings.”

Adrian lowered his gaze.

“And you rejected me.”

“I was wrong.”

Lena shook her head.

“No. You made a choice.”

She pulled her hand away.

“And I made mine.”

She walked toward the elevator.

Adrian followed.

“Lena.”

She stopped.

“I’ve spent eight years trying to become someone I could be proud of.”

She looked at him.

“I didn’t change so that you would regret losing me.”

The elevator doors opened.

“I changed because I finally realized I deserved someone who would choose me from the beginning.”

The doors closed.

Adrian stood alone in the hallway.

For the first time, he understood the truth.

He didn’t miss the girl he had rejected.

He was falling in love with the woman she had become.

And he might already be too late.