Walked into the hall.
Lara stood twenty yards away.
No charcoal dress.
No wine.
She wore a tailored navy suit, white blouse, low black heels, and thin glasses.
Her hair was down.
Naomi stood several feet behind her speaking quietly with Hexton’s general counsel.
Lara looked exactly like the woman Adrien should have recognized the night before.
That realization hurt.
Not because clothing had hidden her identity.
Because status had determined whether he bothered to look.
He approached slowly.
“Ms. Wynn.”
“Mr. Crest.”
For once, he had no prepared language.
“I’m sorry.”
Lara watched him.
“I know.”
“I mean it.”
“Maybe.”
He swallowed.
“I behaved horribly.”
“Yes.”
“Selene—”
Lara’s expression changed.
Adrien stopped.
He had almost blamed Selene.
Again.
“I behaved horribly,” he corrected.
“Yes.”
“I should have stopped her.”
“Yes.”
“I should never have said what I said.”
“No.”
He looked down.
“They fired me.”
“I heard.”
“Did you come to see that?”
“No.”
“Then why are you here?”
Lara glanced toward Naomi.
Then back.
“Hexton requested return of several original closing documents held by our legal team.”
“I had another meeting nearby.”
“I decided to bring one set personally.”
Adrien almost laughed at the ordinariness.
“So you didn’t come for me.”
“No.”
That hurt more than if she had.
He looked at her.
“Can I ask one thing?”
Lara waited.
“Did you cancel the deal because of what we did to you?”
She considered the question.
“No.”
Adrien looked surprised.
“You didn’t?”
“I canceled because of what your behavior told me.”
“What’s the difference?”
“The difference is revenge versus judgment.”
Lara’s voice remained calm.
“If you had accidentally spilled wine on me, there would still be a deal.”
“If Selene had lost her temper during an argument and apologized immediately, we would have had a difficult conversation.”
“What happened last night was different.”
“You saw someone you believed had no power.”
“You decided that meant she had no value.”
Adrien said nothing.
“You didn’t know I owned Windche.”
“No.”
“That is exactly why the incident mattered.”
He looked at her.
Lara continued.
“If you had recognized me, you would have been charming.”
“You would have introduced me to your board.”
“You would have praised our technology.”
“You would have talked about partnership.”
“You would have treated me well because I controlled something you wanted.”
Her voice grew quieter.
“I needed to know how you treated people when you thought they controlled nothing.”
Adrien looked away.
Lara said:
“That is who would have been leading integration.”
“That is who my employees would have had to trust.”
“That is who our suppliers would have negotiated with.”
“That is who junior employees would have been afraid to challenge.”
“The wine ruined a dress.”
“That was not an eight-hundred-million-dollar problem.”
“You were.”
Adrien closed his eyes.
“I can change.”
“I hope you do.”
“Then give Hexton another chance.”