We Will Love Again Episode 5

📖 The Story Continues

When the cameras finally stopped, the interviewer rose with a smile that had become decidedly personal. “Mr. Preston, thank you so much for the exclusive today.” The formal conversation was over, but she did not seem eager for him to leave.

“The pleasure was all mine.” Noah offered the effortless courtesy expected of a man whose attention had become its own kind of currency. Success had taught him how to appear warm without surrendering anything private.

The interviewer gestured toward the city beyond the studio. “There’s a nice little bar a couple of blocks down. Can I buy you a drink?” Her invitation was confident, and Noah recognized it immediately.

Five years ago, being pursued by a woman like her might have seemed impossible. Now invitations arrived everywhere he went. None of them penetrated the distance he kept between charm and trust.

“I have an important meeting tomorrow,” he said. Before disappointment could settle over her face, he added, “How about a rain check? I’ll take you out later.” It was a graceful promise with no date attached.

She accepted, pleased enough by the possibility. As she walked away, Aaron approached with the purposeful expression of an assistant carrying unfinished business. Noah’s attention sharpened at once.

“Has Crazy Maple Studio gotten back to us about our offer to meet?” Noah asked. The question mattered more to him than anything discussed before the cameras, though no one listening would have guessed why.

“Yeah, of course, boss. Their CEO is thrilled about it.” Aaron hesitated. He was accustomed to executing Noah’s decisions, but this one made so little strategic sense that silence felt irresponsible.

Noah noticed immediately. “But what?” His clipped tone warned that he disliked uncertainty, especially when it concerned the plan he had carried across five years.

“I’m sorry. I’m just a little confused.” Aaron chose his words carefully. “We’re a tech company. Crazy Maple Studio is an entertainment company. Why are we investing in them?”

On paper, the proposal was indefensible. Triple AI had no obvious reason to pursue a small studio with only a handful of employees and none of the scale Noah usually demanded. Yet spreadsheets could not show the one asset that made Crazy Maple impossible for him to ignore.

Alaina Campbell. Her name had surfaced in the research, startling him more than he would ever admit. After five years of silence, she was no longer merely a memory; she was a senior writer at a company vulnerable enough for him to reach.

Noah remembered the girl who once believed in shared dreams, then the woman who had mocked his ring and chosen wealth. He had told the world he never saw her again. Until now, he had believed that might remain true forever.

Time had transformed him into everything she claimed to want. He had the houses, cars, and fortune she once used to measure his worth. But the prospect of facing her brought none of the triumph he had imagined during his hardest nights.

Instead, questions returned. Had Peter given her the luxurious life she wanted? Would she look at Noah with regret now? Most dangerously, would one glance at her make him remember the love that existed before their final day?

Aaron waited as Noah stared beyond the studio walls. The explanation his boss owed him was a business one, something involving intellectual property or market expansion. Noah had no intention of offering the truth.

“It’s been five years, Alaina Campbell,” he said under his breath. The name sounded intimate and accusatory at once. Aaron caught it but wisely did not ask who she was.

Noah straightened, closing the brief window into his past. Whatever emotions the meeting awakened, he would control them. He was no longer the penniless man left on a sidewalk, begging for more time.

“I’m not looking to invest in them, Aaron.” His voice held the finality that had built Triple AI into a giant. “I’m looking to acquire Crazy Maple Studio.”

Aaron’s surprise deepened, but Noah was not finished. His gaze hardened as he imagined walking into Alaina’s world with the power to decide whether it survived. “Even if it means we have to break them into pieces.”