We Will Love Again – Episode 27
Alaina watched Noah close the archive-room door. For the first time since his arrival, the power between them felt stripped of titles and money. He was simply the man she had loved, preparing to confess how deeply that love had curdled.
“Triple AI never needed Crazy Maple,” he said. “Aaron was right to question the acquisition.”
Alaina already suspected the answer, but hearing it promised a different kind of pain. “You came because of me.”
“I found your name in the company records.” Noah did not soften the admission. “I wanted you to see everything you said I would never have.”
She lowered her eyes. The hotel errands, impossible deadlines, and public humiliations rearranged themselves into a deliberate campaign.
“I wanted regret,” Noah continued. “I thought if you looked at me and understood what you lost, the last five years would finally make sense.”
“Did it work?” Alaina asked quietly.
He considered the woman before him: exhausted, indebted, and still protecting the mother who hurt them both. “No.”
The answer should have comforted her. Instead, anger pushed through the guilt she had accepted for too long. “You used twenty-five people’s jobs to settle a personal score.”
“I would never have closed the company.”
“But you wanted me to believe you might.” Alaina met his gaze. “You wanted me afraid because you once felt powerless.”
Noah had no defense. Revenge sounded uglier when she described it without the righteousness he had wrapped around it.
“I believed you chose money over me,” he said. “That doesn’t excuse what I did.”
“No, it doesn’t.” The firmness in her voice surprised him. Alaina had apologized for years, even when he could not hear her. She would not take responsibility for his cruelty too.
Noah nodded, accepting the judgment. “I’ll end the personal assignments. Aaron will handle the evaluation from now on.”
“And the acquisition?”
“Crazy Maple needs capital and better management. I won’t abandon the employees because my reason for coming here was wrong.”
Alaina understood the distinction, though trust remained distant. “Then make the decision based on the company, not on whether I forgive you.”
He opened the door for her. “I don’t expect forgiveness.” The words were honest, but the loss beneath them tightened her chest.
As Alaina returned to her desk, Aaron entered with new findings from the security investigation. Abigale’s tablet had sent the leak, but another employee had paid her—and the payment came from someone connected to Nora Preston.
