We Will Love Again – Episode 23
Noah crossed the reception area and placed himself between Alaina and his mother. The movement was instinctive, the same protective response he had spent weeks trying to punish out of himself.
Nora noticed it too. “We were having a private conversation.”
“In her workplace, after I specifically told you not to approach her.” Noah’s voice carried through the suddenly quiet office. “That doesn’t sound private. It sounds like pressure.”
Alaina touched his arm before she could reconsider. “Noah, don’t do this here.” The brief contact calmed and unsettled him in equal measure.
Abigale and Evonne watched from the writers’ room, delighted by a scandal they did not understand. The billionaire investor, his mother, and the coworker they mocked were tied together by something far more intimate than business.
Joey rushed from his office. “Is there a problem?” His gaze moved nervously between the Prestons. Any family conflict capable of threatening the acquisition was now his problem too.
“No,” Nora answered smoothly. “I was just leaving.” She gave Alaina one final look. “Think carefully about what you’re doing.”
Noah heard the warning. “She doesn’t owe you silence anymore.”
Nora walked out without responding. The elevator doors closed, leaving questions behind her like smoke.
Joey waited until she was gone. “Would someone like to tell me what that was?”
“A personal matter,” Noah said. “It has no bearing on the acquisition.”
Joey nodded too quickly, but the reassurance failed to reach the staff. Whispers started before Noah and Alaina reached his temporary office.
Inside, Alaina pulled away from him. “You shouldn’t have confronted her in front of everyone.”
“She cornered you in front of everyone.” Noah closed the door. “What did she say?”
“That the truth could destroy your relationship with her.” Alaina looked down. “She’s right.”
“My mother did that herself.” The certainty in his reply startled them both. Anger could not erase decades of love, but love could no longer erase what Nora had done.
Alaina saw grief beneath his control and felt responsibility settle over her again. “I never wanted you to lose your family because of me.”
“Stop deciding what I can survive.” Noah stepped closer. “You did it five years ago, and you’re still doing it now.”
Before Alaina could answer, Joey’s voice erupted outside. A confidential acquisition schedule had been sent from Alaina’s account to an external address, and the security alert named her as the source.
Noah opened the door to find every face turned toward them. Joey held up the report with fury in his eyes. “Alaina Campbell, did you just leak Triple AI’s confidential files?”
