Chapter 6 6. The CEO Returns

Elena's pov

The Sterling Global headquarters building stood eighty floors high in the heart of the city. Glass and steel reaching into the sky like a monument to everything my family had built.

I'd avoided this place for three years. Now I was walking through the front doors like I owned it.

Because I did.

"Miss Sterling." The receptionist practically jumped to attention. "Welcome back."

Back. Like I'd just been on vacation. Like I hadn't abandoned my entire identity to play house with a man who couldn't even remember our anniversary.

"Thank you, Marie." I remembered her name. I remembered everyone's names, even after three years. "Is my brother in?"

"Mr. Sterling is in your office, ma'am. He's been waiting."

My office. The CEO's office is on the top floor with views of the entire city.

I took the private elevator, my heels clicking against marble floors. Everything here was expensive, powerful, and permanent. The exact opposite of the small, suffocating house I'd lived in as Damien's wife.

The elevator doors opened directly into my office suite.

Adrian stood at the floor-to-ceiling windows, hands in his pockets. When he turned and saw me, his whole face lit up.

"Elena." He crossed the room and pulled me into a hug. "Welcome home."

"It's good to be home." And I meant it. This place felt more like home than anywhere else had in three years.

"Ready to take back your throne?" Adrian gestured to the massive desk, my desk, covered in neat stacks of files and reports.

"More than ready. Catch me up on everything."

For the next hour, Adrian walked me through every major decision, every contract, and every move Sterling Global had made in my absence. He'd done well. Better than well. But I could see the relief in his eyes at handing the reins back to me.

"The board meets tomorrow," he said. "They'll want to see you. Some of them have been... questioning whether you're really ready to come back."

"Let them question." I sat in my chair, the CEO's chair, and it fit perfectly. "I'll show them tomorrow."

"There's something else." Adrian's tone shifted. "I pulled all contracts with Blackwell Industries like you asked."

My chest tightened. "And?"

"They're struggling, hard. Word is they might not survive the quarter without those contracts."

Good. Let Damien feel what it's like to lose everything.

But Adrian was watching me carefully. "Elena, are you sure about this? Going after them this way?"

"They made me feel worthless for three years. They deserve to know what worthlessness actually feels like."

"I'm not disagreeing. I just want to make sure you're doing this for the right reasons."

"What are the right reasons?"

"Not revenge. Strategy." Adrian leaned against the desk. "Revenge is messy and emotional. Strategy is clean and effective. Which one is this?"

I thought about it. About Margaret's cruel words, about Jessica's sneers and about Damien's cold indifference.

"Both," I admitted. "It's both."

"Then let's make it count." Adrian pulled out another file. "Jessica Blackwell was working in our medical supplies subsidiary. I had her terminated for repeated violations of company policy. She's been cutting corners, faking reports, and generally being incompetent."

"So you didn't fire her just because I asked?"

"I fired her because she deserved it. You asking just made me look closer at her record." He smiled. "Everything we're doing is justified, Elena. That's what makes it so satisfying."

I loved my brother.

"What about the gala?" I asked.

"Three days away. Invitations sent to the Blackwells and all three of them accepted."

"They don't know I'm the CEO yet?"

"No one does except the board. Everyone thinks E. Sterling is some mysterious new hire. The reveal is going to be..." Adrian grinned. "Explosive."

"Good." I stood up and walked to the windows, looking out at the city below. Damien was somewhere out there probably scrambling to save his career.

"Are you bringing Caleb to the gala?" Adrian asked casually. Too casually.

"Yes."

"As your date?"

"As my friend."

"Elena..."

"I know what you're going to say." I turned to face him. "Caleb deserves an answer. Caleb has been patient and wonderful and everything Damien wasn't. But I'm not ready yet."

"When will you be ready?"

"When I stop feeling broken." The words came out quieter than I intended. "When I can think about love without remembering how much it hurt to love someone who didn't love me back."

Adrian's expression softened. "You're not broken. You're healing. There's a difference."

"Tell that to my heart."

"Your heart will catch up. Give it time." He squeezed my shoulder. "But while we're waiting for your heart to catch up, let's make sure the world knows exactly who Elena Sterling is."

Over the next few days, I threw myself into work. I restructured three divisions, fired two executives who'd been embezzling funds that Adrian had been too polite to deal with, and approved a new merger that would make Sterling Global even more powerful.

I was in my element. This was what I was good at, not playing housewife and not making anniversary dinners for men who wouldn't show up. This.

"Miss Sterling?" My assistant, Patricia, poked her head in. "You have a visitor."

"I'm not taking meetings today."

"It's Caleb Harding. He says it's personal."

My heart did that annoying flutter thing. "Send him in."

Caleb walked into my office in jeans and a leather jacket, looking completely out of place among all the corporate polish. But he smiled when he saw me, and for a second, everything felt lighter.

"Look at you," he said. "Back where you belong."

"It feels good."

"You look good, powerful and happy." He settled into the chair across from my desk. "I like this version of you."

"This is the real me. The me I forgot existed."

"I never forgot." His voice was soft. "I always knew this version of you was in there, just waiting to come back out."

There it was again. That feeling and that pull toward Caleb that I wasn't ready to explore yet.

"The gala is in three days," I said, changing the subject. "Still want to be my date?"

"Elena, I'd walk through fire to be your date to anything."

"It's going to be messy. Damien will be there. His whole family will be there."

"Good. I want to see their faces when they realize who you are." Caleb leaned forward. "But more than that, I want to be there for you. Whatever you need. Friend, bodyguard, emotional support, or guy-who-glares-at-your-ex-husband-threateningly. I'm flexible."

I laughed. Actually I laughed. "All of the above?"

"You got it."

After Caleb left, I stood at my windows again, watching the sun set over the city. In three days, everything would change. In three days, Damien would know the truth.

Part of me was terrified. What if seeing him again hurt? What if I wasn't as over him as I thought?

But another part of me, the stronger part, couldn't wait.

Because I wasn't the invisible woman anymore.

I was Elena Sterling. CEO. Heiress. And I was about to remind everyone exactly what that meant.

My phone buzzed with a message from Adrian.

Adrian: Final guest list approved. The Blackwells are seated front and center. They'll have the best view of your announcement.

Me: Perfect.

Adrian: Nervous?

Me: Terrified.

Adrian: Good. That means you care. But Elena? You're going to kill it. They have no idea what's coming.

I looked at my reflection in the window, designer suit and perfect hair. Confidence I'd forgotten I had.

Adrian was right. They had no idea what was coming.

But they were about to find out.