Elijah’s fingers tightened slightly on the steering wheel, but he didn’t interrupt.“He made it clear that if I wanted smoother progress in the department, I should be… closer to him,” she continued, her voice controlled but firm. “A personal arrangement.”Elijah understood immediately.“And you refused,” he said.She nodded once. “I refused.”There was no drama in her tone, just quiet resolve.“He didn’t argue openly,” she added. “He just waited. Then suddenly there were ‘performance concerns,’ protocol violations, committee reviews. It was subtle, but effective.”Elijah was stunned for a moment.Celeste was intelligent, professional, and undeniably beautiful. It unfortunately made sense that someone in power might attempt something like that, but that didn’t make it acceptable.“And no one questioned it?” he asked.She gave a faint, tired smile. “Hospitals protect senior consultants. Assistants are replaceable.”The car remained silent for a few seconds after that.Elijah’s expressi

Elijah drove out of the construction site and merged into one of the busier roads in the city, traffic moving steadily in both directions. His mind was still juggling the mall project, the Valencia meeting, and Phantom’s update when something ahead caught his attention. At first, he thought he was mistaken. Then he looked again. Walking along the sidewalk near a bus stop was a familiar figure, calm and composed despite the rush around her. Celeste Morgan. He slowed the car instinctively. She was the doctor from the city hospital, the same woman who had taken care of Sierra the first time she was nearly assaulted, the one who had handled everything with quiet professionalism and dignity. The second time he had met her was that night, when he had given her a lift unexpectedly after spotting her stranded on the roadside. That encounter had been brief but memorable. And now here she was again. She was dressed simply, in a light beige blouse tucked neatly into a knee-length dark s