Benjamin sat at the head of the conference table in his office, a folder open in front of him.Across from him were Elio Celsco, Valmont's CFO, Francesca Kosmo, the Group Chief Accountant, and Lauro De Santis, a senior accounts officer responsible for project accounting and capital expenditure monitoring.The meeting had started shortly after nine.Elio rested his tablet on the table.“We'll begin with the three construction projects that need financial review this morning. Two retail outlets outside Rome, the Milan hotel and the logistics expansion in Florence.”Benjamin nodded.“Start with retail.”Francesca opened the first report.“The Naples outlet is the one requiring attention. Bologna is performing within its approved budget.”Benjamin looked at the figures.“How far is Naples from completion?”“Approximately forty-six percent,” Lauro answered. “The contractor's latest valuation puts physical progress at forty-six point three percent. We've matched that against invoices alread

By half past nine, the party had begun to lose its earlier energy.The garden still looked beautiful under the warm September night. Small golden lights had been wrapped around the trunks and lower branches of the olive trees, while strings of tiny bulbs stretched above the main seating area, giving the garden a soft, welcoming glow. Lanterns had been placed along the stone pathways, and several low floral arrangements decorated the tables. White flowers, greenery and candles filled the centre of the largest table where dinner had been served earlier.A long table near the terrace still held bottles of champagne, though most of them were now empty. Plates had been partially cleared, some holding only crumbs, while others still contained pieces of dessert that nobody had bothered to finish. A few champagne glasses remained scattered around the tables, evidence of the celebration that had lasted for hours.Most of the guests had already gone home. It was a Monday night, after all, and t

Benjamin turned his attention to Julia.“Your report, Ms. Carlisle.”“Yes, Mr. Volkov.”Julia woke her laptop and brought up the first slide of her presentation. She glanced briefly around the conference table before beginning.“I’ll start with the merger negotiations involving SkyView Logistics. As you know, that project was already underway when I assumed the COO position, so I inherited the negotiations during the handover.”Benjamin nodded.“The outstanding matters have now been resolved,” Julia continued. “I worked with the relevant executives and the SkyView team to address the remaining commercial, operational, legal, and integration issues. The merger has now been brought to completion.”“Really?” Benjamin remarked.There was genuine appreciation in his voice. He gave her a brief approving look before leaning back in his chair.Julia nodded. “Yes. The final outstanding issues were resolved last week, and the integration process has already begun.”Desmond glanced toward Elio,

Julia glanced at the clock on her computer and realized that ten minutes of her lunch break had already passed.She had been going through some of Valmont Group's older investment reports since returning from the executive meeting. She wanted to understand the company's previous investment decisions before she began putting forward some of her own ideas.She closed the report and leaned back in her chair.She had been staring at figures for long enough.Julia opened one of her desk drawers and took out two packets of carrot granola bars. She then walked over to the small refrigerator in her office and brought out a bottle of natural mango juice.She had never been a fan of going out to eat every afternoon. She preferred having a good breakfast at home and having something light for later.She carried everything to the balcony.The moment she opened the door, she smiled.She still could not get over how beautiful the space was.On her first day in the office, she had opened the back do

Julia shut down her laptop and glanced at the clock on the wall. It was already an hour past closing time.She had asked Sofia to leave thirty minutes earlier. There was no reason for her assistant to remain at the office simply because she still had work to finish. Julia had spent the last hour going through a few documents and making notes for the proposal she planned to prepare for Benjamin.She gathered the papers on her desk, placed them neatly in her bag, and stood.The office had become quiet. Most of the lights in the corridor had already been switched off, and only a few remained on around the executive section.Julia stepped out of her office and made her way to the elevator.When the doors opened, she entered and pressed the button for the basement parking area.A few minutes later, she reached her official car, a dark grey Audi A6. It was elegant, comfortable, and suited her position without drawing the kind of attention that came with the cars Benjamin usually used.She p