Chapter 108 Jealousy
Elias Vance was a very persistent man.
I didn't realize quite how persistent until a week after the Veridian takeover of Vanguard Architecture. The news cycle had moved on, Tristan was restructuring the newly acquired firm, and I was deeply immersed in the final framing stages of the estate's west wing.
I was standing in the middle of what would soon be the massive, light-filled solarium, reviewing a structural report on my tablet. The air smelled of sawdust and the damp earth of the gardens outside.
"Ms. Hayes."
I looked up.
Elias Vance was walking across the unfinished floorboards. He looked remarkably composed for a man who had just lost his company in a hostile takeover. He was wearing a casual blazer and dark jeans, offering his trademark charming smile.
"Mr. Vance," I said, my tone instantly cooling. "I don't recall seeing your name on the authorized visitor list for this site."
"I'm not on the list," Elias admitted, stopping a polite distance away. "I bypassed security. The perks of knowing the Vanguard engineering team that your boss contracted out here."
"Tristan is my partner, not my boss," I corrected sharply. "And bypassing security on a Veridian site is a good way to get arrested."
"I'll take the risk," he said, waving a hand dismissively. "I didn't come here to cause trouble, Minerva. I came to offer my congratulations."
"On the takeover?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"On your promotion," he clarified. "I hear you're practically running the design division at Veridian now. It's well-deserved. Your work is brilliant."
"Thank you," I said stiffly, turning back to my tablet. "Now, if you don't mind, I have a schedule to keep."
He didn't leave. He took a step closer.
"I also came to make an offer," Elias said.
I sighed, lowering the tablet. "I'm not interested in whatever freelance work you're trying to scrounge up, Elias."
"I'm not scrounging," he smiled. "I'm launching a new boutique firm. Lean, agile, and focused entirely on high-end residential design. We have backing from several major international investors."
He looked at me, his blue eyes holding a genuine, professional respect.
"I want you to come work with me, Minerva," Elias offered. "Not as an employee. As an equal partner. Your name on the door next to mine. Hayes & Vance."
I stared at him. It was a bold move. He had lost his massive firm to Tristan, and his immediate response was to try and poach Tristan’s lead architect—and girlfriend—to build a new one.
"You're poaching me," I stated.
"I'm offering you an escape hatch," Elias corrected gently. "I know the history, Minerva. Everyone in the industry knows the history. You're designing a beautiful house, but you're designing it under the shadow of a man who threw you out of it five years ago."
My grip on the tablet tightened.
"You don't know anything about my history," I warned softly.
"I know that Tristan Johnston is a ruthless, controlling megalomaniac," Elias said, his voice dropping. "He didn't buy Vanguard because it was a sound business decision. He bought it because I asked you to dinner. He bought it to punish me and to isolate you."
"That's not true," I argued, though the sheer scale of Tristan’s retaliation was hard to ignore.
"Isn't it?" Elias challenged. "He surrounds you with his money, his security, his company. He’s building a fortress, Minerva, and he's putting you right in the center of it. It might feel like love right now, but eventually, it's going to feel like a cage."
He held out a sleek, minimalist business card.
"Think about it," Elias said. "A firm where you are truly independent. Where your work speaks for itself, without the Johnston name attached to it."
I didn't take the card. I looked at it, then back up at Elias.
"I don't need an escape hatch," I told him, my voice steady. "And I don't need a new firm. I have everything I need right here."
Elias smiled, a slightly sad, knowing smile. He set the card down on a stack of lumber next to me.
"If you change your mind," he said.
He turned and walked away, navigating the unfinished floorboards with ease.
I stood alone in the solarium, staring at the small white card resting on the wood.
A cage.
The word echoed in my mind, a phantom whisper trying to feed the old insecurities. I knew Tristan wasn't trying to trap me. Our therapy sessions were proving that he was actively working to dismantle his controlling instincts.
But the sheer, overwhelming reality of Tristan’s wealth and power was undeniable. He had bought an entire company just to eliminate a rival. It was a terrifying display of force.
"Mina?"
I jumped, turning around.
Tristan was walking into the solarium. He was wearing his usual tailored suit, looking every inch the Titan, but the hard lines of his face softened the moment he saw me.
"Hey," I said, quickly reaching out and sliding Elias’s business card into the pocket of my jeans. It was an instinctual movement, born of the old fear that telling him would cause an explosion.
Tristan stopped a few feet away. He looked at me, then looked at the spot on the lumber where the card had been.
His amber eyes sharpened.
"Who was here?" Tristan asked. His voice wasn't angry, but it was suddenly very alert.
"No one," I lied automatically. "Just the framing crew."
Tristan didn't argue. He just watched me for a long moment. He knew I was lying. He could read the tension in my shoulders, the slight elevation in my heart rate.