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Chapter 3: Secrets in Suits
The tie felt like a noose.
Eliot Kane adjusted his collar and stared at his reflection in the glossy black of the Kane Corporation's elevator walls. The man staring back wasn't the barista from the café. No tousled curls, no grease-stained apron. Just cold steel blue eyes, pressed charcoal wool, and the kind of presence that made people step aside.
The mask was back on.
The elevator doors slid open to the 42nd floor—glass, marble, and power. Waiting for him, as always, was Uncle Richard. Impeccably dressed. Sharp-edged. Smiling like a snake in a bespoke suit.
"You still playing barista, Eliot?" Richard drawled as they entered the boardroom. "Or are we pretending that phase is behind you?"
Eliot offered a bland smile. "I like people better when they don't know how much I'm worth."
"Cute. But remember, the board doesn't find invisibility charming. They want a Kane in charge, not a runaway prince."
Eliot's smile didn't reach his eyes. "They'll get what they want. When I'm ready."
Richard tapped a file on the table, sliding it across. "Then you should know we're leasing space to a startup called 'CorePath AI' on the 16th floor. Small-time, but potentially interesting."
"Thanks," Eliot muttered, barely glancing at the papers. "I'll keep it in mind."
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Sixteen floors down, at the same moment...
Rina stood in the building's lobby, staring at the digital directory like it held the key to her future.
She smoothed her secondhand blazer, clutching a folder of printouts like they were sacred scrolls. After weeks of rejection emails and "we'll keep your résumé on file," this interview was a chance she couldn't afford to blow.
What she didn't know—what she couldn't know—was that this building, this floor, this opportunity… it all belonged to the same man who'd handed her an espresso with a crooked smile just yesterday.
She walked past the marble pillars, heels clicking softly on the polished floor.
Eliot saw her from the glass wall of the boardroom.
His posture stiffened. Clean-shaven. Cold. Untouchable.
She didn't see him.
Not this version.
And for a moment, Eliot felt the strange ache of invisibility.
She doesn't know who I am. Not really. But soon… she will.
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