MILENA'S POV
I surveyed the room in one quick glance, taking note of the shocked faces of everyone in the room while my assistant Dora smiled at me, her arms folded across her body from where she stood.
"My apologies for my late arrival. The press was an obstacle" I smiled, ignoring everyone's blatant look of shock before I sauntered over to a chair by the side where I could sit and overlook the meeting.
Don't look, Milena. Don't look. From the corner of my periphery though, I could see Damien standing there, his mouth slightly open and a blank look on his face, his eyes following my every move.
Good.
The others quickly cleared their throats and then one of them whose tag read Richard spoke up. "Milena, I wasn't expecting to see you here. None of us were"
Dora was at my side, handing me the tab in her hands so I could scroll through the presentation but at Richard's words, I paused my scrolling and scoffed. "That's Miss Carter to you, Richard" I said blankly, handing Dora back the tab. "Thank you, it's fine"
The air in the room was so thick with tension that it could be sliced through with a knife and the silence was suffocating.
Damien finally shut his mouth and sat down quietly but it seemed he had spaced out, his brows furrowed and gaze blank.
"Shall we proceed?" I asked, looking around the group of people.
A female board member nodded. "Indeed. Let us proceed"
A man looked at how distant I was from the main table and he raised a brow. "Miss Carter…" the words seemed forced. "You're required to be at the head table with Mr Hale. Your seat is right beside his"
I looked over at Damien's chair, still refusing to meet his almost pleading gaze and I raised my chin. "My seating arrangements will certainly have no effect on the outcome of this meeting however bringing up particularly useless stuff will. I'm not sitting there. Please proceed"
The man let out an audible grunt and I arched a brow, swearing I heard him mutter a curse directed at me under his breath.
I knew the old man. He was here at the time of my marriage to Damien and he wasn't exactly my supporter, he hated me and clearly, he still wanted to be keeping grudges.
"Liam, isn't it? Dr Liam?" I asked, uncrossing my legs and standing up, a practiced smile on my face.
The man refused to look up, he fixed his gaze on the document in front of him, his cheeks heating up as he realized everyone was now looking at him.
"Watch your tongue around me, Dr Liam. Trust me, if I wanted to ruin your career, I could. Don't put ideas into my head" I warned, my voice low but sharp.
Once more, the room went silent and Dora was tapping at the tab, clearly waiting for us to finish the discussion.
Damien's fingers were tapping against the table rhythmicallyㅡhe was nervous.
"Miss Carter. I apologize for my team mate's attitude. It shall not happen again, please sit down" he gestured back to my seat and this time, I looked at him, noticing the way he tensed under my scrutiny.
He hadn't changed… not much… maybe he looked more mature now with the stubble he was sporting but still the same bastard I knew.
"Make sure it doesn't. You can't even keep your own team and company in check" I muttered under my breath, making sure he heard it before I went to sit.
Thankfully, the meeting went well and no one further questioned my authority and as soon as Dora wrapped it up, I stood up and watched as the board members filed out of the conference room, almost everyone bowing slightly to me before they left.
Dora nodded at me and walked over to me.
"Great job" I commended her, a genuine smile lighting up my face.
She smiled back. "I'll meet you at the hotel"
With a nod, she left the conference room and my heart dropped despite my calm facade. Damien was still there staring at me.
He stood up from his chair, his eyes fixed on me as he walked to me, each step closing the distance between us and I knew I should quickly shut him down but as much as it disgusted me to admit, I needed him.
"Mia…" He whispered when he was a few feet away from me.
I whipped my neck to look at him and I frowned. Mia? Four years ago, I wished for him to call me that but he didn't, he threw me out instead. "It's Miss Carter" I reminded him.
He looked taken aback and he ran a hand through his hair. "How?" He squeaked.
I folded my arms across my chest. "How I got here? Guess I couldn't let my degree in computer science and software engineering go to waste, hm?" I gave him a smile that was far from genuine.
He stared at meㅡhis gaze almost piercingㅡ then he took another step forward, regret clouding his features. "Let me…"
"Don't" I cut him off and he went silent immediately.
I studied him, wondering how to broach the topic but as the image of Theo filtered into my brain, I sighed and spoke up again. "Damien Hale"
He straightened up at the use of his full name, his eyes holding a spark of hope. "Yeah?"
It was funny. Roles were reversed now.
"You want me to sign the merger with your company?" I asked him.
He frowned slightly, not quite understanding what I was getting at. "I thought you already agreed to the deal?"
A smile spread my lips. "No. There's one more condition you need to meet"
"Which is?"
"I need you to take a test in an hour" I informed him.
He frowned even deeper. "Test? What kind of test?"
This was it, Milena. The moment of truth. "The kind that determines if my son lives" I dropped the bombshell.