Chapter 111

Halden & Co.'s year-end celebration landed right on Little New Year's Eve. 2 PM. CEO's office. Sebastian sat behind his desk, reviewing files. Dressed in a crisp white shirt and black slacks, he looked every bit the part-handsome and composed. Even with all the chaos that happened this year, Halden's profits had jumped by 15%. Not bad at all. Ms. Woods knocked and entered, holding a stack of documents for him to sign. Once he finished, she spoke up, "Mr. Richards, you haven't picked the PR photo for this year yet." It used to be a picture of Sebastian and Elaria-even when things between them were strained, they still looked picture-perfect together. Last year, though, he was flying solo. Sebastian looked up at her, clearly thinking. Then he pulled out his phone, scrolled through, and picked a photo. "Use this one. Caption it..." Ms. Woods leaned over for a look, then smiled. "That's pretty adorable." For Sebastian, this was about as romantic as it got. Ms. Woods took the original photo