Chapter 54: An Invitation from Ethan Hale

Louis didn't need to decide whether to contact Ethan. The decision arrived for him the next morning in the form of a formal message from Hale Corporation requesting a private meeting.

Derek read it twice. "Either Serena talked to him, or Ethan reached the same conclusion independently."

Louis looked at the proposed location: a private conference room in a neutral business club. "Probably both."

The message requested only Louis and one adviser from each side. No lawyers, no public announcement, no assistants beyond the selected representatives.

"I'll go with you," Derek said.

Louis agreed.

At breakfast, he told Freya about the invitation. She looked pleased. "Excellent."

"You sound far too happy about me meeting the man who helped destroy my company."

"I'm happy because intelligent adults are finally comparing information instead of throwing corporations at each other."

Louis drank his coffee. "You have a very simplified view of corporate competition."

"And yet somehow I'm the one who suggested the obvious solution."

He couldn't argue with that.

The meeting was scheduled for Friday afternoon. Until then, Derek prepared documents showing several false intelligence leaks without revealing Northstar or Louis's remaining resources.

Freya stayed completely outside the preparation. She had made her suggestion; the business itself wasn't hers.

Her attention returned to work when the audio company sent three narrator auditions. She spent nearly an hour listening through headphones, replaying emotional scenes and taking notes on pacing, character distinction, and tone.

Louis came home while she was listening to the third sample. She removed one earbud. "Want to hear?"

He sat beside her. Freya played a section. The narrator performed a tense confrontation between the fictional couple.

Louis listened seriously. "The male character sounds too old."

Freya stared at him. "That's exactly what I wrote in my notes."

"Then why are you surprised?"

"Because I expected you to say they all sound fine."

They listened to the other samples together. Louis preferred the first narrator, while Freya leaned toward the second because of her emotional delivery. Their discussion lasted longer than either intended.

Eventually Freya laughed. "You realize you're helping produce a romance audiobook now."

"I'm giving an opinion."

"That's how it starts."

Friday arrived quickly. Before Louis left for the meeting, Freya handed him his coat from the hook. "Try not to start another corporate war."

"I'll do my best."

"And if Ethan annoys you, remember you need his records."

Louis looked down at her. "Anything else?"

"Yes. Come home for dinner. I'm trying a new recipe."

Something about the ordinary request softened his expression. "I'll be back."

After he left, Freya returned to her manuscript. She didn't know whether the meeting would produce cooperation or another fight. But for the first time since she had awakened in the novel, Louis and Ethan were about to sit across from each other without competing for a deal.

The original story had ended with one man victorious and the other defeated. Whatever happened in that conference room belonged entirely to a story the original author had never written.

Freya checked the time twice that afternoon despite telling herself she wasn't worried. Louis had handled enemies long before she entered this world, and he certainly didn't need her protection. Still, the apartment felt unusually quiet while he was gone. She finally turned her phone face down and forced herself to write, refusing to admit she was waiting for the sound of his key in the door.