Chapter 97: An Unexpected Offer

The cafe was humming with quiet Saturday morning energy, the smell of freshly ground coffee beans mingling in the air with the sugariness of pastries, spilling over into an atmosphere both comforting and charged. Olivia sat at a corner booth, her hands tightly clasped with those of her partner, Alex. It felt like, in their tension, they created a tiny island within the casual weekend sprawl of customers. Across from them, Nathan fumbled with the handle of his latte—still untouched—while his eyes roved from Olivia's white face to the deep folder that he'd set on the table. The air between them crackled under unspoken words and barely contained emotions. "So," Olivia broke the silence, her voice steady, though there was a slight tremble to her hands, "you said you had something important to discuss." Nathan took a deep breath, going to the center. Here it was, the moment for which he had been cleaning up, painful in its presentation. He opened the folder to reveal a stack of carefully