The name hit him like thunder, louder than the storm had been.
“That’s… the company I just—”
“Missed the interview for,” she finished calmly.
Silence filled the car.
Miguel let out a slow breath and leaned back slightly, a tired smile forming despite everything. “Figures.”
But Valéria didn’t smile.
“I was on my way to that same interview,” she said. “To meet the candidates. To choose who I trust with my operations.”
Miguel turned his head slowly.
“And instead,” she continued, “I ended up stuck in a flood… watching a man with nothing to gain walk toward me when everyone else drove past.”
The city blurred outside the window—gray buildings, wet sidewalks, people rushing through their own problems.
“You didn’t ask who I was,” she said.
“You didn’t negotiate a price.”
“You didn’t hesitate.”
Miguel shrugged slightly. “You needed help.”
“Yes,” she said. “And that told me more about you than any résumé ever could.”
The SUV turned into an underground parking entrance.
