" bring at least seventy people from my team," Nyla said.

Darius frowned at her from across the table. "Now that's just unreasonable. The team will need to be small at first before we can expand it. I'd say we cut the team down to about fifty people, of which thirty will be mine."

"Fine, I agree with the smaller team, but I want thirty people of my team as well. Why should you get more people than I do?"

"Because I'm the one who decided to help you out when you needed the money."

"This is a strategic alliance with benefits to both parties, and it was my idea in the first place."

There was a sigh from beside her. Nyla looked up at her lawyer Sawyer.

"What's the matter?"

"It's just the two of you are arguing over just trivial matters." Her lawyer looked at her watch, "it's been three hours since we've been in this board room and it feels like we haven't made any progress."

Nyla gritted her teeth, "We would be making progress if Mr. Giordano was more reasonable and equitable."

Darius' lawyer spoke up from the other side. "My client is doing the best he can, Ms. Malhotra. He is simply conducting business, like we all are."

Nyla glared at the man but didn't say anything.

Sawyer jumped to her defense. "Based on the conversations we have been having for a while, it does seem as though your client is not presenting a fair enough deal. If an agreement cannot be reached, there are other options available for us."

Nyla knew they other options were less than pleasing but the G-Health team didn't need to know that. Darius' jaws clenched from the other side. Nyla took in his appearance. His hands were tightly bunched, so uncharacteristic from the dinner they went to the other night. There he had been open, charming, and the perfect gentlemen. But in this board room, he wasn't shifting an inch. For the millionth time, Nyla wondered if it was actually a good idea to get into business with him.

"We both know that's not true." Darius' lawyer said again. "Your party had another investor lined up before he bailed. You need us more than we need you."

Nyla stood up after hearing those words. She wasn't asking for fucking pity. If Darius and his lawyer didn't want to get the deal done, she could find another investor. There were many investment firms lined up from across the street of the Renne head office. G-Health wasn't the only pharmaceutical company in the world either.

"If you feel that way, I'm sorry we've wasted your time, but the exit is that way." She pointed towards the door.

Neither party moved for a minute.

"Jacob, that was uncalled for." Darius said.

Nyla still didn't sit down. She tapped her heels impatiently. Darius turned towards her, his blue eyes filled with an unspoken apology. "We didn't mean to insult you. I want this deal done, today."

Nyla thought about it for a moment before she sat back down in her chair. She could have sworn there was a collective sigh of relief from the other three members of the room. "I can see both parties want a deal so let's call off all the bullshit and get to the real numbers now."

Everyone at the table nodded.

"Twenty-five people from each team, and the salaries of those people can go under your original investment number." Nyla said.

Darius opened his mouth ready to speak but Nyla held up her finger. "I'm not done yet. Because I realize that I am laying more on the line for this project, we are looking to potentially build a new lab in Ohio. Till that place is built, the team will be working at the Renne labs in New York city."

Darius and his lawyer shared a look. "My client would like a few minutes to discuss the deal."

Nyla and Sawyer both stood up from the table. "Take the time you need, I'll be in my office till then."

Darius nodded, and she shut the glass door behind her softly.

She turned to her lawyer, "Do you think they'll go for?"

Sawyer brows furrowed, and she took a quick look behind. "I mean they have to. You gave a fair offer. Honestly if they disagree at this point, it might just be better to look for a different partner."

Nyla didn't like the words coming out of Sawyer's mouth, but she knew it was true. Deals always didn't end up being signed. She had been in her fair share of negotiations where the deal fell apart minutes before they were set to sign.

Jacob opened the door to the conference room and both women leaped back in surprise. "We've decided on our course of action."

Nyla strode back into the room and sat down from across Darius. Sawyer slipped into the seat beside her.

"Do we have a deal?" Nyla asked him directly.

Darius smiled. "We do."

The two of them shook hands. Nyla ignored the warmth that spread through her body from the contact.

"I'll have to make a few changes in the contract, but it should be reprinted in a few minutes for both of you to sign." Sawyer said, standing up with a smile arching her face. "I'll be back."

Darius' lawyer stood up quickly. "I think it would be best for me to go as well and oversea what she's doing."

When he noticed Nyla's glare he winced. "Not that I was implying she couldn't do it herself."

Before Nyla could say anything else, he scurried away.

She watched his retreating figure. "Is he often like that?"

"Mostly, but he's a damn good lawyer. I usually let his average social skills slide for that."

Nyla laughed. "I can't believe that we got a deal done."

Darius smiled. "I know, I'm looking forward to this project."

There was a light tap on the glass door and Nyla swiveled her head to see Hyeon standing on the other side. She motioned for her assistant to join them inside.

"Mr. Giordano, Ms. Malhotra," she said greeting them both with a smile. She brought her hand forward and in it lay a bottle of champagne. "I thought you might like to enjoy this."

"Thank you, Hyeon."

Nyla took the glasses and champagne bottle from her and poured them both a drink. She passed the other glass to Darius.

They both raised a glass. "To new partnerships," she said.

"To us succeeding." he said.

Nyla laughed and clinked her glass. The champagne was bubbly and nice. Exactly, how she was feeling this moment.

♠♠♠♠♠♠

"How the hell did you sign the contract without asking any one of us?" Charity asked her from across the table.

Nyla sighed. She would have thought it would take longer than three hours for the board members to figure out her new project, but news travelled fast. In fact, she'd received a few calls from the financial times asking her about the project already.

She leaned back in her chair. "It's actually quite simple. I'm the CEO and according to the bylaws, I don't have to inform you before I make a deal."

"That is not possible. The lawyers would not be that stupid."

Nyla motioned for George to pass her the document. While Sawyer and her had been going through the companies rules, she'd come across the loophole that Raymond made sure existed. While it did say that the board members needed to be informed of major decisions that might impact them, it didn't explicitly state when. So, Nyla had taken advantage of that and conveniently forgot to tell them after all the signatures were done.

Charity read the document. "This needs to be change immediately."

Nyla shrugged her shoulders. "I frankly don't know the protocol of getting bylaws changed but I do assume that its quite expensive. We might have to lower our dividends for the year if we incur such expenses..."

Most of the board members glared at Nyla but she didn't care. She knew that they didn't want her to invest in new projects for fear that their dividends would be lower since the company would be reinvesting the money into itself. However, she knew without growth, they would become irrelevant, and thus bankrupt. Better to have a few angry board members rather than the entire company falling apart.

"Now, as much as I enjoyed this meeting, I have another one to go to." Nyla said standing up.

There was not a single commotion from the people at the table around her. Nyla smiled, it seemed she backed them up in the right corner.

"If you have any other questions, George would be happy to answer them."

"I would?" Her COO asked, surprised.

She shot him a thankful smile. "Yes, George knows as much as I do. However, if you still feel as though you need more information, I could always hand you a copy of the business proposal?"

Nobody rose to the bait. Nyla knew that they were annoyed at her but couldn't do anything. She'd asked them about the deal before and none of them had agreed to do it all the while addressing their fears about lack of research. So, she found a way around them.

Heels clacking, she left the board room aware that she had a thousand eyes starring her down. It didn't matter to her, they needed to do something better than stare in order to bring her down.

♠♠♠♠♠♠

"It's still in the early stages but both Darius and I are looking forward to this partnership."

The phone crackled on the other side. "What made you decide that it was vitamins that you wanted to start producing after having no prior experience in that industry at all?"

Nyla leaned back in her chair and glanced at the clock. She couldn't wait for it to be over. As soon as the news broke, several media outlets had been calling the Renne headquarters. Nyla had ignored most of them but when the Financial Times wanted to talk, you had to make time.

"Well that's the wonderful thing about the partnership, isn't it? G Health is an organization that knows the process behind creating pills and supplements and therefore, they can really assist us with the project especially the research and development side."

The journalist on the other line continued. "Are you at all worried about the reputation associated with pharmaceutical companies?"

Nyla frowned. The man wasn't outright saying it, but he was implying that G Health didn't have a stellar reputation. She was going to have to speak to Darius about that.

"No, we are not." She affirmed the journalist. "G Health has an amazing reputation, one that is moving towards corporate social responsibility and that aligns with our beliefs as well. We wouldn't be partnering up with them if we thought otherwise."

There was silence on the other line for a while.

"How would you describe Mr. Giordano?"

Nyla paused before answering. She knew media members loved to report on any potential fallouts, so she had to be careful. "I will politely say he is a very hardworking man and someone I truly respect. I'm looking forward to this project and where it leads us."

"Thank you for taking my call." The man replied on the other line.

"No problem. When is the article coming out?"

"If everything goes according to plan, it should be out tomorrow."

The journalist thanked her once again before shutting off the phone. Nyla sighed and twirled in her chair, she was excited about the deal but also apprehensive. She didn't know what Darius' exact worth ethic was like, but she feared that they might not click together.

Ignoring her thoughts temporarily, Nyla tuned back to her email. She had a few from Zoey, asking about brand partnerships and which ones she wanted to agree on. She saw the list and frowned at a few that Darius' had already approved. She didn't think they would fit well into the event. Taking a deep breath, she added that to her list of things she needed to do.

The next couple of hours passed relatively fast, in between taking calls from the various departments or potential partners. She had also contacted the people in Ohio and secured a meeting for Friday.

When her day was ending, there was a knock on the door before Hyeon entered. Her arms were filled with various envelopes.

"I noticed that you didn't get a chance to look through these, so I bought them up for you."

Nyla smiled at her. "Thank you."

Hyeon placed the stack on her desk and a bright robin blue envelope caught Nyla's eyes.

"I think this is the wrong address."

Hyeon took it front her and read it. "No, it's addressed to the company and specifically your suite. It's for you."

Nyla gingerly opened the envelope. A note was attached to the front of the card.

Hello Nyla,

I didn't know your address or how to reach you, so I decided to do a little bit of digging. I'm sorry if it sounds creepy but that was the only way that I could make sure this card reached you. I'm getting married in a couple of weeks and although it has been years since we've met, I would love for you to come to my bridal shower. I know you're busy, and I don't really expect you to come but I thought it would be a nice place for us to rekindle our friendship and remember the amazing college years.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon,

Karishma

Nyla flipped the card. She traced over the letters and the date. She remembered Karishma pretty well. They had been friends back when Nyla was studying to become a doctor. However, when she switched over to business, their friendship just fell apart.

She didn't want to go to the bridal shower. She didn't want to talk to these women who had perfect husbands and fiancés while she was still feeling alone. It would be awkward and clearly everything would be better if she didn't go. Tomorrow she'd ask Hyeon to send a bridal gift with an apology for her absence.

Nyla quickly stuffed the card in the back of her drawer, hoping she wouldn't have to see it again. Something about the card reminded her that she was twenty-seven-year-old woman who was stuck in her office everyday. She didn't get to enjoy life like everyone else day.

No, Nyla shook her head at her thoughts. She got to experience life in ways that most people didn't, and for that she had to be grateful, even though sometimes it truly sucked.

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