Her former college classmate had already made pointed remarks about her salary and her inexpensive shoes. Then, without warning, the head of security walked directly over to her.
“Claire Bennett, the plane is ready.”
Daniel stopped in the middle of his sentence.
First, he stared at the unfamiliar man in the severe dark suit. Then he looked at Claire, and finally turned back toward the newcomer.
A moment later, he unexpectedly laughed.
The sound was strained, broken, and far too nervous to seem genuine.
But that scene was still about an hour and a half away.
Everything had begun with Megan’s call in March.
“Claire, can you believe it? It’s been fifteen years since graduation! We’re getting together at a restaurant on April twenty-third. You’re coming, right?”
Claire’s first instinct was to say no.
The reunion was scheduled for Saturday, right at the end of her quarter. On Monday, she was expected to present the final report to the board of directors, and she barely had enough free time to sleep, let alone attend a dinner.
Megan, however, refused to accept that answer.
“Claire, please come, even if you can stay only for a little while! Almost everyone will be there. You remember Liam Foster? He’s a dentist now. Natalie Reed promised she’d come too. Please.”
In the end, Claire gave in.
She decided to stay for an hour, an hour and a half at most, and then leave quietly for home.
On Saturday, Claire reached the restaurant in an ordinary city taxi.
She did not even consider ordering a business-class car.
For the evening, she chose a restrained gray dress without visible logos and comfortable shoes with low heels. Her hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail. The only jewelry she wore was a slim silver watch around her wrist.
Claire had never felt the need to prove her financial position to anyone around her.
By the time she entered the banquet room, the reunion was already in full swing.
Nearly thirty former students were seated around a long table. Popular songs from the early 2000s played through the speakers, and balloons marked “15 Years” had been hung around the room.
Megan spotted Claire first and immediately hurried over to embrace her.
“Claire! You honestly haven’t changed at all!”
“Neither have you, Meg.”
They took seats beside each other.
When the waiter came over, Claire ordered tea.
Megan lifted her eyebrows in surprise.
“You’re not even having a glass of wine?”
“I have to drive tomorrow morning. I’d rather not take the risk.”
That was only partly true.
Early the next morning, Claire was due to fly out for business negotiations. The meeting was expected to finalize a deal involving the purchase of a major logistics center.
But she had no intention of explaining the details of her work to her former classmates.
And really, why should she?
Daniel arrived about twenty minutes later.
People heard him before they saw him.
His booming voice carried in from the hallway.
“All right, everyone! Does anybody here remember me?”
He entered the banquet room wearing an expensive jacket. Gold cuff links flashed at his sleeves, and the oversized watch on his wrist stood out even under the muted lights.
A young man carrying a leather briefcase followed behind him.
Daniel introduced him with careless confidence.
“This is my assistant. These days, I don’t go anywhere without him.”
The assistant settled near the wall and immediately buried himself in his phone.
Daniel, meanwhile, took the seat at the head of the table without asking anyone’s permission.
No one had invited him to sit there, but no one seemed eager to challenge him either.
For the first forty minutes, everything remained reasonably calm.
They reminisced about professors, student trips, embarrassing incidents, and their graduation night.
Daniel spent most of the time talking about himself.
He described his construction company, its regional branches, the number of employees, and the scale of its operations.
“We handed over three residential developments last year alone,” he announced, counting them off on his fingers. “Four hundred people on the payroll. And our annual revenue is…” He paused theatrically. “Well, never mind. I won’t bore you with numbers.”
Numbers, in fact, were almost all he discussed for the rest of the evening.
Claire listened without reacting, occasionally smiling and nodding politely.
Megan leaned closer and murmured:
“He hasn’t changed one bit.”
“No,” Claire whispered back. “Not even slightly.”
Daniel noticed Claire about an hour after he arrived.
He picked up his glass, pushed himself away from the table, and walked over to the two women.
“Claire! Is that really you? I didn’t recognize you at first.”
She looked up at her former classmate.
“Hello, Daniel.”
He slowly examined her from head to toe.
His eyes lingered longest on her shoes.
“So where are you working these days?”
“At a company. I handle investment operations.”
Daniel gave a faint, amused smile.
“Investments? You mean some kind of bank?”
“You could call it that.”
He pulled an empty chair toward himself, sat down beside them, and placed his glass on the table.
That was when everything began.
“I remember you studied economics at college. Then you completely disappeared after graduation. I used to think maybe you got married, had children, went on maternity leave—and that was the end of your career.”
“No,” Claire replied evenly. “I wasn’t on maternity leave.”