Chapter 14

"Who?""I don't know! Anyone. Everyone."Chen would nod. "Good. Now acknowledge that fear and fly anyway. Fear doesn't disqualify you from the cockpit, Grant. Refusing to fly despite the fear is what disqualifies you."Slowly, painfully, he began to work through it: the freezing episodes became shorter, his responses more automatic, the muscle memory of thousands of flight hours gradually overriding the psychological barriers.Vivian watched many of these sessions from the observation room. She saw him struggle, saw him fail, saw him get up and try again. And somewhere in those weeks, something shifted in how she saw not just Elias, but herself. If he could face his demons, maybe she could face hers.She started playing piano again, just for herself, late at night in her penthouse—Chopin nocturnes that her brother had loved. She cried while playing them, and instead of viewing that as weakness, she recognized it as healing.She also began changing how she ran Archer Dynamics: started attending company events not as the ice queen CEO, but as a person. Learned her employees' names. Asked about their families. One of the maintenance supervisors mentioned his son was sick, and Vivian quietly ensured the family had access to the company's best health insurance.The board noticed; so did her father, who viewed these changes with increasing alarm. But Vivian found she no longer cared about managing his expectations: she was too busy becoming who she should have been all along.The day of the NASA demonstration arrived with perfect weather: clear skies, light winds, ideal visibility. Archer Airfield had been transformed into a media circus: aerospace journalists from every major publication, NASA officials, potential clients representing governments and corporations, and cameras everywhere ready to broadcast Archer Dynamics' triumphant return to cutting-edge aviation—or spectacular failure.Behind the scenes, Elias stood in the pilot's ready room, staring at his flight suit. Vivian found him there, looking like he might bolt."You don't have to do this," she said, even though they both knew she didn't mean it."Yes, I do," he replied. "For Lily, for myself... maybe even for you.""For me?"

"Fly This Jet and I'll Marry You," Billionaire CEO Mocked Single Dad Janitor — His Secret Shocked Her

He Came Home Without Warning — Then He Found His Four-Year-Old Son Eating on the Floor

His Daughter Was Crying in the Walk-In Closet — Then Her Father Saw What She Was Holding

He Came Home Earlier Than Planned — His Daughter Was Crying at the Bottom of the Stairs

HOA Karen CONFRONTS Me while Mowing My Ranch Yard... Called the COPS to Arrest Me!

HOA Karen DEMANDED the Keys to My Corvette She Claimed It Was Hers and Got Arrested

News in the same category

"Fly This Jet and I'll Marry You," Billionaire CEO Mocked Single Dad Janitor — His Secret Shocked Her