Counter Offer (A Sequel to Hostile Takeover)

**This is not a love story. This is an emotional hostage situation.**

She's chaos in a pencil skirt. He's a control freak in a three-piece suit. And neither of them is ready to admit they're still in love.

Two years after a devastating almost-relationship with her boss, Hana Sukehiro is starting over as a lawyer. New firm, new life, zero energy for ambition. She's brilliant, messy, has ADHD, and failed the bar twice-but remembers every coffee order and crushes negotiations like courtroom warfare.

Katsuki Hasegawa hasn't dated anyone since her. He hasn't even tried. He's cold, calculating, and terrifyingly efficient-and still keeps a spot open in his closet, just in case.

When they collide on opposite sides of a legal case, all bets are off. Their chemistry is explosive. Their power plays are absurd. And their arguments? Definitely foreplay.

But love doesn't come easy when your coping mechanisms are weaponized. And this time, walking away might hurt more than staying.

*****

This is a slow-burn romantic comedy about burnout, self-worth, and choosing each other when it's no longer convenient.

Standalone sequel to Hostile Takeover (can be read on its own or after HT for maximum emotional damage)

Spicy scenes ahead (consensual, chaotic, emotionally loaded)

No sunshine female lead

No magically healed brooding man

Just one emotionally repressed boss, one brilliant disaster of a woman, and a relationship that will hurt before it heals.

*****

**Read this if you love:**

- painfully slow burn
- legal drama with feral banter
- trauma recovery with jokes
- emotionally repressed men
- brilliant, chaotic women who deserve the world and demand none of it

**Skip this if you're looking for:**

- insta-love
- sunshine heroines
- brooding bad boys with secret heart-of-gold redemption arcs
- fast pacing (seriously, this is a long, smoldering climb-not a sprint)