Eric was sitting in a modest café just a few meters from the pawnshop. The smell of freshly brewed coffee filled the air, blending with the soft murmur of conversations around them. In front of him, sitting rigidly, was the young Chinese woman — now properly introduced as Elena Lin. She wore an elegant burgundy dress that contrasted with the simplicity of her movements. Her black hair was tied in a delicate bun, and her eyes… those light-colored eyes, an unusual shade Eric still couldn't quite identify, watched him with nervous intensity.
Eric, meanwhile, wore his usual black shirt and jeans, doing his best to hide the exhaustion of the past few days.
Between them, only silence.
Sensing the tension, Eric was the first to speak:
"Elena Lin… I never imagined you'd have a Western name."
Elena turned her gaze away for a moment, looking slightly embarrassed.
"My father was Chinese. My mother, Spanish," she explained softly.
Eric studied every detail of her expression as he formed the central question of their meeting:
"So… what do you think of my proposal?"
Elena took a long, deep — almost sorrowful — breath before answering:
"I appreciate the offer… truly. But I've used all my strength to keep my father's shop alive. Selling it to you… would mean erasing his legacy."
Eric nodded solemnly. He signaled to the waitress — a cheerful young Filipina — who approached to take their orders. He asked for a regular coffee; Elena, a latte.
As the waitress wrote it down, Eric felt a faint knot in his stomach.
He was running out of money — again.
And paying for that coffee with a coin worth nearly a thousand euros was both absurd and dangerous.
Once the waitress left, Eric leaned forward slightly, showing genuine attention to Elena's words.
"With all due respect… your father's legacy is about to be erased anyway," he said calmly. "If you sell me part of the shop, I promise it will still stay under your direction. I just want to help — and I can pay whatever is needed."
Elena raised her eyebrows.
"If you have so much money… why not buy the whole thing? Instead of just 51%?"
It was a logical question. But the real answer — "Because I need you, Elena. I need your knowledge. Your work. Your honesty." — wasn't something he could say aloud.
So he gave her a simple smile.
"Because I want you with me. Not against me."
Elena looked out the window, thoughtful. Her delicate hands gripped the edge of the table. She seemed on the verge of refusing for good.
"I appreciate your offer… but I'll decline. The shop is my father's legacy. I can't destroy that. Even with… the risks and the debts…"
Eric noticed the hesitation.
Elena was trying to be strong.
Trying to be rational.
But the pressure was heavier than she wanted to admit.
Before he could answer, Elena's smartphone buzzed on the table.
She answered immediately.
Eric watched her entire expression transform.
The color drained from her face.
Her eyes widened.
Her breath stopped.
"Elena? What happened?"
The young woman didn't answer at first.
Her hand trembled.
Then suddenly, she stood up so fast she almost knocked the chair over.
Tears began pouring uncontrollably.
She pointed toward the street with a shaking hand.
"My shop… my shop…"
Eric turned instinctively toward the direction she indicated.
And he saw it.
Smoke.
A lot of smoke.
A thick, frightening gray column rising into the sky — coming exactly from the pawnshop's location.
For an instant, Eric froze.
Then Elena screamed — not in pain, but in pure, desperate anguish:
"My shop is on fire!"
Eric's heart pounded violently.
What was meant to be a negotiation…
Had turned, in the blink of an eye, into a race against destruction.
Elena's shop, her father's legacy — and very possibly the key to Eric's future plans — was in flames.
Leaving the untouched coffee behind, Eric and Elena ran toward the burning pawnshop.