CEO Evelyn plans to acquire Noah's green-tech startup GreenVolt, reigniting their unresolved college past. Noah, facing payroll bankruptcy, stubbornly refuses. They are forced into exclusive talks, and a board insider leaks their meetings to tabloids, sparking a romance scandal that threatens Evelyn's job. They fake a friendly merger truce and hold a press conference to calm rumors. Evelyn reconnects with Noah's adoptive father Arthur and persuades Noah to reconcile after years of estrangement. Noah reveals that he learned of his adoption only as an adult. As they mend their bond, old rival Richard Hale launches a hostile takeover to take revenge on them both.
