LOGINShe loved the wrong Whitmore. Now she works for the one she can’t stop thinking about. Elara was always just a friend to Noah Whitmore, the boy she quietly adored for years. When he married her best friend, she had no choice but to move on. Now, four years later, she’s working as the assistant to Lucian Whitmore, Noah’s older brother. Cold, brilliant, and infuriatingly controlled, Lucian is everything she shouldn't want. But behind every clipped command and long silence, there’s a heat simmering just beneath the surface, one she tries hard to ignore. Then Noah returns. Divorced, familiar, and unexpectedly present. Suddenly, Elara finds herself pulled between the past she thought she buried and the man who makes her question everything. Noah never meant to break her heart. But Lucian might.
View MoreAll the anger and need to assert control drained right out of me the moment I saw Lucian standing there, badminton racket in hand. He wore a white polo shirt and black shorts – an outfit I’d never seen him in before. The truth is, I’ve rarely seen Lucian outside of work, and when I have, it’s usually been at some formal event where he’s dressed to impress. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this casual. And I won’t lie, it suited him. He looked... different. Not the sharply dressed man in a tailored suit or the stiff, buttoned-up executive in slacks and a collared shirt. But even dressed down, he wasn’t any less intimidating. He still looked exactly like himself… rigid, composed, and completely no-nonsense.It’s strange how differently I feel around the two Whitmore brothers. From the very beginning, I’ve always been more casual, more at ease around Noah. His presence feels like a familiar blanket… soft, effortless. I never worry about how I speak or act around him. But Lucian? Lucian m
“No,” I said flatly, without so much as a second thought, after Noah, currently lounging in my office and refusing to let me work, pitched what might be the worst idea I’d heard all day.Noah let out an amused chuckle. “Come on, Elara. It’s not going to be a disaster like last time.”The way his voice lilted with mischief made it clear he was recalling exactly how bad “last time” went. I didn’t look at him. I kept my eyes on the screen, fingers tapping out a not-so-urgent email just to avoid engaging.Bored of being ignored, Noah clicked his tongue and slammed my laptop shut mid-sentence. I opened my mouth to protest, but he cut in quickly, grinning. “Come on, Elara. Please? It’s just a badminton match. What’s the worst that could happen?”I shot him a sharp look. He blinked and quickly backtracked. “Okay, okay… I get it.” He scratched the back of his neck, feigning sheepishness. “Last time you played, you got… a little overzealous.”I raised an eyebrow.He rolled his eyes. “Fine. You
Once Noah left, silence settled over the office like a thick curtain. Lucian and I were alone. I wanted to ask if he was okay, if the burn still hurt, but before I could even open my mouth, he cut me off.“You need to leave, too,” he said curtly.There was no warmth in his voice, no space for conversation. Just a command, as cold and sharp as ever. And like always, I obeyed. Without a word, I placed the ointment on his desk and walked out, hoping that he’d actually use it.I don’t know what’s wrong with me today. I’ve worked under Lucian for two years. I’ve seen him angry, calm, stressed, unreadable. He’s always just been two things in my mind: Noah’s older brother and my boss. But today… he felt like something else. Someone else. And I couldn’t stop noticing him. His voice. The way his eyes lingered. The way he looked at me.How embarrassing, and honestly, humiliating, it would be if he ever found out the way I’ve been seeing him lately. Everyone around me has always found him attract
There was a flicker of awkwardness when our eyes met, an uncertain pause, the weight of unspoken things hanging between us, but it vanished almost instantly when Noah’s face broke into a broad smile. He crossed the room in two strides and wrapped me in a warm hug.“Oh, I missed you so much, Elara,” he murmured against my hair, his voice slightly muffled.I hadn’t expected that, not from him, not after everything. For a split second, I stood stiffly in his arms, caught off guard. But then that familiar scent hit me. The same cologne he used to wear. The way his arms always folded around me, like they remembered. And just like that, the hesitation melted. I hugged him back, my hands resting lightly on his back.“I missed you, too, Noah,” I whispered as we pulled apart.He kept his hands on my shoulders, eyes scanning my face with a softness I hadn’t seen in a long time. “How have you been?” I asked, my voice almost too quiet.It was a simple question, but it carried a silent weight… I kn






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