Caught

I walked out of the hospital room, my heart down in my stomach, not that I have ever had a heart anyways, especially not for Ashley. Ashley, who had spent her entire life basking in the glow of everything that was meant to be mine.

The fake smile immediately slid off my face. The one I had tried so desperately to keep pinned in place while Ashley continuously shown signs of madness in that sterile room. I leaned against the cold corridor wall for a fraction of a second, letting the venom truly settle in my veins. I couldn’t help but marvel at her words. She seemed so sure, so sickeningly confident that Marcus was going to marry her.

He wouldn’t. That wasn’t the plan. It had never been the plan.

In no due time, she would have absolutely no property to her name, no liquid assets left to shield her, no matter what kind of meticulous safety nets our father had arranged for her despite his betrayal of me.

Everything she took from me, the status, the wealth, the unearned adoration will come back to its rightful owner. I would personally see to it that she was stripped bare of it all.

I picked out my phone from my bag, my hands still shaking slightly from the unusual, ice-cold stare Ashley had given me the moment she just woke up. That look, it didn't belong to the fragile, easily manipulated girl I had spent years managing.

The whole session had completely disoriented my entire day. I had rushed here straight from the high-stakes atmosphere of the boardroom the very second I heard the news that Ashley had finally regained consciousness.

My mind had been racing with contingencies on the drive over. If she remembered that I had deliberately thrown her off the stairs and she asked, I would play the pitiful, weeping sister game I have always played so flawlessly. I had my tears ready. I had the trembling voice practiced.

Fortunately for me, she remembered nothing. The fall had done its job, even if it hadn't broken her completely.

“Lurii.”

A sudden, firm grip locked around my wrist, biting into my skin with terrifying familiarity. I braced myself for the worst, my heart leaping into my throat before turning over.

“What do you think you're—” I spun around, furious, a sharp reprimand ready on the tip of my tongue, but the words froze completely as I looked up

“Why are you here?”

“I should be the one asking you that,” he countered, his voice smooth but laced with an edge that made my skin prickle.

I pulled against his grip, my eyes darting frantically down the white-walled hospital corridor.

“If anyone suspects anything about this whole thing, I could very easily get away under the premise of being her sister! I have a reason to be pacing outside her recovery room. You don't.”

“You? What exactly would be your excuse? Are you even insane?” he scoffed, his grip tightening just a fraction more, refusing to let me slip away into the shadows.

“Lurii.”

“No! You have nothing to say, you do not have an excuse,” I hissed, the panic beginning to claw its way up my throat.

“You shouldn’t be here. The moment I left the room, you should have as well. We agreed to keep our distance until the papers were finalized!”

Unable to stand the vulnerability of the open hallway, I lunged forward, using enough force to grab his wrist and pull him out of the main hospital hallway, dragging him into the dimly lit, cramped alcove of the nearby service stairwell.

“Lurii, listen to me—”

“People can see us together!” I interrupted, my voice dropping to a harsh, desperate whisper that vibrated with anxiety.

“Do you have any idea what happens if someone catches wind of this? What if the narrative is thrown to the public? The media would hurriedly eat you up alive. They would ruin your reputation before we even touch a single cent of the inheritance.”

He stepped closer, invading my space entirely, a reckless, dark amusement dancing in his gaze.

“Just as I would hurriedly eat you too. A win for all, wouldn’t you say?”

“This is not something to trivialize, you—”

“If you would hear me out for a single second, you’d be aware I was not trivializing the whole thing,” he murmured, his thumb brushing against the pulse point on my wrist.

“No, you are! You are doing it right now!” I was on the verge of screaming, and his infuriating calmness just seemed to stoke the fire in my chest even more.

“You didn’t see how Ashley looked at me in that hospital room. It wasn't her usual blank, trusting expression. It was almost like she hated me as much as I hate her. Almost like she knows me for who I truly am, almost like she can see straight through the blueprints of our plans!”

I trembled against him, the memory of her waking gaze haunting me. But he didn't flinch.

“There’s no way she’s going to find out,” he said it slowly, deliberately, in a low, grounding way that sent shivers sliding down my skin.

“You don’t understand, Marcus—”

Before I could finish talking, he spun me around, pressing my back flush against the cold, unyielding wall of the stairwell. Our eyes locked, and for a terrifying, beautiful moment, I was completely lost in his world, the dark, intoxicating world that was buried deep into his green eyes.

“She’s not going to find out, Lurii,” he whispered, his face inches from mine, his breath warm against my lips.

“You’ve always been one step ahead of her. You’ve never failed, and this won’t be the beginning. And even if you failed now, you’ll have me to lean on. I'm not letting you go.”

His lips found mine, and I swear, it was heaven here on Earth.

I melted into it against my better judgment, all the logic and caution flying out of the window the moment his weight pressed into me. My hands moved up his chest, gripping his broad shoulders as the reality of the hospital completely blurred around us.

The danger of the hallway, the threat of exposure, the lingering ghost of my stepsister lying in a bed just fifty feet away, it all drowned completely in the demanding heat of his mouth.

He pressed me back harder against the wall, his body heavy and commanding, crushing the very breath out of my lungs. For a fleeting, wicked second, the terror turned into a twisted sense of absolute victory. We were doing this right under her nose. We were going to take everything she ever loved.

Our rough entanglement grew deeper, the taste of him intoxicating me as his teeth gently grazed my lower lip, making me let out a soft whimper into the kiss. The adrenaline rushing through my veins was a drug, making my heart race faster than the fear ever could. I forgot about the boardrooms, the missing family funds, the forged signatures on the trust documents. I just needed him to anchor me right here, to prove to me that we were still winning the game.

With a sudden surge of passion, Marcus gripped my thighs and hoisted me up against the wall. I wrapped my legs around his waist instinctively, my fingers tangling in his hair as the kiss turned frantic, chaotic, and utterly reckless. We were completely consumed by each other, completely blind to the world outside our dark corner.

Then, the sharp, distinct click of heavy boots echoed from the far end of the concrete stairwell hallway.

We froze instantly. Our lips were still practically brushed together, our breathing ragged, heavy, and incredibly loud in the enclosed, echoing space. My heart stopped dead in my chest, the heat in my blood instantly turning to pure ice.

"Marcus?"

Marcus slowly let my legs slide back down to the floor, his body shielding me as we both turned our heads toward the heavy metal door of the stairwell.

Julian walked in on us, a slight smirk playing on his lips as his sharp eyes took in the disheveled state of my clothes and the guilt written all over Marcus's face. He leaned casually against the doorframe, crossing his arms.

“Interesting,”