LOGINHe didn’t wait for me to speak again.
Sebastian drew me into the shower with him. The warm water hit us like a heavy curtain the moment the glass door slid shut.For a second, neither of us moved. The steam rose thick between us, softening the hard lines of his face without changing the anger and hurt in his eyes.He stood close enough that I could feel the heat of his body through the water, close enough to make the whole space feel smaller.“Still not apologizing?” he asked,The shock kept me on the floor for a few more seconds before I managed to scramble toward the desk and pull the laptop closer. My hands were unsteady as I scrolled through the images one by one.The first clear photo showed me sitting in the leather chair from my CEO days at SOT, Alicia leaning in as if for a kiss. I opened my mouth at once.“That....never happened. I-I....remember that moment. We were discussing the turnover. She was pointing at something on the screen.”Samantha only looked at me, cold and unmoved. I scrolled to the next frames and kept explaining that none of them were real, that the angles were wrong, that the context was missing. She stepped back a fraction.“I already checked them for authenticity. They’re verified. All of them.”I shook my head and stood, still scrolling, until the last image loaded and my eyes widened because I knew exactly what that afternoon had actually been. The photo put me in a compromising position inside
Ruiz met me halfway across the lot. He was looking toward the road, where a dark car had just accelerated out of sight and vanished around the bend, then he turned back to me with a confused frown, as if the two facts refused to sit together.“Where are you headed?” he asked.“Home.”He scratched the back of his head, still glancing once more at the empty stretch of asphalt.“Strange. I just saw Ms. Xavier running for the car by the gates and taking off hard. Thought it was something urgent. Her face looked pale.”I stopped and looked at him, hard.“Say that again.”“Ms. Xavier. She came in, didn’t stay long, then ran for her car and sped off. Pale. Like something hit her.”The vehicle that had just disappeared down the road was hers. The recognition landed cold. Every easy intention I had carried out of the glass room collapsed at once, and I didn’t waste another second. I reached my own car, started it, and pulled out while the though
It was only three days before the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the energy-reserve facility.I went out to Maspeth myself to check the preparations. Samantha could not make it. She had something important to handle and needed to step away for a bit, so she asked me to supervise in her place. That was all she said, no exact reason, and no timeline beyond the vague shape of “important.”The ground floor of the facility had already been cleared for the post-ceremony banquet. Tables and chairs stood in staged rows while Claire moved beside me with the floor plan open on her tablet, marking adjustments as we walked.“The main serving line needs another three feet of clearance,” she said, pointing. “Otherwise the wait staff will bottleneck at the corner.”I nodded and made the note.“Shift the floral pieces toward the outer columns. Keep the sight line to the ribbon platform clean.”Yves passed us twice in the span of ten minutes, hard hat under one arm, ra
Samantha kept repeating the same quiet promise in the days that followed.Every morning before we left the house she reached for my hand in the kitchen light, fingers still warm from the mug she had been holding, and said it plainly.“I’ll be more careful. I’ll pay attention wherever I go.”The words came again later whenever the subject of risk surfaced, soft, steady, meant to close the conversation before it could open into an argument. I offered bodyguards once while we stood by the car, framing it as practical rather than possessive.“A detail would only stay at a distance. You wouldn’t have to interact with them.”She refused without hesitation, already shaking her head.“No. And don’t have anyone tail me either. I mean it, Mika.”The firmness in her voice left no room to negotiate. I conceded with a short nod. The decision sat between us like a small, accepted risk, and after that we simply returned to work.••••••••The next stretch of
The warmth of the moment held for only a few more seconds before someone cleared his throat beside the table.Sebastian stood there with his gaze already on our joined hands. A faint smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth.“Did I arrive at a bad time?”I raised a brow without letting go of Samantha’s fingers.“Yes. You did.”Samantha only tipped her chin toward the empty chair, the earlier softness still lingering around her eyes.“Sit down. We already ordered.”As if on cue the waiters arrived with trays and began setting the plates. I spoke before either of them could open the real subject, my voice low enough that it stayed between the three of us.“We eat first. Talk after. Samantha has been under pressure all day. I am not letting this conversation spoil her appetite.”Sebastian dropped into the chair and gave a short nod, already reaching for his napkin.“Fine by me. Same rule.”The three of us focused on the meal. Only when the pla
The reports arrived a few hours after Luis returned from the police station with the legal team.We gathered in the conference room, Samantha, Luis, the lawyers, and me, while the afternoon light cut long rectangles across the table. The agenda was narrow and direct. The two men who had posed as environmental inspectors. One of the senior counsel opened the folder and laid the outcome out in clean legal terms, voice steady against the quiet of the room.“Both individuals have been charged with fraud, impersonation of government officials, and forgery of official documents and identification. Transaction records confirm a payment of 500,000 dollars originating from a personal account registered to Kylie McKenzie. The funds moved shortly before the inspection attempt.”Samantha turned toward me, brow slightly drawn, the weight of the number still settling.“Is Kylie in a position to pay that kind of money? Half a million just to delay construction?”“We’l
The first light of dawn was just creeping in when I reached for the tent zipper, still wrapped around Claire’s warm body. One second of peace. That’s all we got. The zipper ripped open and rough hands yanked me out by my hair. I hit the dirt hard, pain exploding through my ribs. Claire screame
I walked back into campus after a week of hell, my body covered from head to toe. Long sleeves, high collar, and pants that hid the fading bruises my father had left on my back and arms. Every step still ached a little, but I kept my face calm. The second Claire saw me in the hallway, her eyes li
The heavy wooden doors of the Stonefield estate felt colder than usual as I pushed them open. My body was still buzzing from the afternoon with Claire, but the second I stepped into the living room, the high disappeared. My father, Silverstein Stonefield, sat in his massive leather chair lik
My back slammed against the cold metal door of the bathroom stall as I crushed my lips against Claire’s. The kiss was hungry, almost violent, like we’d been starving for each other all morning. Her strawberry lip gloss mixed with the faint taste of coffee on her tongue. My hand was alre






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