Masuk
Beep, beep” The alarm rang at exactly 7pm in the evening.
I quickly jumped out of bed. I was supposed to be working at exactly 6pm at my work place serving customers and guests but I had mistakenly set the alarm at 7pm and I was terribly late. “Urgh! That crazy supervisor would yell at me”. I said while washing my face. I quickly dressed up and left the house while running and at the same time walking. I walked into the Grand Haneul Hotel that glittered, decorated with expensive shiny chandeliers and too expensive for someone like me. I knew I didn't belong there but I had to work to make hands meet. Tonight I was supposed to serve drinks, keep quiet and disappear into the walls. But, somehow while serving, I tripped over the hem of my own dress and the champagne drink spilled on a woman's dress. “You idiot!!”. She said landed a quick dirty slap on my chin. I wince in pain. “I…i'm so sorry ma'am”. “Let me take it to the laundry. It's on me”. I offered to pay for the cleaning of the dress. “Get out! Stupid fool. You want to ruin my dress? Take your filthy self away from here and I hope your boss sacks you because I don't know why he should hire blind people like you”. She ranted. My supervisor noticed the commotion and pulled me aside whispering apologies that sounded fearful instead of sympathetic. Then he ordered me to stay out of sight for the rest of the day. I ran. Not out of the hotel but to search for a place where I could rewind because what happened was so embarrassing. I climbed the carpeted stairs with my heels clicking on the marble. I was too tense. “How could that just embarrass me that way. Don't rich people make mistakes?” I said while rushing. I walked past two doors in the hall way before stopping at the third one Room 207 Or at least I thought it was 207 I didn't notice any small details. I pushed the door open and closed it as quietly as possible behind me. The room was dark. “This might be some lounge”. I whispered to myself”. I whispered a sigh of relief and dropped my handbags on the chair near the only. Then I looked up and froze. There was a man sitting on the edge of the bed. Tall with dark eyes. He looked dangerous. “Ooh, um… Hi.” I tried to muster up courage. “I didn't mean to intrude”. “Yura?” He said. “You're late”. The name hit me hard. He must have mistaken me for his girlfriend. I thought. “I'm sorry, I need to go. I'm so sorry”. I pleaded with him. “No, stay. You are not Yura?” “No, I'm not. I don't even know her”. I said. He came closer to me and held my wrists. He pressed my back to the wall. His body was too close to mine that I could feel his heart beat. I was scared that I was going to have a night stand with a stranger. He rubbed his fingers on my body. I felt a cold shiver run down my body. My body wanted it but my heart disagreed. I was still standing there scared but I didn't scream. I stepped closer instead and I didn't stop myself. In a matter of seconds, we were unclad on the bed. _____ The next morning, I woke up to silence but a smell of familiar scent. I wasn't in my tiny apartment as I thought. I remembered the whole thing that happened the previous night and I felt the feeling of regret and guilt. I quickly got up and wore my clothes. “Running already?” I froze. I turned slowly and saw Cassian standing opposite the room with a cup of coffee in his hands. “I'm going”. I said without looking at him. He urged me to stay but I instinctively lied to him that I was going to work but deep down, I didn't know where I was going. I was just avoiding my guilt. Sleeping with someone I didn't know. As I was about to step out he said . “You shouldn't be working here. You don't deserve the treatments you get from here”. I gasped, turned and looked at him No one has ever told me that not even my parents, siblings or even my friends. But a stranger just did. “I…er…” I stuttered. “I'll get going”. I said as I hung my bag over my shoulders. I rushed out of the room but I still had that feeling that he was still staring at me. I got home and fell on my bed with the thought of everything replaying in my head. The thought of getting pregnant, the thought of contracting a disease got me scared. “Oohhh, Elowen, how could you be so reckless?” I said, hitting my head. I jumped out of bed, made breakfast. Across the cities. Cassian Blackwood stood near the window in his penthouse suite holding a glass of wine he had barely finished. He pestered me last night. She had vanished. No name No number. Nothing “Damn it”. He mustered to himself. He replayed everything that had happened.The fear in her eyes when he pressed her to the wall. The way she left without asking for money or even promises. “Argh! Cassian, what did you do? He murmured. “Buzzz”. His phone vibrated. It was Yura He didn't answer. He just stared blankly at the phone and let it ring severally until he finally muted the phone. He decided to let go of the past and continue with work but one thing kept haunting him. The way she had left made him want to find her more. —--- A few weeks later, I started having the urge to puke. Food disgusted me. Even the smell of my soap made me gag. “This is not normal”. I whispered. I wasn't sick. I didn't have a fever and I was not really stressed. I walked to the small calendar I taped to the wall and I gasped like I was being betrayed. My period has been late before but not this late. “No, no. It can't be. It's too late.” I said almost about to sob. But deep down, I knew the truth. I was just not ready to face it. I quickly grabbed my purse, went to a nearby pharmacy and bought a pregnancy test kit. I was scared but I had to try. I swallowed hard. For a second nothing happened until cruelly two lines appeared. Positive!! “No! I cried. Laughed and cried again. It was just a stupid, beautiful, reckless night with a stranger. “This can't be”. I protested. I grabbed my purse and left the house to go to a little clinic near my apartment. The doctor was a kind woman. She has ordered blood tests and ultrasound. I waited impatiently in the room that smelled like fear and medicine. Finally, the doctor returned. She smiled gently. “Congratulations, you're pregnant”. The words felt like a sledgehammer on me. “What?” I whispered. She leaned closer and smiled widely. “There are two heart beats”. “Hmmm?” I passed out.“Ding”.Came the notification sound from Elowen’s phone.Her phone vibrated once again and then by the third time, Elowen knew something was wrong.She opened the message and she saw a link a link with no name and no greeting.Her heart pounded as she tapped it.The screen loaded painfully slow, like it wanted to warn her. Then words appeared. “Internal audit file, verified excerpt.”She gasped in shock as her hands trembled.Someone had released a part of the drive.Just a piece.Elowen did not plan for the truth to come out this way.She was sitting by the window when it happened, one hand resting on her stomach, the other holding her phone. The house was quiet. Cassian had left early, his face tight with thoughts he would not share yet. That had become normal between them. Careful steps, half-truths, slow healing.The article was short but it spoke of secret transfers, shadow accounts, and one name that stood out clearly; Cassian’s father. He was not accused directly or arrested
Elowen woke up with a dull ache in her back and a slow heaviness in her body. She sat up carefully and waited until the feeling reduced."Urghhhh!" She groaned as the twins shifted gently inside her.She stood up and walked to the window. The city was very calm.Cassian came inside, standing behind her. “You’re awake early.”“I couldn’t sleep,” she said. “My mind wouldn’t slow down.”He joined her, standing close but not crowding her. “Mine either.”They stayed quiet for a moment and then Elowen said, “We should not open the drive today.”Cassian nodded. “I agree.”That choice mattered because it was the first time they had both decided not to act. Not because they were afraid, but because they were ready to think.“If we rush,” Elowen continued, “we would literally give control back to Yura, your father or anybody else watching.”Cassian glanced at her and nodded without arguing.Later that day, Cassian met with his legal team.Elowen stayed home, as the doctor advised. She sat in t
Urghhhh” Elowen groaned tiredly. She felt the weight of the day in her bones.The conversation with Yura had shaken her more than she wanted to admit, but it had also made something clear: she could not wait for the truth to fall into place. She had to act.Cassian was still in the study, going through files. His brow was tight and his hands were moving over documents with precision. At any slightest time, he muttered a word under his breath, either in frustration, worry or calculation.Elowen stepped closer. “Cassian,” she said softly.He looked up, and for a moment, she thought he would smile but the tension in his jaw didn’t soften.“What is it?” he asked.“We need to take the first step,” she said. “We can’t just wait for whoever has the drive to make the next move.”Cassian ran a hand through his hair. “And what step is that?”She drew in a breath, steadying herself. “We make them show themselves then We force the first move, carefully” Cassian studied her. The way she said it w
Her body felt heavy, but not in pain but she was tired when she woke up. Elowen placed a hand over her stomach without thinking. The movement inside her was gentle, steady and calm today and that was what mattered.She lay still for a moment, listening to the house. It was quiet, but not empty. Cassian. She thought.She pushed herself upright and reached for her robe. Pregnancy had taught her patience.She stepped into the hallway and followed the soft glow of light toward the living room.Cassian stood near the window with his phone in his hand, his posture tight. He hadn’t noticed her yet.“Elowen,” he said quickly when he turned. “Did I wake you?”“No,” she replied. “I woke up because you weren’t there.”That made him pause.She walked closer, slowly, and took his hand. His grip was strong, but tense.“What happened?” she asked.Cassian hesitated. He always did when the truth felt heavy.“There’s something missing,” he said. “Something important.”She didn’t let go, she persis
Cassian did not ask Elias to sit and that alone said enough.Elias stood near the door with his hands folded behind his back and his face was so calm in the way Cassian had learned not to trust. The room was quiet except for the low hum of the lights above them. Outside the glass wall, the city moved as if nothing was breaking apart inside this building.“You said the audit was finished,” Cassian said.He kept his voice even and nodded once. “Yes.”“That’s all?” Cassian asked still in doubts.Elias met his gaze. He did not rush to explain and he did not fill the silence. He had always known how to use quietness like a weapon.“That’s all you asked,” Elias replied.Cassian watched him closely. He searched for unusuals, something in the eyes, the shoulders, the breath but Elias gave him nothing.Cassian leaned back against the desk. “You didn’t bring a report.”“No,” Elias said.“Why?”“Because a report leaves a trail.”Cassian’s furrowed his eyebrows. “So you came empty-handed.”“I
Cassian woke before dawn. The house was quiet, too quiet, the kind of silence that pressed against his ears. He lay still for a moment, staring at the ceiling, listening to his own breathing. For the first time in weeks, his mind felt clear.That alone should have warned him. He got out of bed and walked to the window. Outside, the city was just starting to become lively and behind him, Elowen slept on her side, one hand resting protectively over her stomach. Cassian watched her for a long moment. The twins were safe. That was what mattered most. That was what he kept telling himself.I’m winning, he thought.The legal pressure on his father was tightening. Key accounts had been frozen. Two allies had stepped back, choosing silence over loyalty. The evidence Cassian had gathered, clean, verified, and legal was finally being taken seriously.For the first time, Anton Vale was cornered.Cassian let out a loud breath.He dressed quietly and left the bedroom, closing the door with care.
“The twins are part of an unresolved engagement contract”.The sentence replayed in my head that night until my chest ached.I could not sleep that night.In the morning, the house felt so different. Tenser like something bigger was going to happen.—--Cassian called for an emergency meeting befor
“Hospital?”Cassian stared blankly at his phone long after the screen went dark.That message kept ringing in his head.“Why was she there?” He thought aloud.“Elowen doesn't look sick and isn't behaving like someone dealing with a medical emergency”. He muttered to himself.Cassian quickly grabbed
Cassian arrived at the backup facility just before dawn.The building stood alone at the edge of the industrial zone, surrounded by empty roads and silent warehouses and that was what bothered him most.He stepped out of the car, the cold air brushing his face. Two guards followed behind him mainta
Yura knew something was wrong the moment the hallway went quiet.She stood near the window of the temporary apartment with her arms folded tight against her chest. Her phone lay on the table beside her. There were no new messages. There were no warnings. Cassian had told her to stay put and trust







