Chapter 03 : The Rule Of Distance

Elena's pulse thundered in her ears.

  Cassian Wolfe, that was his name. The man who unknowingly turned her world upside down.

 And now, he was going to be her new boss.

  This couldn't be real. She had spent months dreaming of him, hating herself for remembering his touch, cursing the night she let herself go. And now? He was here. Her boss...! The father of her unborn child. And he had no idea about that.

  Cassian stood by the window, city lights casting sharp angles across his face. His voice was calm—too calm.

  "Your resume is solid, Miss Marlowe," he said, not turning around. "You've worked in environments far more demanding than ours. You handle pressure, you're discreet… and frankly, you're overqualified for most of the roles downstairs."

  Elena clasped her hands tightly in her lap. "Then why me?" she asked, her voice quieter than she intended, "why not anyone else?"

  He finally turned, his eyes meeting hers. There was something unreadable there, tension masked as control.

  "I think I can trust you…Well… you should know one thing that I only do the thing that I believe that it will work for me."

  After said that, a beat passed. "And I don't trust easily... So you have to prove that you are the best."

  Her throat went dry.

  He stepped toward his desk, picking up a folder and flipping it shut without looking. "Look... Miss Marlowe, you'll be working directly under me."

  Then, as if he could feel her pulse quicken from across the room, he added, "Your office will be just across from mine."

  His voice dipped slightly, colder and more controlled. "I prefer my assistants close to me."

  That word, close,which is lingered longer than it should have. Her stomach flipped. She swallowed. "Is that a requirement or a warning?"

  Cassian's lips curved, not quite a smile. "Take it however you like, Miss Marlowe." He walked past her then, his cologne trailing behind like a memory she didn't want to admit she still remembered.

  And just like that she was hired. Not because she was the most available… But because she will more benifacial and workaholic. 

  He pushed open a sleek glass door and gestured her in. "You'll find everything you need here. I expect efficiency and discretion, Miss Marlowe"-His voice was cold, which can be called businesslike and detached.

  But when she dared to meet his eyes, there was something flickering there—is it call familiarity? or curiosity? Maybe even a faint pull? And finally it was gone.

  Elena nodded, clutching her tote bag like a shield. "Of course, Mr. Wolfe."

  He turned to leave but paused at the door, 

"You look..” his voice trailed off, the words catching like static in the air between them. He turned, just slightly.. which is just enough to let his eyes find her again.

  "...familiar."

  It wasn't casual, it was a fracture, an old thread tugged loose from memory or something that half-forgotten.

  And in that moment, Elena felt it too. The sharp ache of being remembered, but not quite placed,

  of being almost seen. But she said nothing. Just held his gaze, steady, unreadable.

  Because how do you tell someone they already knew you, before everything changed?

  He notice at her that her breath almost caught, after hear this.

  "Oh...Just relax, Miss Marlowe... Don't panic, I don’t mean it seriously, I was just kidding."

  "I...I get that in a few more times," she said, forcing a smile.

  He narrowed his eyes but said nothing, stepping out and closing the door behind him.

  Elena collapsed into the leather chair, her hands trembling. She pressed a palm to her belly, whispering, "It's okay, sweetheart. We'll figure this out."

  She had a job now. A roof over her head. Money coming in. She just needed to stay invisible. Which would be fine if her baby bump didn't start showing soon.

  Later That Week- Cassian was a hard man to read. He was demanding but not cruel, sharp but not unkind. He rarely smiled. But occasionally, very occasionally—he looked at her like he was trying to remember something long forgotten.

  Elena kept her head down, stayed late, and never uttered a word of complaint. Because she wishes to avoid facing her boss, fearing that he might recognize her. But the others noticed.

  "The new girl's kind of cute, huh?" someone murmured near the break room, their voice low but laced with curiosity.

  "Mr. Wolfe hasn't hired a personal assistant in months."

  "And now, out of nowhere, her? I mean… What's so special about her?"

  Footsteps passed. A coffee machine hissed and then another voice which is softer but sharper.

  "She's hiding something," the woman said, leaning in as if afraid the walls might hear.

  "I don't know what it is… but it's there. You can feel it."-A silence stretched between them, thick with unspoken theories and caffeine fueled suspicion.

  Back in the hallway, Elena kept walking. Eyes are forward and she sat as like her spine straight. But her fingers curled just slightly at her sides. Because she'd heard every word and the thing is they weren't wrong.

  Elena's spine stiffened.

  She couldn't afford gossip. Not when everything depended on staying under the radar.

  One afternoon, while organizing files in his office, Elena accidentally knocked over a leather-bound folder. Photos spilled out, tabloid shots of Cassian at galas, business summits, and one that made her freeze.

  It was from the masquerade, the exact night. With a drink in his hand and his mask pushed halfway up, Cassian was caught mid-laugh.

  A cold wave washed over her. Had he remembered more than he let on?

  Before she could shove the photo back in, the door opened -"What are you doing?"- Cassian's voice was sharp.

  She jumped. "I...I dropped it. I'm so sorry—"

  He strode over, eyes narrowing as they flicked to the photo in her hand. He snatched it away, jaw tight. "This is private, Miss Marlowe. I hope you understand."

  "I'm just—"

  "I don't appreciate those assistants who snoop, Miss Marlowe! Do you get that?

  His tone was icy. She shrank back, her heart pounding. "It was an accident.”

  He stared at her a beat longer, then exhaled and turned away. "Forget it."

  But Elena didn't forget. Because for a split second, he'd looked rattled. It seems Like he did remember that night.

  That Night- Elena curled up in her tiny apartment, nausea twisting her stomach. She wasn't sure if it was morning sickness or anxiety anymore. She had barely eaten. Her body ached, and she was exhausted from hiding, from lying, also the growing weight of the truth. And then-

  Her phone buzzed- Cassian Wolfe: "Make sure you're in early tomorrow. Important client meeting."

  She stared at the name on the email header—Cassian Wolfe. Which seems so formal. Like they were strangers. Like he hadn't once held her in the dark and whispered promises against her skin.

  Her thumb hovered over the screen, unmoving.

  Because that name—it wasn't just a name. It was a memory. What can she call it- A mistake or A miracle? All wrapped into one man who had kissed her like she was fragile, infinite, divine.

  She turned the phone off, the screen going black like the silence between them. Then slowly, she curled tighter around the swell of her belly, protective and like aching. 

  "I wish you knew," she breathed, her voice trembling into the darkness. "I wish I could tell you... that you're already a part of something beautiful. That you're not just a ghost in my past, you're the reason my future still exists."

  Her hand drifted over her stomach, feeling the flutter beneath her palm like a heartbeat echoing a secret only she could hear. "But how do you tell someone they left behind more than just memories?"

  She closed her eyes, the weight of the unsaid pressing down.

  "How do you tell a man he's a father... when he doesn’t even know he was something more?"

  In the next morning – Wolfe Corp;

  Elena arrived early, dressed in a loose black blouse and flowing skirt that disguised her bump. But something felt off.

  The lobby was eerily quiet…

  She stepped into the elevator, her heart pounding against her ribs like it wanted out.

  Each floor she passed felt heavier than the last. By the time it chimed at the executive level, her pulse was a drumbeat in her throat.

  Then she heard it. The voices, which provide the sharpness. Which sounds like anger. And one of them, Oh God... it sounded like Cassian!

  Of course it was him. That clipped edge, the barely restrained fury, like control was something he wore until it ripped at the seams.

  It sounds like something was wrong. But she didn't know what..? But her instincts, the same ones that had kept her surviving, screamed at her that she was walking into a storm.

  And this time, she might be the reason it started.

  "You don't get to question my decisions, Matthew! She's qualified, leave it at that."

  "But she's clearly hiding something...!

  "She's my employee. Just back off.

  Elena froze behind the hallway wall. They were talking about her. She turned to leave but dizziness swamped her. And then, she feels like her sight rippled, as if the room itself had begun to sway. Pain shot through her abdomen.

  Her steps faltered, fingers scraping the wall, breath snagging as the world spun around her. And then... Everything went black.