4. Enemy

Theo

Bad news came in threes.

First, the South African mine deal had just fallen through. Weeks of negotiation down the drain. I had lost so much sleep over it only for it just to go up in flames. The owner had decided to work with a local consultancy despite all my efforts to sweeten the deal.

Second, my coffee was cold. And third, the worst of the three, Lila Sterling, was getting engaged.

I stared at the blank screen for a full minute before I leaned back in my chair.

“She is getting engaged tonight,” Max, my best friend, said from across the office, his tone too casual for the bomb he had just dropped.

“Orion Vale is finally putting a ring on it. ” He continued. He was baiting a reaction out of me and I could feel myself falling for it.

“Hmm.” I replied, keeping my voice even. “Good for her.”

Max raised an eyebrow. “That is all you have to say?”

“It’s not like she is married yet,” I replied. “She is getting engaged, Max. Not married. There is a significant difference. Engagements can be broken. That means she is still free game. You probably don't understand semantics because you dropped out of college.”

He groaned, throwing himself into the chair opposite mine. “Jesus, Theo you don’t need to bite my head off. I am just a messenger.”

Internally, I was already seething. Of all the days, the universe had picked this one to kick me. A failed deal. A ruined morning. And now Lila Sterling was promising forever to a man who didn’t deserve to breathe the same air as her.

Max continued, he was like a dog with a bone. “So, are you going to the party?”

“No,” I replied. “The invitation is in the shredder. Plus, I have dinner with my parents. You know how my mother gets when I skip family night.”

“Ah yes, the Stavros family dinner where you need to explain why you don’t have a wife and an heir yet,” Max said dryly. I was already dreading it. My mother would have a list of suitable matches and every single time I had hoped to see one specific name on that list. But unfortunately, that was not happening tonight either.

“So you’re not going to crash her engagement, make a dramatic speech about being in love with her and then sweep her off her feet?”

I gave him a look. “That would be too easy.”

Max chuckled. “You moved halfway across the world, relocated your entire headquarters to this miserable city, all because she lives here, and you’re calling that easy?”

I smirked. “I call it… strategic positioning.”

He shook his head. “You’re unbelievable. Strategic positioning to be picked right? And what makes you think Lila would leave her picture-perfect fiancé and pick you?”

That one stung more than I cared to admit. “Because I’m richer. Smarter. And frankly, better looking.”

Max barked out a laugh. “You mean until she realizes you are insane. You flew across continents just to position yourself to wreck her relationship and all the women you have dated looked exactly like her.” His eyes flicked toward the glass wall separating my office from the reception area.

Mara, my secretary, stood there, phone pressed to her ear, her sleek blonde hair catching the light just right.

“Case in point,” Max continued, pointing outside. “You do realize she looks exactly like Lila, right?”

I didn’t answer. She was just the latest consequence of my unhealthy obsession and I was not willing to admit it.

“Christ, Theo,” he went on, rubbing a hand over his face.

“Mara knows her place,” I answered, trying to steer the conversation away from the obvious.

Max laughed. “Yeah, on her knees.”

I shot him a look, “She is efficient.”

“Efficient,” Max repeated, shaking his head. “ You are sick. Lila Sterling should be getting a restraining order on you.”

“Don’t be dramatic,” I replied, rolling my eyes. Lila had set the standard and I was just making sure I was consistent and never downgrading. How was that a bad thing? I believe someone of her caliber would appreciate it. 

He gave me a long, knowing look. “Says the man who once made his ex dye her hair because he couldn’t stand brunettes.”

“That’s not what happened.” I tried to defend myself. 

“Sure it isn’t,” he said with a grin. “You’re lucky the tabloids haven’t picked up on your little obsession yet.”

I scoffed as he left my office, probably going to flirt with Mara himself. 

Obsession. That wasn’t the right word. It sounded a bit dirty and creepy.

I wasn’t obsessed. I was… focused. And it was time I made my move.

.

.

.

.

A day later, my world stopped.

I was halfway through a meeting when Max burst into my office. I was surprised he was hanging around my office that early.

“Turn on Channel 8,” he said.

I frowned but reached for the remote and the presenter's voice filled the room with news that made my blood run cold.

For a moment, the words didn’t make sense. They couldn’t.

“Jesus Christ,” Max whispered, looking at me. 

On the screen, when Orion Vale appeared, I turned the TV off before I put my fist through it.

“She didn’t fall,” I said flatly.

Max looked at me worried. “Theo…” he began, but I cut him short.

“She didn’t fall.” I insisted. There was no way anything they were saying was remotely true.

He swallowed. “You think something happened to her?”

“I think something is not right.”

“And the intern?” he asked.

“What intern?” I replied confused. No intern had been mentioned.

Max hesitated. “Apparently, one of your employees was there. A girl named Sera Hale. People are saying she tried to save Lila but Lila pulled her over the edge with her. She thankfully landed on an awning surviving with minor injuries.”

I stilled. “Sera Hale works for me?” 

“She has been interning under the finance department," Max replied.

“Convenient,” I murmured.

“What is?” Max asked, clearly not joining the dots.

“Don’t you find it convenient that a lowly intern from my company was there? That she just happened to be the last person to see Lila alive?”

He frowned. “Theo, don’t start.”

I leaned back, my mind racing. “You don’t find that suspicious?”

“Coincidences happen. Maybe she was there as a plus one.”

There was no way to prove it yet, but something in my gut told me Sera Hale was lying or hiding something. The world was conveniently letting her off the hook, but I wasn’t. If I found out she had something to do with Lila's fall, she would wish she had fallen to her death that night instead.