LOGINOlivia;I stop outside Caspian’s office and draw in a slow breath, trying to get myself under control before I walk in. If he has called me here because he is finally ready to deal with my resignation, then I will deal with it. I may hate the humiliation that comes with it, but my life will continue after Fender Empire, and I need to remember that before I open this door.I push the door open and step inside.Diantha is already there, seated comfortably on the couch in the middle of the room with her legs crossed, scrolling through her phone unbothered like someone who has every right to be there. Caspian sits behind his desk with his eyes fixed on his laptop screen, and he does not look up when I enter.I walk forward until I am standing in front of his desk and wait, bracing myself for the conversation I have been expecting since Barrett opened his mouth.“I’ve sent some important files to your email,” he says instead, keeping his attention on the screen. “You and Diantha will start
Olivia;The moment Caspian gets to his feet and walks out of the meeting hall, the silence behind him lasts barely three seconds.Then everyone starts talking.Staff lean toward one another, their voices low as the same shocked comments move around the room. His wedding. The salary raise. The fact that he has managed to turn his own ceremony into another company event. Chairs scrape against the floor as people begin getting up.Calista and I rise at the same time and head toward the door together. We move fast, both of us trying to reach the elevators before somebody traps us in another conversation.“Olivia!” A voice calls from behind.I know that voice immediately, and of course it has to be him. My eyes roll so hard they almost hurt.“Keep walking,” I whisper to Calista. “Don’t look back.”Calista being Calista, looks over her shoulder. Her mouth twists. “Too late. He’s here.”I put on the most polite smile I can manage and turn around.Barrett stands a few steps behind us with his
Olivia; I pick it up.“Report to my office,” he says immediately.That is all I get before the call ends.I get up, smooth my blouse, and walk into his office. He does not look away from his screen when I enter.“Announce an emergency meeting with the marketing, planning, and finance teams. Immediately.”“Yes, sir.”I return to my desk and type the message into the relevant group chats. Once it is sent, I glance at his office door and wonder why this man loves emergency meetings so much. Does he wake up and choose panic for the rest of us?A few minutes later, his office door opens. He steps out, adjusts his cuffs, and looks in my direction.“Come with me.”I get up and follow him to the elevators. He presses the button for the second floor, and when the doors close, the two of us are alone.I stay a little behind him with my eyes fixed on the glowing floor numbers because looking at him feels like a terrible idea today.Then the cold storage room pushes into my head.His arms around
Olivia;What is wrong with my body?Why does it feel like something that was mine has been stolen? I keep wiping my cheeks, yet the tears keep coming back, and I cannot make sense of them. The message was about Caspian, of all people, and his wedding should mean nothing to me. I should be annoyed by his ridiculous timing, laugh at the fact that he announced his wedding in a management group chat, and move on with my life. So why does my chest ache like I have lost something?Calista snaps her fingers in front of me, dragging me out of the mess inside my head. I jerk back against the passenger seat, my heart kicking hard against my ribs.She stares at me with wide eyes. “Girl, where did you just go? And why are you crying?”Heat rushes into my face. I wipe my cheeks with the back of my hand, but another tear slides down before I can catch it.“I... I don’t know what just happened,” I say, hating how strange my own voice sounds. “That message hit me and suddenly it was like something in
Olivia;I push the door to my apartment open and drag my suitcase inside. My limbs ache with exhaustion from the trip, and all I want is to fall face-first onto my bed and stay there for the next twelve hours.I am halfway across the living room when someone rings my doorbell, stopping me in my tracks. Who is monitoring me so closely that they know the exact second I get home? And who shows up at my door without calling first?I tip my head back, let out a long, frustrated breath, and scratch my fingers through my messy hair before walking back to the door. I try the dashcam screen, but the thing is broken, which is exactly what I need today. I never have time to fix anything in this place.I unlock the door and pull it open.Nox is standing on my doorstep holding a bouquet of flowers.I can only stare at him at first. Then I lean out and look up and down the empty street because there has to be some chance he has confused my apartment with somebody else’s. When I look back at him, he
Caspian;I fold my arms and count in my head, more out of boredom than interest. He does not make it to forty seconds before a strained grunt carries down from upstairs, and I glance at my watch because she actually paid for that.I whistle under my breath while I wait for Lumi to come down, already thinking about the conversation we need to have. I do not care who she pays to sleep with her. What I care about is the agreement she signed and the way she has been behaving since the engagement party. The jealousy, the drama in Beijing, refusing my calls, all of it is becoming a problem at the exact point when I need the arrangement to do its job.Her footsteps finally reach the stairs. Lumi appears at the top completely naked, her hair messy and her skin flushed from sex. She makes it halfway down before she notices me sitting on the couch and stops.“When did you get back?” she asks.I rise, put both hands into my pockets, and look at her. “This one didn’t last two minutes.”She exhale







