6. Won't stay hidden

~Esperanza's POV~

The car felt smaller than it was.

I kept staring outside, pretending the city lights were more interesting than the man sitting beside me.

But they weren’t. They were similar to the voices I could still hear in my head.

Juliana’s words were still ringing in my head.

'Perfect little incubator...'

That is what the man I loved for three years thought of me...

And my stupid ass thought I was going to be a mother and would have an amazing family with him.

How can someone be so blind?

My fingers curled in my lap as the heat in my body rose.

I hated that he saw that. Hated that he saw me shaking. Hated that he stepped in.

"You weren’t supposed to be there," The words came out before I could swallow them.

I waited for him to say something, but he didn't. Instead, he studied me as if I was going to break again.

"I know," He said, way too calmly for my liking, and that irritated me more.

Shouldn't he apologise to me?

"You were supposed to leave me there..." I continued. "You were supposed to leave."

"I never drove away," He said bluntly.

My head turned sharply, "So does that mean you were allowed to follow me?"

"What?" His eyes stayed on the road, but his grip tightened on the steering wheel. "Something didn’t feel right, I thought of checking on you.”

I let out a breath that almost sounded like a laugh.

My family never checked up on me in the past three months. And here he thought he should look after me after just one blind date.

"I didn’t need you," I firmly said.

"I know."

"Then why were you there?"

His jaw flexed slightly. Smile made its way on his... Handsome face that made me curse myself.

I wasn't supposed to be finding his jaw and flexing muscles attractive, but the way his face shone under the dim lights distracted me over and over again.

He took a deep breath that made his hard chest rise slowly, "Because you were shaking."

Shaking...

I didn't need a reminder of that.

Every word hit me hard like a rock. The whispering, judging crowd.

Evangelina faking her vulnerability... Juliana once again raising her hand to hit me...

And me...

Still being the woman that they played with. Still... I hate to admit that I still allowed them to treat me that way.

“That doesn’t mean I can’t handle them,” I said, quieter now.

I was still not in a position to take the ugly sharks of the ocean down, but I couldn't let them humiliate me again.

"I didn’t say you couldn’t," He plainly said.

His voice was steady. So steady that the calmness behind it started to unsettle me.

“You don’t know anything about them,” I whispered.

“Then tell me.”

Tell him?

No, I wasn’t doing that.

He doesn’t get to see that part of me.

Nothing would be hidden from him because he was the man who made Juliana’s jaw drop.

Of course, he had power. If he wants to know about me, he can do it on his own.

I'm not going to be weak or vulnerable in front of any man again.

"I don’t owe you my past."

"You don’t," He agreed instantly.

Then why did he have to stand for me?

His gaze met mine, and I saw a flicker in his eyes. It was just for a second, but it was so strong that it made my breath hitch.

Why was he looking at me like that?

"But don’t push me away for standing next to you."

Uh, what?

I don't want him standing next to me. I don't want any man standing next to me.

It only brought destruction, and I was already destroyed.

“I’ve dealt with worse,” I muttered.

“I figured that out," He chuckled.

There was something darker in his tone now.

Something controlled and something... Hidden behind those chuckles that I couldn't point to.

"But I don’t tolerate someone being humiliated when I’m right there.”

He does look like someone who doesn't tolerate nonsense.

But he didn't have to be part of a scene that could have his name written in the headlines tomorrow.

He didn't have to speak for me. He didn't have to stand right next to me. He didn't have to make me feel that I need a man next to me.

Or worse...

He didn't have to prove their lies that I slept around, cheated on my husband while he loved me with all his heart.

I scoffed. Carlos Mendoza never had a heat.

But Mr Rowland...

He has put me in a spot where I wouldn't be able to clear my name.

"I didn’t ask you to protect me."

He finally looked at me fully when we stopped outside Valentina’s place.

"And you don't have to.”

I don't understand. What was he trying to do?

There was no ego in his eyes or voice. Just intensity with calm authority that gave me millions of doubts about him.

But I couldn't bring myself to ask any of it. And I hope I never do.

"I didn’t want you to see that," I finally admitted.

This time, his expression shifted slightly.

His stiff shoulders seemed to relax, and his tight jaw found a moment to loosen up the tension he had built so far.

"See what?" He carefully asked.

"That version of me," I murmured.

The girl whose hands trembled. The girl who almost broke in public. The girl who was called an incubator.

I didn't want him to witness any of that...

He slowly moved towards me. Not so close, but enough to make me smell his cologne that I didn't notice till now.

His eyes bore into mine, watching me carefully as if he was counting my breath.

"That version is the reason I stayed," His voice lowered. "I saw that version behind the mask that you wore throughout the whole evening. I didn't become a CEO overnight..."

My breath caught, making me forget how to breathe.

For a second, neither of us moved. My hands went numb and my throat went dry.

And why wouldn't they?

He was studying me more than I thought he would.

"You think I followed you because I was curious?" He asked.

I don't know if he was curious or just intentional, but the way he came like a knight without armour left me in a pool of worries that I wouldn't be able to cross easily.

"I don't know..."

"Yes or no, Esperanza."

"Maybe... no..." I whispered.

“Then don’t treat me like I crossed a line.”

I chuckled. A line?

I don't even know where the line was anymore. Everyone just kept stepping on me, doing things that I could never approve of, and still, I couldn't find that line, that boundary I thought I had drawn around me years ago.

"I don’t want you dragged into this," I softly said. "You are my boss... I don't want you to get involved in any of my issues."

I couldn’t point out if it was anger or what, but his gaze darkened slightly, making me sit stiffly at my place.

"You don’t get to decide that for me," He said, a small smile on his face.

His words weren’t loud, but they were firm. And something about the way he said them... Made my pulse jump.

I wasn’t scared. But I wasn't comforted either.

There was something in between that I couldn't figure out.

"You don’t even know what you’re stepping into," I whispered.

"But it won't stay hidden for long..."

His whispers made me gulp. What does he mean by that?

"I don't want you to be a part of it..." I carefully answered.

If a word came out about him being my boss, I'm gone.

All hard work, patience, and cries of three months... I would have to start everything from square one.

"But I've become a part of it..."

God...

Why was he so difficult?

My pride told me to shut him down and create distance right away.

But my heart said he wouldn't back away.

Why?

I had no idea.

And if he didn't, I would be falling into another mess that won't be easy to clear.

He stepped out of the car and opened my door.

"Thank you," I said, forcing normalcy into my voice. "Goodnight, Mr Rowland."

His eyes held mine for a second longer than necessary, making me uncomfortable under his steady gaze.

“Goodnight… Esperanza.”

The way he said my name felt different. It didn't feel polite, or distant, just intentional in a way that wouldn't let me forget my first meeting with him.

A slow chill ran down my spine. Because in that single look, I realised he had seen too much.

And I wasn’t sure if I should feel protected or... exposed.