Chapter 5 Upgrading Status

          At exactly one o'clock in the afternoon, Lalita stepped out of the server control room with an indescribable feeling fluttering in her stomach. It wasn't just the fullness from the delicious grilled salmon teriyaki bento that the deadpan man had offered her. It was a strange, tingling sensation swirling in her chest every time she recalled his handsome face leaning in so close that their noses almost touched.

'If I catch you sneaking out that door to go find that bastard... I will permanently lock the password to your life, Lalita.'

That threat, dripping with extreme possessiveness, still echoed in her ears. The young woman reached up and patted her own cheeks lightly to snap herself back to reality. She walked past Bhakin’s desk outside. The tall man was sitting there with a stoic expression, his fingers flying across the keyboard as he typed lines of code on his screen. He didn’t even glance up at her. It was as if the steamy encounter in the server room an hour ago was nothing more than a hallucination she had conjured up herself.

Lita tilted her chin up, feigning an air of indifference as she strutted past his desk toward the elevator. Yet, right at the exact moment the elevator doors began to slide shut, those piercing eyes behind the silver lenses flicked up. He locked eyes with her through the narrowing gap of the doors. It was a gaze radiating such absolute authority and unconcealed possession that the PR queen felt her entire face burn scorching hot.

The second she arrived back on the twenty-eighth floor, an atmosphere of suffocating pressure slammed into her.

"Lita, babe! Where the hell have you been for the past three or four hours?!"

P'Whan, the PR manager, practically lunged at her with a deeply stressed expression.

"Do you have any idea how furious Khun Krit is about being stood up for lunch? The big boss called and chewed me out so badly my ears are ringing!"

"I was trapped in the server room, P'Whan. The IT department said my machine was infected with highly dangerous malware. I had to be urgently quarantined for security checks. I didn't mean to ditch the client," Lita smoothly rattled off the excuse (which she now knew was a complete lie).

"Oh my god! Why did those IT geeks have to mess up the system today of all days?!"

P'Whan grumbled, shoving a small sticky note into Lita's hand.

"Alright, since lunch was a disaster, Khun Krit issued an ultimatum. You have to join him for dinner tonight to make up for it, and there will be absolutely no more excuses about security systems. He’s already booked a VIP private room at a rooftop French restaurant in a luxury hotel. You have to go, Lita! That's a direct order from the boss!"

Lita looked down at the hotel name and the time—'19:00'—written on the note, feeling as though a massive boulder had just been dropped on her chest. Her slender fingers crumpled the paper tightly.

Krit truly wasn't going to let this go. This man was far too accustomed to using his money and power to force people into giving him whatever he wanted. And right now, he was using this billion-baht project as a chain around her neck.

"Understood, P'Whan. I'll go."

She replied softly, forcing a brave smile despite the suffocating weight dragging down her heart.

After clearing her paperwork, Lita took the elevator down to the underground parking lot, getting ready to drive to her appointment. The atmosphere in the basement garage after work hours was dead quiet and chillingly cold. The dim lighting made the space feel inexplicably eerie. She fished the car keys out of her designer shoulder bag, preparing to unlock her trusty top-tier Japanese sports car.

However, the tall, imposing figure in an expensive suit leaning against the hood of her car made her stop dead in her tracks.

"Krit..." Lita murmured, her eyes widening in shock. "What are you doing here? Why aren't you waiting at the restaurant?"

"I'm here to pick up my date, of course, Lita."

Krit offered a lopsided smirk. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he strolled toward her with a distinctly predatory swagger.

"It's hardly gentlemanly to let a woman drive herself. We should take my car. It's parked right over there in the VIP zone."

"No, thank you. It's more convenient for me to take my own car. That way, I can head straight back to my condo after dinner," Lita rejected him firmly, trying to sidestep him to reach the driver's side door.

But Krit stepped into her path, using his body to completely block her car door.

"Don't be stubborn, Lita. You used to love whining and begging me to drive you everywhere. I even went out of my way to pick you up in your favorite car today."

Her ex-boyfriend stepped closer, forcing Lita to back away. But right behind her was a massive concrete pillar. She was cornered. The overpowering stench of Krit's cologne invaded her nose. It no longer made her swoon like it had in the past; instead, it made her feel nauseous and so suffocated she could barely breathe.

"Back off, Khun Krit. I already told you I'm driving myself." Lita lowered her voice defensively, trying to maintain her distance.

"We need to discuss work. And we need to discuss us, Lita."

Krit ignored her protests. He reached out and forcefully grabbed Lita's slender upper arm, yanking her forward until her delicate frame collided against his chest.

"Stop playing hard to get. I know that deep down, you're still waiting for me. You running around playing the hot girl and throwing your charm at everyone is just your way of crying out for my attention, isn't it?"

"Let go of me, Krit! You are way too full of yourself! I am not waiting for you, and your touch absolutely disgusts me!" Lita yelled, trying with all her might to shake him off. But a woman's strength was no match for a grown man's. Krit squeezed her arm even harder until pain shot through it.

"Such a smart mouth, Lita. Let me refresh your memory on just how sweetly you used to moan my name."

Krit growled, out of patience. He dipped his head down, aiming to forcefully nuzzle into the soft, white crook of Lita's neck with ravenous lust.

Lita's eyes widened in sheer panic. She squeezed her eyes shut and whipped her face away for dear life.

Grab!!

A large hand, strong as a pair of iron tongs, reached out from behind. It violently seized the collar of Krit's expensive suit jacket and yanked him backward so hard that the ex-boyfriend went flying away from Lita, slamming against the hood of the car with a heavy thud.

"Ouch! What the hell?!" Krit bellowed, furiously scrambling to regain his footing.

Lita snapped her eyes open in shock. A split second later, a powerful arm hooked around her, yanking her delicate frame safely behind a very familiar, broad back. A back clad in a simple dress shirt, yet one that radiated the absolute safest, most secure feeling in the entire world.

Bhakin stood towering there. The piercing eyes behind his silver frames blazed with a raging inferno ready to burn everything in its path to ashes. His sharp jaw was locked so tight the veins at his temples bulged. The raw, ruthless, and murderous aura pouring off him made the entire parking garage suddenly feel terrifyingly chilling.

"I believe I warned you already, didn't I? Not to cross the line into the personal space of my employee."

Bhakin didn't shout. But his voice was so low, so brutally cold, and so dripping with authority that it sent a shiver straight down the spine of anyone listening.

Krit straightened the lapels of his suit jacket, glaring at Bhakin with profound disdain.

"You again, you damn computer repairman?! What gives you the right to butt into my business with Lita, huh? It's after working hours! Those bullshit security protocols of yours don't apply here!"

"I didn't come here to discuss computer systems."

Bhakin shifted his stance, shielding Lita even more comprehensively. One large hand reached back, wrapping around the young woman's slender waist in a loose but undeniably firm grip.

"I am here as this woman's 'personal protector'."

That blatant, deadpan declaration left both Krit and Lita with their jaws on the floor.

"Personal protector? Hah! Who the hell do you think you are, you loser? Do you honestly think Lita would stoop so low as to date a paycheck-to-paycheck computer repairman like you?" Krit sneered. "Lita loves designer brands. She loves the high life. The only man worthy of her is an executive like me, not some pathetic loser who spends his days typing code."

Lita shook with rage. She was about to lunge forward and scream at Krit, but the large hand resting on her waist squeezed firmly, silently forbidding her from stepping in.

Bhakin was completely unfazed by the condescending insults. The corner of his mouth twitched into a smirk—a smile so icy and dripping with absolute superiority on every dimensional level.

"A smart woman knows perfectly well," Bhakin began, "whether she should upgrade her life's system with a programmer who cherishes and maintains her flawlessly, or if she should downgrade herself by mingling with a garbage virus that looks shiny on the outside, but is utterly rotten to the core."

"You piece of shit! Who are you calling garbage?!" Krit completely lost his temper. He lunged forward, drawing his fist back to punch Bhakin in the face.

But with lightning-fast reflexes and the martial arts training drilled into him since childhood as the heir to a powerful family, Bhakin merely sidestepped the punch with effortless grace. With his right hand, he snatched Krit's wrist, twisted it painfully behind the man's back, and ruthlessly slammed the ex-boyfriend face-first into the hood of the car.

BANG!!

"Ugh! Let me go, damn it!" Krit howled in agony.

"Remember this..." Bhakin hissed a brutal, lethal whisper right into Krit's ear. "Don't you ever lay your filthy hands on my woman again. If you want to live long enough to spend the money from your bullshit project... get the hell out of my sight!"

The tall man shoved Krit away so violently that the other man stumbled and collapsed onto the ground. Krit stared up at Bhakin with a mix of sheer terror and vindictive hatred. He had never imagined that a supposedly average computer tech would possess such monstrous strength or exude such a terrifying aura. The man scrambled to his feet, brushed the dust off his suit, and limped back to his own car in a blind fury.

Once the threat was gone, the parking garage returned to dead silence. Lita stood rooted to the spot, trembling all over. She wasn't shaking out of fear of Krit; she was shaking from the adrenaline rush and the fiercely protective dominance of the man standing in front of her.

Bhakin turned back to face her. The blazing fire in his sharp eyes softened just a fraction when he saw the young woman's pale face. He let out a long sigh before grabbing her slender wrist, pulling her along to follow him.

"Wait, Khun Bhakin, where are you taking me? My car is right here."

"To my car," he issued a short, absolute command. "From now on, I will be the one driving you. Your emotional system is currently unstable. Letting you drive will only result in a crash."

Lita was half-dragged, half-led all the way to the executive VIP parking zone. Her eyes bulged when she saw the vehicle Bhakin unlocked with his remote. It wasn't some budget-friendly Japanese eco-car like regular employees drove. It was a pitch-black, luxury European SUV. A top-tier model that cost easily in the eight figures. Its exterior might look sleek and understated to the untrained eye, but one glance was enough to tell that the materials and build were the absolute pinnacle of premium.

What kind of Head of IT drives a luxury beast like this?!

Before Lita could even voice her question, Bhakin pulled open the passenger door and swiftly ushered her inside. He then walked around the hood and slid into the driver's seat.

The atmosphere inside the cabin, outfitted in sporty beige genuine leather, was intimate and highly private. The faint scent of the car's air freshener blended flawlessly with Bhakin's signature cologne. It was a deep, intoxicating aroma that felt so warm and inviting that Lita subconsciously inhaled it deep into her lungs.

"Buckle up," Bhakin reminded her smoothly as he started the engine.

Lita was still reeling from the shock of the altercation, completely compounded by her sheer bewilderment over the car. Her slender hands trembled slightly as she tried to pull the seatbelt across to click it into the buckle, but it kept snagging because her nerves were still glitching.

"Damn it. Why is everything malfunctioning right now?" she muttered in frustration.

"Sit still."

The husky voice murmured from dangerously close. Bhakin unbuckled his own seatbelt and leaned his large frame across the center console toward her. His muscular body hovered over hers in such close proximity that his broad chest unavoidably brushed against the soft swell of her breasts.

The young woman gasped, holding her breath. Her large eyes widened as his handsome face hovered mere centimeters from hers. His gaze was directed downward at the seatbelt buckle, yet his scorching breath ghosted over the sensitive, pale skin of her neck, sending an electric shiver through every single inch of her body.

Click...

The seatbelt slid neatly into the buckle. But Bhakin didn't pull away immediately. He kept his arm braced against the back of her seat, his face still hovering intimately close. His fierce, hawk-like eyes flicked up, locking onto hers at point-blank range.

In the confined space of the cabin, the emotional tension skyrocketed to critical mass. Lita could feel the searing heat radiating from his body. Her full chest rose and fell rapidly with her breathless pants, inadvertently pressing against his rock-hard chest.

"Next time..." Bhakin's voice was a low, incredibly sexy rasp that made her heart stutter. "If that bastard ever tries to touch you again, you have my full authorization to use my name."

"Use it... to say what?" Lita asked, her voice trembling. Her brain completely short-circuited under the spell of that dangerously magnetic gaze.

Bhakin leaned in closer until his deeply defined lips feather-brushed against her soft cheek. It wasn't an invasive touch, but rather a profoundly possessive and demanding caress.

"Tell them your heart and body are fully password-protected—and this Head of IT has already locked them down as his 'private property'."