登入~TYLA~When Cassian sat down right next to me, I expected him to mock me.A successful man like him would laugh at my small company's disaster so I thought he would use my weakness to force that business contract into my hands.But he didn't laugh. He just stretched out his long legs and stared at the city streets ahead of us."Who did it?" he asked. He didn’t sound arrogant like he usually was. It was just a normal question.I looked down at my shoes, biting my lip."We don't know yet. A programmer wiped our files and cloud backups at noon and that resulted to five months of our project been swept off. And now, everyone is panicking."I waited for him to say his company was pulling out of our deal we were even yet to finalise because no company would want to sign a deal with a company at stake.Instead, Cassian just listened.He didn't cut me off once or offer any cheap comfort.He just gave me space to breathe out the heavy stress that was already crushing my chest."It hurts most w
~CASSIAN~The tech reports were right in front of me on my desk but I hadn't read a single line.My mind was completely somewhere else.Every time my office went quiet, I kept seeing Tyla's face from last night."Mr. Virell?" my secretary’s voice came through the desk intercom. "The harbor transport logs are ready for your signature.""Bring them in," I said, rubbing my forehead.But when the office doors opened, it wasn't my secretary.It was Marcus.Marcus walked in, he looked dead serious and I knew something was up."Sir, there is a problem at Aegis Tech," Marcus said stepping closer."The new project they were building for our shipping lines was compromised this morning. A huge chunk of their core data files was deleted."I sat up straight in my chair. My eyes narrowed as I questioned. "Did someone hack them?""No," Marcus said. "Our security division checked the system footprint. It looks like it is an internal sabotage. Someone inside their development team intentionally wiped
~CASSIAN~"What do you think you are doing?" Tyla screamed angrily. "Are you a pervert? Get out!"I did not move right away. My eyes stayed locked on her flushed face."I am not a pervert," I said, forcing my voice to stay level. "I was walking to my study. Your door was wide open. I was simply going to close it.""Then why are you still standing there?" she fired back. She stepped behind, trying to hide more of her bare legs. "Why are you still looking at me?""I am not looking," I lied flatly."You are looking right now!" Tyla shouted. She looked so furious and embarrassed. "Shut the door!"Before I could say another word, she lunged forward.She grabbed the edge of the door and slammed it shut right in my face.I stood in the corridor for a long moment.I looked utterly confused.No one had ever slammed a door in my face in my entire life.I was Cassian Virell.People trembled when I walked into a room.Yet this woman treated me like a common criminal in my own home.I rubbed my fo
~CASSIAN~The folder Marcus dropped on my desk looked very thick which enough made me even more interested about Tyla.I leaned back in my leather chair. I stared at the black cover while Marcus stood on the other side of the desk. He looked tired."Is that everything?" I asked."Yes, Mr. Virell," Marcus said. "But the data does not match what we thought. There is no corporate spy angle."I narrowed my eyes. "What do you mean?""She was married for the last five years," Marcus explained. "She married Matthew Wilson, the CEO of the Wilson Group. But the marriage was completely hidden from the public. She worked as his personal assistant for four years, she sat at a tiny desk outside his office to maintain public image and never for once had they been intimate in public. Also, she lived in a guest room in his house."I stared at the papers. My jaw tightened. How would any reasonable man treat his own wife like that?"Why did he hide his own wife?""It was more or less like an arranged m
~MATT~The word choose still lingered in my head.It sat heavily in my chest, making it hard to breathe.I couldn’t stay in that dining room anymore and neither was the villa in general where I wanted to stay for now.Looking at Kenny’s hunched shoulders only made the guilt in my chest worsen. I couldn't face Grandma's glares either.I grabbed my car keys from the hook by the door. "Kenny," I said, my voice softer than usual. "Get your sneakers on. We are going out."He blinked up at me, surprised. "Where are we going, Daddy?""Anywhere you want," I replied, opening the front door.Twenty minutes later, we were sitting in a brightly lit diner somewhere around the city.Tyla had always kept Kenny on a strict and healthy diet especially on a weeknight but tonight, I didn't care about the rules.I ordered him a big double-cheeseburger, a mountain of french fries, alongside a big bowl of chocolate ice cream that had a lot of colorful sprinkles.Kenny’s eyes widened to the size of saucers
~MATT~A sleek white UV arrived. It was the Henderson family dropping off their six-year-old son, George.Tyla had arranged this playdate weeks ago, long before she packed her bags and vanished into the night.I had completely forgotten about it until the butler informed me this morning. Part of me wanted to cancel it, but Grandma insisted that Kenny needed the distraction."Hi, Kenny!" George shouted as he saw Kenny from a distance. He had a small robotic toy in his hands.Kenny, who had been sitting quietly on the bottom step of the staircase for the past hour, forced a small smile on seeing his friend. "Hi, George.""Look what my mum bought me!" George exclaimed, thrusting the toy forward.“She said if I was a good boy during our family vacation to Hawaii next week, she would get me the matching spaceship too! We are going to swim with dolphins. My dad already booked the whole resort."Kenny’s smile faltered a little as his eyes dropped to the plastic robot. "That’s cool.""Where i
~OLIVIA~I sat on my sofa. I traced the edge of my diamond ring while a smirk appeared on my face.Then suddenly, my phone buzzed and I swiped the screen open instantly, expecting Matt's name.Instead, a text message popped up from a private number with no caller ID.“The suite at the Grand Horizon
~MATT~I stood in the hallway for a long moment, as I tried to shake off the stress of the workday.David had been a mess, and I had already requested another replacement PA from the HR department. Deep down, though, I knew it wouldn't solve anything.Nothing in my life had made sense since that hi
~CASSIAN~I stood completely still in the middle of the room. My mind could not process what I was seeing.This was not possible.Elowen had never reacted this way to anyone.She hadn’t acted this way to her private teachers and even to the most expensive doctors I had employed for her.For two yea
~TYLA~Cassian.An arrogant tyrant. That was exactly what he was.I hadn't cared about his deal when he had shown no interest before in that gala.But now that he had finally decided to show up, after we had come all the way here, he thought he could just disregard us?Like I hadn't spent the entir







