Chapter 4: Really? Death by group chat?

His eyes, dark and predatory, swept over the crowd until they slammed into mine.

I went pale. My heart, which had been a steady drum of professional confidence only minutes ago, began to thrash against my ribs like a dying bird.

He didn't say a word to me. He simply looked away, moving toward the managers with a terrifyingly calm grace.

But the damage was done. My world had been crushed to rubble in a single second.

Just when I’d finally stood up to my bullies, the universe had decided to make the man I’d assaulted with a kiss, my absolute ruler.

“Miss Vale?” A cold, oily voice whispered in my ear.

I flinched. Lucy Grueil was standing there, her eyes narrowed with suspicious delight. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Or is it that you’ve already managed to offend the CEO before he even reached his desk?”

I glared at her, trying to regain my composure.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Lucy,” I snapped, my voice trembling despite my best efforts. “I was just... startled by the security detail.”

“Startled? You look like you’re waiting for an execution.” She smirked, leaning in. “I’ve never seen you this shaken. Do you know him?”

Her question caught me off guard.

My heart skipped a beat as my eyes simultaneously flickered with panic.

“How could I possibly? I don’t have time for your fantasies,” I muttered, turning back to my desk.

The morning was a blur of everything bad. I threw myself into my work, burying my head in spreadsheets, trying to convince myself that maybe he hadn't recognized me.

He couldn't possibly have... could he?

It was dark in the car. I’d been wearing a red suit then, not this plain office attire. Maybe to a man like Lucien Blackthorne, I was just a blurred face in a long night.

God!

He would have said something if he'd recognised me, right?

I sighed with frustration. I couldn't focus on anything! He hadn't even said a word to me, and my entire life was already turned upside down!

"For fuck’s sake." I cussed under my breath.

Then came the summons.

“Ariana, the CEO wants the marketing leads in the conference room for the project kickoff,” my supervisor called out.

My stomach dropped into my shoes.

I walked into the meeting room with my head lowered, my hair acting as a curtain to hide my pale face. I found a seat at the far end of the long mahogany table, praying to be invisible.

Lucien was at the head of the room, his presence so large it felt like he was swallowing the oxygen in the room.

I scoffed at the stupid joke that had popped up in my head at such a crucial, terrifying moment.

'He's literally taking your breath away, Ariana.'

As the meeting began, he remained professional. He spoke of expansion, of dominance, of a new era for Blackthorne Conglomerate.

Slowly, I started to breathe again. He hadn't looked at me once. Maybe I was safe. Maybe I could just be Employee #402, and we could both forget that reckless moment on the sidewalk.

Then, he took out his phone.

“I’ve prepared the initial benchmarks for the Magma City campaign,” Lucien said, his voice a low, vibrating baritone. He plugged his phone into the projector cable to share the screen.

Suddenly, the massive 4K monitor at the front of the room flickered to life. But it wasn't a spreadsheet.

Ping. Ping. Ping.

The sound of incoming texts echoed through the room’s speakers. Everyone froze. My eyes darted to the screen, and my blood turned to ice.

"What the..."

[MOM]: YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND? BRING HER HOME IMMEDIATELY!

[MOM]: LUCIEN, DO NOT IGNORE ME. THE WHOLE CLAN IS TALKING.

The room went deathly silent. The marketing team exchanged wide-eyed glances, terrified to breathe. Lucien’s hand froze over the device, his jaw tightening so hard I thought his teeth might crack.

[MOM]: DO NOT DENY IT. WE HAVE EVIDENCE.

The next second, the screen was flooded. Row after row of the same image populated the display. It was grainy, taken from a distance, but the silhouettes were unmistakable.

My head spun.

A man in a high-end suit. A woman in a crimson jacket. Her arms were hooked around his neck, her face buried against his as they kissed with a desperation that looked, on screen, like pure passion.

My chair creaked as I instinctively tried to shrink into the floorboards. The damn earth refused to open up and swallow me.

It was only my back in the photo, but I felt stark naked.

Lucien didn't look at the screen. Slowly, deliberately, he turned his head. His gaze cut through the stunned silence of the room, bypassing the managers and the leads, until it locked directly onto me.

My heart clenched with terror.

He raised a single, dark eyebrow in a silent, mocking question. I flinched at how easily he'd spotted me. That could only mean one thing.

He knew!

He’d known the second he stepped off the elevator. And now, thanks to his mother, the entire Blackthorne empire was looking for the girl in the red suit.

“Meeting adjourned,” Lucien said, his voice dropping into a dangerous, velvet growl.

“Except for Miss Vale. Stay behind. We have... unfinished business to discuss regarding your 'marketing' techniques.”

The room cleared in a panicked rush, leaving me alone with the man whose life I had accidentally ruined...and whose lips I could still feel on mine.

I swallowed hard.