Chapter 6

CHLOE'S POV

Two weeks.

That’s how long it had been since Elias Rourke last looked me in the eye for more than a flicker of silence. Two weeks of silence, distance, and the occasional coldly professional instruction with attitude.

And yet, every time I looked up, he was there either passing by, pausing near,listening in,always watching but never speaking.

And I hated that I noticed.

I hated more that it affected me that the coldness he left behind had made a hole in my chest.

...

“Lunch?” Gavin asked, popping his head over my desk followed with a smile so easy it almost didn’t fit in the same building as Elias Rourke.

He was holding two takeaway bags.

“Let me guess,” I said, already smiling. “Spicy dumplings?”

“And a cold soda, because you looked like someone on the edge of committing corporate homicide this morning.”

I laughed and stood to join him. “Only at mild manslaughter levels now, thanks.”

“Good,” he said, holding out the bag. “Eat with me. I want to hear you complain about boardroom power dynamics. It’s weirdly soothing.”

We made our way to the break room,one of the few places in the Rourke building,where the air didn’t feel like it had to pass a dress code. Gavin pulled out a chair for me, and I settled down, relaxing for the first time all day.

“Tell me something real,” he said as we unboxed the food. “No work talk. No numbers. Just you.”

I paused, surprised. “Something real?”

He nodded, biting into a dumpling. “Go on. What do you think about at night when the world goes quiet?”

I hesitated. “...That I’m scared of being invisible. Of being someone people rely on but never really see.”

He looked up slowly.

And at that moment, Gavin King didn’t flirt. He didn’t joke. He didn’t even smile.

He just saw me.

“You’re not invisible,” he said quietly. “Not to anyone who is paying attention.”

My heart stuttered.

I didn’t respond,I just took a sip of my soda and looked away.

...

Fifteen minutes later, we were still talking (we had forgotten our dumplings, our chairs moved closer without us realizing)then I felt it.

That shift in air pressure. That silence that sucked the warmth out of the room.

Elias Rourke.

He stood just outside the glass wall, his sharp suit catching the light, his eyes fixed not on Gavin… but on me.

He didn’t knock,didn’t move.

I just stood there until I turned.

“Miss Hart,” he said. “A moment.”

I stood slowly, pulse ticking in my throat. Gavin gave me a look of concern.

I followed Elias out of the room,softly following behind him as he led the way to his office. He didn’t wait for me to catch up with him. We walked into his office and the door shut behind us.

“Was there something urgent?” I asked, keeping my tone steady.

He faced the window, hands in his pockets, eyes fixed on the sky.

“You have been spending a lot of time lately with Mr. King.”

I blinked.

“He is a colleague.”

Elias turned slowly, his face unreadable. “And is that all?”

I stared at him. “Are you asking me that as my boss?”

There was a pause.

“I’m asking as someone who expects decency in this office,” he said finally. “friendship compromises judgement".

I bit the inside of my cheek, steadying myself.

“I haven’t compromised anything.”

“You left your office for forty minutes today.”

“It was my lunch break.”

He stepped closer. But it was enough to shift the entire gravity of the room.

“I expect you to remember who you work for, Miss Hart.”

I held his gaze. “Do you?”

The words left me before I could stop them. They came out softly but sharp.

His expression didn’t change. But his jaw tightened.

“You’re dismissed.”

I didn’t say another word.

I walked out, pulse running, chest tight. I didn’t cry,I didn't breathe, I just walked until I reached the stairwell and leaned against the cool wall.

...

“Hey.” Gavin’s voice reached me a few minutes after I returned to my desk. “You okay?”

I nodded. “Yeah. Just uhmmm… just tired.”

He didn’t ask more. He just sat beside me and opened the rest of my lunch container, nudging it toward me.

“Then let me keep the conversation going while you eat.”

We talked about meaningless things like his terrible taste in N*****x shows, how Nina was trying to matchmake the assistants again, and why the office espresso machine had started growling like a wolf.

I laughed again, but this time I felt different.

Like the wounds in me were starting to shift into something else. Something… dangerous.

Because for the first time, I wondered if being kind in this world made me a target.

And for the first time, I wasn’t sure I was willing to keep being soft for a man who only noticed my presence when someone else appreciated it first.

Outside the glass wall, Elias passed by again.

And this time, I didn’t look up.

I just focused on my work.

…

Lost in my thoughts, I was brought out by the sound of Nina hitting my desk

“Hello Mrs King” she said with a smirk on her face.

I looked at her in shock.

“What did you just call me?”

“Girlll you heard me right” She said in between laughs.

“ I am not married to him Nina, he is just a friend,” I replied.

“ Yeah right…..But you'll be his wife soon, baby girl. I can see the chemistry between you two” she giggled and walked away.

I just sat there dumbfounded as I watched her walk away.

I continued thinking about what happened earlier between Elias and I.

I shouldn't have been that rude, but he deserves it. Because he can't keep treating me like trash when alone and then acts concerned when I am with someone else. Anyways I would just have to avoid him.