Chapter Four – Crossing the Threshold

The office was quiet, but the silence felt like a cage. My empire, normally a fortress of control, suddenly seemed fragile. Every phone ping, every email alert, every folded contract reminded me that even a minor misstep could ignite chaos. And yet, none of that mattered.

Selene Hawthorne had stepped into my mind the moment she entered Edward’s office that morning. I hadn’t seen her intentionally — only glimpsed her reflection in polished glass — but that was enough. Every thought I had, every calculation, every plan, now carried her shadow. I hated it. I hated myself for it. And yet, I couldn’t stop.

I tried to bury myself in work. Reviewing Edward’s contracts should have been simple — precise, mechanical, exacting. But every signature line blurred into visions of her: the curve of her neck, the subtle flare of her wrist as she gestured, the faint scent of her perfume that seemed to linger in the air even when she wasn’t there. Obsession didn’t creep. It stormed.

Marcus knocked softly, holding a folder like a shield. “Mr. Voss… Edward’s team requested this reviewed before morning.” His tone was polite, deferential, but the weight of being watched pressed down on me. I snatched the folder, flipping through the pages with a precision I no longer possessed. Mistakes that would normally be obvious now eluded me. The cracks in my focus weren’t just mine — they were the first hints of ruin.

I glanced at the office door. My gaze caught a flash of movement in the glass reflection. Selene. She was there, in the hallway, her presence effortless, unassuming, yet undeniable. She didn’t enter the office, but her awareness — just the suggestion that she noticed me — shattered the control I had painstakingly built.

By the time Edward arrived, I was already teetering on a precipice. He greeted me with that perfect, calm smile that hid a mind always calculating, always measuring. One of his subtle glances lingered too long, assessing, weighing. I met it with neutral composure, but inside, every instinct screamed: he knew. He always knew more than he let on.

The boardroom meeting stretched on, and my attention fractured. Each time Selene appeared at the edge of my vision — adjusting her sleeve, sipping water, whispering with Evelyn Drake — my pulse spiked. Desire was a blade, cutting deeper each second I resisted. Yet, I couldn’t allow it to show. Not in front of Edward. Not in front of anyone. My reputation, my empire, even my life depended on it.

Victor Lang leaned toward Lila Monroe, murmuring something under his breath. Their eyes flicked toward me, then toward her. Even the extras noticed. Everyone saw the tension that I tried desperately to mask. And in that room, I realized a horrifying truth: I wasn’t just distracted. I was unraveling.

After the meeting, a minor emergency called me to Edward’s private suite — a financial discrepancy, nothing major, yet enough to drag me into proximity with Selene again. She was there, reviewing documents alongside Edward, calm, poised, untouchable. When our eyes met — just briefly — something ignited. A spark I had no right to feel, a fire that whispered treason.

I told myself it was professionalism, nothing more. But the heat between us was undeniable. Her awareness of me was subtle — a tilt of her head, a glance I couldn’t mistake, a faint smirk that suggested she knew the effect she had. And I hated it. Hated her. Hated myself. But I was powerless.

By the time I left the suite, coffee in hand and heart hammering, the first mistakes of the day had already stacked against me. A contract I had glanced over contained a minor error. A team member raised a question I hadn’t fully prepared for. And yet, it wasn’t the mistakes that worried me most. It was her. Selene Hawthorne. Dangerous, poised, and entirely forbidden.

I stepped into the night air, cold against my face, and tried to tell myself: resist, control, survive. But desire had already crossed the threshold. It wasn’t a battle anymore — it was a war. And I was losing.