CHAPTER 10 - Lines You Can’t Cross Back

After Ana scrambled her way out of his office, Cole remained still for a long time before finally going back to the files. He flipped to the last page this time he saw a timestamp and an internal message log. He saw that the message was not from Leah; it was from Ana, and the date did not match anything she had told him. Cole leaned back in his chair, his mind racing. "What if I was wrong?” he muttered to himself

Leah POV

I sat at my desk, eyes fixed on the laptop, as my fingers moved steadily across the keyboard. I was working on the numbers, projection, and strategy layers of the project, but something wasn’t aligning no matter how I looked at it. “You’ve been staring at that for twenty minutes." his voice startled me

Mark stood a few steps behind me; I hadn’t heard him walk in.

“You’re still here,” I said.

He didn’t answer me immediately; instead, he walked closer, glancing briefly at her screen.

“You’re forcing it,” he said.

I leaned my back slightly. “It’s not adding up.” I said

“That’s because you’re trying to solve it the same way twice.” he replied

I started to say, "That's not…” but he cut me off before I could finish speaking

“It is,” he said calmly.

I let out a soft breath, closing the laptop halfway. “Maybe I’m just tired.” I said to him

Mark didn’t argue with that. He pulled a chair slightly to the side and sat beside me casually.

“You’ve been here since morning,” he said.

“You noticed?” I asked

“I notice patterns," he replied

“Of course you do," I said with a smile. There was a brief silence between us, but it felt peaceful.

“Why didn’t you go home?” he asked, finally breaking the silence

I didn’t answer immediately; looking down at my hands, I thought of the question for a moment before replying, “If I stop,” she said quietly, “I start thinking.”

“About what?” he asked

I let out a small breath.

“Everything I walked away from.” I said there was a brief pause, "And everything I didn’t.” I continued

“Do you regret it?” Mark asked, leaning in slightly.

"No," I replied without thinking. "But that doesn’t mean it was easy.” I continued

Mark nodded. “That’s usually how you know it was the right decision.” he replied

I looked at him. “You say that like you’ve done it before.” I said

“I have," he replied

Studying him now, “Do you believe in coincidence?” I asked

“No," he replied

“Then what do you believe in?”

“Timing and decisions," he replied. “Plus people who are forced to make them," he continued.

“You knew who I was when I walked in that day.” I ask

"Yes, I do.” Mark replied

“And you still hired me.” I said

"Yes," he plied casually

“So it wasn’t totally about my qualifications that you hired me." I continued

He did not deny it. "No," he said

“What was it also about?” I asked

He paused briefly before replying, "You were already leaving,” he said.

I frowned. “What does that mean?” I asked

Mark met my gaze. “Most people don’t walk away when things break; they stay, adjust themselves, and tolerate.” I listened to him quietly. “You didn’t,” he continued. “You left, and that tells me everything I need to know."

I looked away briefly, taking in what he had just said

“So this was intentional,” I said quietly.

"Yes," he replied

“And putting me against Cole? ”.

"Yes," he replied.

I let out a soft breath. "That's a risk.” I said

“So are you," he said, his tone indifferent.

For a moment, I felt truly seen and that felt unfamiliar but somewhat safe

"You're not worried I’ll fail?” I asked again

Mark stood slowly. “I don’t hire people I expect to fail.”

I looked up at him. “And if I do?” I asked

Holding my gaze "Then you learn faster," he said

Back at Cole’s residence, Cole rarely stayed standing during conversations. Ana noticed this difference.

“You wanted to see me?” she asked lightly.

"Yes," he said calmly.

Stepping closer, "What's wrong?” she asked

Cole didn’t reply to her question. Instead, he picked up a file from the desk and placed it between them. “Explain this," he demanded

Ana glanced down at the file. “I don’t understand,” she said.

Cole watched her. “You will," he replied

She picked up the file and flipped through it. “Cole, this is just…” she began

“The dates don’t match,” he said, cutting her mid-sentence.

“That happens sometimes…” she said calmly.

“These were edited," Cole said. There was a brief silence between them, before Ana replied

“Are you accusing me of something?” she asked

Cole stepped closer. “I’m asking you a question.” he said

Ana held his gaze. “And I’m answering it.” she replied

“No,” Cole said quietly. “You’re avoiding it.”

Ana set the file down slowly. “You’re starting to sound like her." she said

“Be careful,” he said with a frown on his face.

“You’re letting her get into your head,” she continued, softer now. “That’s exactly what she wants.”

“You trusted me before,” she continued, stepping closer. “Why is that changing now?”

“Because I didn’t check before," he replied, tilting his head slightly

There was a heavy silence between them. “You don’t believe me?” she finally said

“I’m deciding.” Cole said, looking directly in her eyes

That was worse, much worse. “I cannot deal with any of these right now. I see that you are not in a good mood; we will have this conversation when you feel much better," Ana said hurriedly as she left the room. Just as she left, he received a notification. he opened it and a Video appeared on his screen