Chapter 5 – Poisoned Words

Naomi's Point Of View

“Who the hell is N?” I whispered, looking at the bright screen. My chest felt tight, my hands cold as ice.

The words in the email burned into me: THE LAST REPORT WE STOLE & YOU TOOK CREDIT FOR HAS BEEN APPROVED. N.

My head shook slowly, as if the screen was lying. But it wasn’t.

“Asher… what are you doing to me?” I say, biting my lip so hard that even I almost tasted blood.

I wanted to slam the laptop shut, but interest, anger, fear, all of it… kept me frozen.

The knock at my door made me jump.

“Asher?” His voice floated in from the other side.

I gasped and shut the laptop instantly. My heart is racing in my chest.

He opened the door before I could even answer.

There you are, he said with that careless smile, the one that always looked lovely to strangers but cut me like a blade now. Why didn’t you answer my calls?

“… anyway, I was busy.” My throat felt tight, but I forced the words out.

“Busy?” He chuckled. Too busy for me, huh?

I crossed my arms. Asher, I need to ask you something.

His smile faltered a little. “What’s that?”

Your… report. The one Henry gave me. The one I looked at yesterday.  My voice shook, but I steadied it. “It didn’t look like something you’d write.

His eyes narrowed, just slightly. “What are you saying?”

I’m saying it didn’t feel like you. Did you… Maybe steal it from someone else? I tilted my head, testing him.

For a second, his jaw tightened. Then he laughed… too loud, too fake. “Copy? Naomi, are you serious? Do you think I’d risk my job for some stupid report?”

“I don’t know, Asher. Maybe I do.” My voice was sharper than I expected.

He stepped closer, looming over me. “Baby, come on. You know me better than that.” His hand brushed against my cheek. “Don’t let Henry’s sweet words poison your mind against me.”

I stiffened under his touch. My stomach churned.

“Asher…” I said. “If you’re lying to me…”

“Stop.” He cut me off, his smile gone now. His eyes were hard, cold. “You think I’m a liar? You think I’d throw away everything I worked for, just to, what? Look like a fool?”

My breath caught. He was gaslighting me. Twisting everything back on me.

I stepped away from him. “I’m just saying it didn’t look like your work.”

“Then maybe you don’t know my work as much as you think,” he snapped.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. Every word he spoke felt like fire on my skin.

His phone buzzed. He checked it, smiled, and then looked back at me. “You’re letting your imagination run wild. Stop looking for trouble, Naomi. Or you’ll find ones you can’t handle.”

The way he said it… It didn’t feel like a warning. It felt like a threat.

When he left, I sank onto my bed, hiding my face with my hands.

I couldn’t breathe properly. My whole chest felt heavy, like something was sitting on it.

What if Asher really had been taking reports? What if “N” was Nelissa Cane? She was his type... smart, sly, hidden.

I remembered the way she always looked at me, her smile thin and fake. And how she hung around Asher during office breaks.

“God,” I said silently, holding my hair. This can’t be happening.

But it was.

The next day, work was a blur. My legs carried me into the building, but my mind was somewhere else.

Henry’s green eyes flashed in my memory, how he had protected me at the meeting, how he looked at me like I was more than just an employee.

And then Asher’s voice echoed: You’ll regret it.

I tried to focus, but when Nelissa walked past my desk, her cologne sharp, her eyes sparkling with something unspoken… I almost choked.

She dropped a file on my table. On plan.

“Oh, sorry,” she said simply, though she didn’t even look sorry. “Clumsy me.”

I stared at the file.

She smirked. “Don’t forget you have a meeting with Henry later. Don’t keep him waiting.”

Her heels clicked away, each step cutting at my nerves.

I slowly pulled the file closer.

My breath caught in my throat.

On the first page, written dimly in the corner, was a brand.

A mark I hadn’t seen in years. My father’s old company name.

My hands shook as I traced it with my fingers.

“Why do you have this?” I whispered.

It wasn’t possible. My father’s company died with him. Or at least, that’s what I thought.

Why would Nelissa…?

Why now?

Was this her way of warning me… or frightening me?

The room seemed to spin around me.

I clutched the file to my chest, my heart racing like I was running for my life.

“Asher,” I mumbled under my breath, looking blankly at my computer screen. “What the hell are you hiding from me? And what does Nelissa know about my father?”

The office buzzed with people, phones ringing, papers moving. But for me, everything went quiet.

All I could hear was my own heart beating.

And in that quiet, one thought screamed the loudest:

I was standing on a cliff, and I had no idea if Asher, Nelissa, or even Henry was about to push me over the edge.

“Why me?” I whispered, pushing the file tighter against my chest.

“Why you what?”

I jumped. Henry’s deep voice came from behind me. He stood by my desk, hands in his pockets, his green eyes studying me too closely.

I rushed to hide the file under some papers. “Nothing, sir. Just thinking out loud.”

His brow raised. “Your thoughts looked heavy. Care to share?”

I forced a weak smile. “I’m fine. Just… adjusting to everything.”

“Adjusting,” he repeated, his tone unclear. Then he leaned closer, his voice low. “Don’t let people in this place see you rattled. They’ll eat you alive.”

I swallowed hard. “I’ll remember that.”

For a moment, neither of us moved. His eyes locked with mine, and something unsaid clenched in the air. I felt it, the pull, the risk, the illegal thread tying me to him.

Then a sharp voice cut through.

“Asher’s looking for you,” Nelissa said coolly, appearing like a ghost. Her lips curled, but her eyes were blades. “He says it’s urgent.”

My stomach dropped.

Henry didn’t look away from me. “You don’t owe anyone an explanation but yourself, Naomi. Remember that.”

The weight of his words pressed into me. My heart thudded painfully.

I stood, holding the file. “I’ll… I’ll go see what he wants.”

Nelissa’s smile deepened as she turned, leading the way.

I followed every step heavier than the last, one thought spinning in my mind:

If Asher was connected with her, then both of them already knew I was walking straight into their trap.