All Chapters of When My Body Learned Your Name: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

78 Chapters

Chapter Twenty One

CARSONI stayed.Even after Anna’s eyes closed again, even after the tension in the room softened into something quieter, I didn’t move from the chair beside her bed. The hospital lights hummed faintly overhead, and the steady beeping of the monitor filled the spaces where neither of us spoke.I told myself I was staying because she was sick.That was the excuse.The truth was simpler and more dangerous—I didn’t want to leave things unfinished.Her lashes fluttered, and a moment later, her eyes opened.“You’re still here,” she said, her voice rough with sleep and fever.“Yes.”“You don’t have to be.”“I know.”She studied me for a few seconds, then sighed. “You’re stubborn.”I huffed quietly. “That’s one word for it.”She shifted, adjusting the pillow behind her head. The movement cost her more effort than she wanted to admit, and I hated that I noticed every small sign of strain.“Carson,” she said after a moment.“Yes?”“There’s something I need to ask you.”I straightened slightly.

Chapter Twenty Two

ANNABy the time they discharged me, I was more tired of being monitored than I was of being sick.The nurse handed me a stack of papers and smiled like she’d done this a thousand times already. “Plenty of fluids. No stress. No work until you’re fully recovered.”I laughed weakly. “You should tell my boss.”“I already did,” Carson said from the chair beside the bed.I looked up. “You did?”He stood, folding his jacket over his arm. “Grace won’t argue with a medical recommendation. Especially not one I back.”The nurse raised an eyebrow at him. “You’re very… involved.”He met her look calmly. “Yes.”I felt heat crawl up my neck.Once we were alone again, I reached for my bag. “You didn’t have to do that.”“I know.”“Carson.”He stepped closer. “Anna. You’re not going back to work yet.”“I feel fine.”“You felt ‘fine’ when you collapsed.”“That was different.”“That was exactly the point.”I sighed. “Grace is already annoyed with me.”“She’ll survive.”“And HR?”“I’m the CEO,” he said m

Chapter Twenty Three

ANNAThe fun ended the moment we stepped into the building.It wasn’t just the familiar hum of the office or the way the lights felt harsher than usual—it was the tension. The kind that sat low and thick in the air, clinging to skin, whispering that something had already gone wrong before anyone said a word.Carson and I walked in together.That alone drew eyes.I felt them immediately—glances snapping up from desks, half-finished conversations dying mid-sentence. Someone near the elevators stopped typing altogether. Another pretended very badly to be on a call.I slowed instinctively.Carson didn’t.“Boardroom,” he said quietly, not looking at me. “Now.”I nodded, my stomach tightening. “They already know.”“They suspect,” he corrected. “There’s a difference.”Grace was already inside when we arrived, pacing near the long table, her heels clicking sharply against the floor. She turned the moment we entered, eyes flashing.“Where have you been?” she snapped.“On medical leave,” I said

Chapter Twenty Four

CARSONThe office empties in stages.First the board—measured, guarded, already calculating. Then Grace, sharp heels retreating down the hall like a warning shot. Then the rest of the floor, people avoiding my door, pretending they don’t know what almost happened in that room.By the time it’s just me, the building feels cavernous.I sit at my desk and stare at the report Anna almost lost her job over. The numbers haven’t changed since this morning. They didn’t change in the boardroom either. The truth doesn’t shift just because people do.I close my eyes and rub my hands over my face.I told her I knew.That part was true.What I didn’t say—what I haven’t said to anyone—is that belief and certainty are not the same thing. And right now, certainty feels like a luxury I can’t afford.I lean back in my chair, the leather creaking softly, and let my head hit the backrest.She didn’t do this.I come back to that thought again and again, like pressing on a bruise to confirm it still hurts.

Chapter Twenty Five

CARSONEmma didn’t wait for an invitation.She stepped past me the moment the door opened, heels clicking against the hardwood like she owned the place, like she always had the right to walk into my life whenever it suited her.I closed the door behind her and leaned my forehead against it for half a second longer than necessary.“Nice place,” she said, already shrugging out of her coat. “Still cold. Still minimalist. Still very you.”I didn’t respond.She turned, studying me with a familiarity that felt intrusive tonight. “You look awful.”“Long day.”She smiled, the kind that carried expectation. “That’s why I came.”I moved toward the kitchen instead of offering her a seat. “It’s late, Emma.”“I know,” she said lightly. “But I’ve barely seen you since you took over. And now this mess with the board—”“This isn’t a social visit,” I said.Her smile faltered, just slightly. “No. It’s not.”I poured myself another glass of water, didn’t offer her one.She leaned against the counter acr

Chapter Twenty Six

ANNAI knew the place was wrong the second Carson slowed the car.The building glowed in neon reds and purples, light bleeding onto the pavement like a warning sign no one bothered to read. The bass thudded through the door, through the floor, through my chest, vibrating something unsettled inside me.I stared at it for a long moment. Then I laughed, sharp and humorless.“You have got to be joking.”Carson cut the engine. “We’re here.”“That’s not an explanation.”“It’s a location.”I turned toward him. “This is a club.”“It’s a bar.”“No,” I said flatly. “This is a sex bar.”He finally looked at me then, calm, unreadable, like he’d expected this reaction and found it mildly entertaining. “Do you want to fix this situation or not?”My fingers curled around the strap of my bag. “You could have warned me.”“And give you time to talk yourself out of coming?”I scoffed. “You’re unbelievable.”He opened his door. “Coming?”I stayed where I was, pulse hammering. Every instinct told me to st

Chapter Twenty Seven

ANNAI didn’t recover quickly.In fact, I didn’t recover at all.I stood frozen just inside the doorway, my brain refusing to process the very obvious, very naked situation in front of me. The image burned behind my eyes no matter how hard I blinked.He didn’t stop. The woman moaned, grabbing fistsfuls of his black mane of hair as her eyes rolled to the back of her head.If they were aware of our presence in the room, they did not give a flying elephant. They continued their act like we weren’t standing there.I turned to look at Carson and he didn’t look fazed one bit, standing there with a blank expression on his face as he watched his friend eat this woman out.When Carson seemed to have had enough, he cleared his throat and the man finally deemed it fit to space us a glance.His lips and beards glistened and he looked a bit annoyed by our disturbance. “I—” I started, then stopped. My throat closed. “I am so sorry.”The man didn’t even look startled.If anything, he looked amused.

Chapter Twenty Eight

ANNAI hadn’t realized how long it had been since I’d spent an entire day outside of my apartment, outside of the walls of Archer Group, without a looming spreadsheet or a phone buzzing with demands. The city felt different somehow—not because it had changed, but because I was finally looking at it without thinking about work, about Carson, or about the mess I was trying to navigate.Sarai greeted me at the corner café with that same grin she always wore, the one that could disarm me in seconds and make me forget deadlines and office politics. “Anna!” she said, tugging me into a tight hug. “You look like hell.”I laughed, a sound I hadn’t made in weeks that felt a little brittle, but real. “Thanks,” I said, shrugging. “You don’t look much better, Sarai.”She mock-gasped. “How dare you insult me before breakfast?”We wandered into the Spar together, the smell of fresh pastries and coffee wrapping around us like a warm blanket. I realized I hadn’t even thought about breakfast this morni

Chapter Twenty Nine

ANNAI froze. 3:07 a.m.“Carson,” I answered, voice hoarse, trying not to sound as panicked as I felt.“Anna,” he said, flat, impatient. “I need you at the office. Now.”I blinked at the ceiling, trying to shake off the last threads of sleep. “At… at this hour? It’s three in the morning. And it’s not even in my job description to—”“You either come,” Carson cut in, voice hard, measured, “or you’re fired.”The words landed like a punch. My stomach knotted. My mind raced, combing through options that didn’t exist. He didn’t ask. He didn’t suggest. He ordered.“I am not your personal assistant,” I said, trying to inject as much bite as possible, though my throat felt tight. “This is ridiculous. I’m not coming in.”“You’re already here,” he said. Cold. Certain. Implacable. “Get dressed. Bring what you need. Now.”I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to convince myself that he was being an asshole, that this was unreasonable, that he was… Carson. But it didn’t matter. The threat

Chapter Thirty

CARSONI was halfway through my inbox when I noticed the reflection.The glass wall of my office caught it first—movement where there shouldn’t have been any. Or rather, stillness. I turned slightly in my chair, eyes lifting from the screen, and looked out through the clear pane that separated my office from the conference room.Anna was asleep.Not slumped or sprawled. Just… still. Her head had tipped forward at a slight angle, chin tucked toward her chest, one hand still loosely holding her pen like she might wake at any second and continue where she left off. The documents in front of her were neatly aligned, tabs placed with deliberate care, margins marked in her precise handwriting.She’d simply run out of fuel.I checked the time in the corner of my screen. 4:41 a.m.I leaned back slowly, exhaling through my nose. The emails on my monitor blurred into irrelevance. Vendor confirmations. Internal memos. Nothing that couldn’t wait another hour.Anna, apparently, couldn’t.I stood a

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