บททั้งหมดของ When My Body Learned Your Name: บทที่ 61 - บทที่ 70

ANNAI felt the weight of Carson’s eyes on me as we stepped out of the car, his hand lingering briefly on mine. I wanted that touch to comfort me, but it did nothing to steady the pit in my stomach. His father stood there, arms crossed, posture rigid, eyes sharp, and that judgment cut through me sharper than any word Carson had thrown at me last night. I tried to straighten my shoulders, to summon the calm I usually carried at work, but I was unprepared for this, unprepared to face this level of scrutiny.“And who the hell are you?” His father’s voice was measured but lethal, every syllable packed with expectation, with authority, with the kind of disappointment that made you feel small before you even had the chance to speak. My mouth opened, closed, and opened again, the words lodged somewhere in my throat. I wanted to say something, anything, to explain, to remind him I was an employee, that I had a right to be here, that I wasn’t a frivolous distraction. But the words wouldn’t com

ANNAThe office felt heavier than usual. Even though Carson and I had agreed to fight, to reclaim what was ours, the weight of expectation pressed down on us. Every monitor, every ticker, every chart screamed at me in a language I had learned to understand only recently, and yet today it felt like the numbers were mocking us.“Share prices are still falling,” Carson muttered, leaning against the edge of the conference table. His tie was loosened, sleeves rolled up, hair slightly messy from running his hands through it one too many times. The intensity in his eyes made my stomach tighten. I could see the fire in him, but I could also see the exhaustion, the pressure of carrying Archer Group’s entire legacy on his shoulders.“I know,” I said quietly, scanning the spreadsheets we had pulled. “But we have to find a trigger, something that restores confidence fast. Investors respond to momentum, perception. If we can show them someone believes in the company again, it’ll cascade.”He looke

ANNAThe office was too quiet.Not the peaceful kind of quiet that came after a long day of work, but the tense, brittle silence that settled when everyone was waiting for disaster to strike. Monitors glowed across the trading floor, numbers flickering red and green in rapid succession, and every few seconds another notification chimed through the system like a warning bell.I sat at my desk with my laptop open, fingers hovering over the keyboard. The graphs on my screen dipped and climbed in small, uncertain waves, and each movement made my stomach tighten.Carson had been gone for nearly an hour.Gone to see Emma.I pressed my lips together and forced myself to look back at the projections. If Emma agreed to help, the company would stabilize quickly. Her capital alone could slow the panic, and the board would finally breathe again.But the thought of Carson sitting across from her, negotiating not just money but his future, made my chest feel tight.Grace walked past my desk then, h

ANNAThe sound of my phone vibrating against the nightstand dragged me out of sleep.For a moment I didn’t move. My eyes stayed closed while my mind tried to catch up with the sudden interruption. The morning light creeping through my curtains told me it was still early, far earlier than I usually woke up.The phone buzzed again.With a groan, I reached blindly across the nightstand until my fingers found it. My eyes were still half closed when I glanced at the screen.Carson.That woke me up immediately.My heart gave a quick, unexpected thump as I answered.“Hello?” My voice came out rough with sleep.“Good morning.”His voice was calm, warm, and entirely too awake for this hour.I pushed myself upright against the headboard, brushing messy strands of hair out of my face.“Carson?” I said, confused. “Why are you calling this early?”There was a brief pause on the other end.“I’m outside,” he said simply. “Come open the door.”I blinked.“What?”“I’m outside your building.”My brain

ANNAI woke to the sound of my phone buzzing insistently against the nightstand. Groaning, I squinted at the screen, already dreading what I might find. My thumb hovered over the notifications, heart sinking the instant I saw the messages from unknown numbers, all traced back to Luke—or at least, people connected to him. He had been trying to reach me. Tracking me. My stomach knotted, cold dread wrapping around me like a vise.I pushed myself upright, tossing the blankets aside, and ran a hand through my hair. I couldn’t let this happen. Not again. Not now. Not ever.I spent the next hour tracing every digital footprint I’d left, changing passwords, updating security questions, making sure nothing could lead him to me. It was meticulous work, exhausting and terrifying, but necessary. My mind kept running through scenarios, every possibility of him showing up or finding me. I couldn’t let him disrupt the fragile control I had worked so hard to establish over my life.By the time I fina