جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 30

Ethan Blackwood was waiting for me that morning, and somehow that was more frightening than walking into his office for the first time.He stood near the double doors of his glass suite, his dark eyes locked onto the elevator bay the moment the doors parted. His hands were tucked casually into the pockets of his tailored suit trousers, but the rigid line of his shoulders betrayed his composure. Before I could even adjust the strap of my bag or take a proper step onto the floor, he bridged the distance between us."Did you get home safely last night?" Ethan asked, his deep voice cutting through the quiet morning air.I blinked, taking a small step back to anchor myself as I held my morning coffee tightly in one hand. "Yes, I did. The driver was very professional, Mr. Blackwood. Thank you."A subtle release of tension softened his sharp jawline, though he quickly masked the reaction behind his usual unreadable expression. He nodded once, stepping back to give me room to pass."Good," he

"I spent the entire night trying to convince myself Ethan’s words meant nothing, but my heart refused to cooperate," I muttered under my breath, smoothing down my skirt as I stepped out of the private executive elevator.My chest felt heavy, completely weighed down by the constant playback of Ethan’s quiet invitation from the night before. His low, steady voice and the lingering warmth of his fingers over mine in the back of the car had kept me awake for hours. I knew I needed to regain my footing immediately. I couldn't afford to let personal confusion interfere with my work, especially when every eyes in the corporate suite watched my position as his primary assistant.I sat up straight at my desk, pulled up the morning schedule, and immediately threw myself into my duties. When Ethan walked into the lobby twenty minutes later, looking impeccably sharp in his dark tailored suit, I forced my expression to remain perfectly blank. I offered him a tight, polite nod without looking direc

“You’re glowing, Ethan, and frankly, it’s terrifying everyone on the floor,” Lucas said, leaning against my desk with a wide, wicked grin.I bit my lip hard, staring fixedly at my computer screen and pretending to examine a quarterly budget report. My fingers hovered over the mechanical keyboard, but my heart was pounding a fast, chaotic rhythm against my ribs.When Ethan had walked onto the executive floor twenty minutes ago, the shift in the air had been immediate. Usually, his arrival brought a heavy, focused silence as staff members straightened their ties and hurried out of his path. Today, however, there was a noticeable ease in his step. The perpetual line between his dark eyebrows was gone, replaced by a calm, open expression. When he had passed my desk, he hadn't just given me the usual curt head nod he had paused, looked directly into my eyes, and offered me a brief, genuine smile.That small smile had completely ruined my composure. My cheeks had instantly flushed hot, and

By the time I entered Ethan’s office that morning, I already knew something was wrong.The usual steady hum of typing and phone calls across the executive floor had died down into a heavy, suffocating silence. Groups of employees stood near the glass partitions, speaking in muted whispers and glancing toward the corner office whenever a door clicked. The air felt thick with suspicion, every sideways glance pointed directly at me as I walked past.Inside the suite, Ethan sat behind his dark wooden desk, surrounded by printed server logs, security reports, and internal emails. His jaw was locked tight, his dark eyes fixed on the paper in his hands with lethal focus. The calm, controlled executive was gone, replaced by a man preparing for war."Good morning, Mr. Blackwood," I said, stopping a few feet from his desk and keeping my voice steady.He looked up instantly, the hard edge in his eyes softening just a fraction as he met my gaze. "Sit down, Aria."I took a seat in the leather chai

"Keep the door closed," Ethan instructed the security chief, his voice turning ice-cold as he motioned for me to stay inside the office. "Walk me through everything you found before we make a move."The chief of security stepped further into the room, holding up a tablet with detailed server logs open on the screen. "Sir, the threat sent to Ms. Aria's phone wasn't routed through an outside cell tower or a third-party app. It came directly from an active company device connected to our internal network."I held my breath, my hands resting tightly against the back of the leather chair. "A company device?""Yes," the chief replied, glancing at me briefly. "The IP address points straight to a desktop assigned to an employee with high-level access to the executive floor."My mind immediately jumped to Vanessa. She had been watching me like a hawk all week, her sharp glances practically burning holes through my back every time I walked past her desk. But even as her face flashed in my mind,