I reach for the door handle, the cold metal biting into my skin as I press my thumb against the latch. Before I can pull the door open, Cade's arm shoots out from behind me, slamming it shut. My body jolts, my heart leaping into my throat as I feel the heat of his body against my back. He lowers himself to me, his breath fanning my ear. "Are you walking out on me again, Elysian?” A shaky breath parts my lips, the hair on the back of my neck standing on its ends. "I never walked out on you, Cade…" My voice falters, betraying me. "Don't lie to me." His tone is aggressive. "I told you a long time ago never to walk away from me again. Are you always so careless?” I try to swallow, but my throat is too tight. "I'm sorry," I manage, the words barely audible. "You said that already," he challenges me, warning me to choose my next words carefully. But I can't. I can't think. I can't move. As his grip on the door tightens, I realize he's not giving me a choice. ⊰ Heartprints in the Void ⊱ My name is Elysian Reign, and I'm not extraordinary. His name is Cade Sinclair, and unlike me, he is extraordinary. At the age of 25, he inherited billions from his trillionaire father—David Sinclair. You never imagine that the love of your life's own father would manipulate his son's life to get rid of you—even if it means forcing him into an experimental hypnosis treatment. After three years, you'd think I'd have learned my lesson. You'd think I would've changed my identity and left the country after walking in on my first day at my new job and finding out that Cade is now my boss.
View MoreIt’s not a date. There are people who are punctual–like me. I’m always conscious of time, a sticker for being on schedule. Then, there are people who are not so punctual–like Cade. He believes that punctuality is only warranted for things that ‘matter’ or are ‘important’. Does this fall under the category of ‘important’? It’s 5 minutes to 8PM, and I’ve switched out cardigans twice and rearranged the cushions on the couch four times. I’m not in denial. I’m very aware of how nervous this shouldn’t make me. I’m also very aware of how unnecessarily anxious I am, and if there were a way to cope by merely acknowledging my discomfort, I wouldn’t be pacing so much between re-doing chores that I had already done the moment that I got home. At Bubbles’ very audible sigh, I snap my eyes to meet his beautiful golden-brown ones. “You’re just tired of my shit, aren’t you?” I ask sarcastically. As if on cue, a knock echoes t
“Oh! Can we get a to-go boxes, please?” Krina kindly asks the waiter before he excuses himself.As promised, Krina invited me to have lunch with her today. Between shoving bread rolls down our throats and a long conversation about the upcoming IPv6 migration project, we hardly touched our food.I regret none of it. Those were the best bread rolls I’ve had in my entire life.The waiter returns swiftly with boxes and receipts for Krina to sign. “Thank y’all so much. Y’all have a great day!” he says with a warm smile.I offer him a small smile, averting my gaze to the half-eaten steak and rice as I slide it into the foam carry-out box.“I hope you don’t mind me asking, but…” Krina pauses as she packs her plate. I look up and meet her curious gaze. “Do you have a boyfriend?”That didn’t take her very long.I’m not surprised by her question.
I’ve never dreaded doing something as much as I do today. After a torturously short weekend, I find myself sitting in the parking garage outside of the office building, wishing that I had stayed home.I should’ve called in sick or used my PTO hours…I don’t know how I’m supposed to face him. It was easier before. I stayed out of his way, and he tolerated me. Now? Now, I don’t know if things are going to go back to how they were or if they should—if they ever could.With heavy steps, I somehow manage to find my desk twice as fast as usual.Well, itfeelsthat way, anyway.Between brief good mornings, the rest of the team sporadically trickle in, settling at their desks before 8:30AM—except for Cade.He’s never late…I’m not the only one that notices. Krina furrows her eyebrows, glancing up at his empty office.“Pst.&rdq
What is he doing here..?…How does he even know where I live?Again, he knocks, and again, Bubbles emits a singular bark.I raise my voice, shouting through the door, “Just a moment!” I place my hands on the side of Bubbles’ legs, urging him to move with me. “Come on, buddy,” I whisper, guiding him to my bedroom where I point to his bed and tell him, “Go lay down.”With this, I shut the bedroom door and turn in the direction of the front door, my heart pounding in my chest. I take a deep breath, steeling myself for the confrontation I know is coming. As I unlock the door and pull it open, my eyes lock with Cade’s. There’s a desperate, uncertain look on his face as he draws his hands into his pockets.“Hi,” I breathe out after a moment, my voice steadier than I feel.I won’t pretend that I have no idea what he’s here for. Th
⊰ Cade ⊱I sit in my home office, staring at the pair of monitors in front of me, feeling as though the expansive room is closing in on me, my thoughts racing. Just as Elysian asked me to, I completed the packet inspection. I should’ve braced myself, but nothing could’ve prepared me for what I found.This has to be a mistake…My gaze wanders around the room, taking in the floor-to-ceiling windows that offer a stunning view of the city skyline, the sleek, modern furniture, and state-of-the-art technology surrounding me. But even the familiar comfort of my meticulously designed space doesn’t ease the sickening feeling that settled in the pit of my stomach the moment my inspection was complete.What the hell is in that file..? And why the hell would she risk her career to access it?…Why does it have my name on it?I lean back in my leather chair, runni
If it were you, would you want to know?After having repeatedly read through the printed copy of Cade’s file over the past three days, I keep hoping that I’ll have some sort of revelation as to why his father hated me so much that he resorted tothis.Between the evaluation and the treatment report, the only thing that I learned was that I was right in suspecting that Cade never volunteered for that hypnosis treatment.He was drugged.I wish that I could say that I had prepared myself for it, but learning that throughout the entire process, he was never lucid nearly sent me over the edge.His mind has been bent and toyed with, and he doesn’t even know…Despite wanting to know how it was possible, out of whatever respect there is left for the privacy of it, I refrained from telling anyone—including Ava.I haven’t experienced this much prolonged anxiety for so long sin
The next morning, as I drive to work, the cool, fresh air of a 6AM Tuesday morning hardly does anything to calm my nerves or settle the uneasiness in my stomach. I spent the better part of last night thinking about all the ways I could get caught doing what I’m about to do and how I could avoid being caught.The unfortunate truth is that the system automatically sends out a report of any firewall rule changes made. Fortunately, because it’s automated, hardly anyone ever looks at the report thoroughly. Most engineers merely glance over it to see if the change was successful, but no one ever takes the time to actually go through the report thoroughly.Ultimately, the odds of anyone finding out are about the same as the odds of someone not only thoroughly going through the report but also conducting a packet inspection on all traffic pertaining to the specific server.So…ten percent?…I’ll take my
I stare blankly at the table, the chatter of my teammates fading into background noise as I sit in the conference room. My eyes feel heavy, my mind foggy from last night’s restless sleep. The conversation I had with Ava about Cade and his father has been haunting me, playing on a loop in my head. “Elysian,” Cade’s sharp voice calls for my attention, snapping me out of my daze. “What do you have for me?” What? … Oh, right! I blink, scrambling to gather my thoughts. “I, uh…I’m just finishing up some documentation,” I mumble, evidently unprepared. “But otherwise, I’m open to taking on any new projects.” Cade chuckles softly, a condescending smirk twisting his features. “Documentation? Isn’t that something you should’ve handled last week? Or have you been too busy daydreaming to get your work done?” Um..? I feel the heat rising in my cheeks, embarrassment and anger washing over me. “No, I
After a short weekend of doing ‘hoodrat shit’—which really consisted of Ava and I binge watchingBuffy the Vampire Slayerand eating about ten thousand calories—it’s Sunday morning, and I’m making cappuccinos while I patiently wait for my freshly baked chocolate chip banana bread to cool.“Alright, I think I’m good to go?”I smile softly as I avert my gaze to Ava, eyeing her as she emerges from my bedroom with her make-up bag in her hand. She stuffs it into her travel bag, zipping it shut before lowering herself onto the couch to slide her boots on.The hardest part about having less than a handful of friends is that they all live in different cities or states and I don’t get to see them very often. I’m a lonely person because I make it harder than it needs to be to connect with people on a deeper level than the surface, and it's intentional.I have a no-tolerance policy,
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