LOGINDMITRI’S POV"Well, I don’t just go around telling everyone I meet that I’m the chairman. If I did that, everyone would know who I am. So, once again, I’m sorry,” I said, the words coming out simpler than I’d actually planned, though I still meant them. “For not telling you sooner. I know that’s not much of an explanation, but I do mean it.” Even as I said it, some part of me recognized how strange the apology probably sounded coming from someone she barely knew. We weren’t close, not really, not yet. A handful of conversations, an elevator ride, one embarrassing night at a lounge she probably still cringed thinking about. There was no real obligation between us that required this kind of apology, and yet I found myself offering it anyway because withholding something this significant from her, even briefly, had sat uncomfortably with me since the moment I’d decided to keep it quiet. I’d genuinely expected more of a reaction from her, if I was honest with myself. Anger, maybe. Some
ANABEL’S POV I slowly raised my head, half convinced my mind was playing some cruel trick on me, that I’d simply misheard something in the silence of that enormous office, and my exhausted, overworked brain was filling in the blanks with a voice I already knew. But as I lifted my gaze fully, there he was, unmistakably real, stepping out of the bathroom in a plain hoodie and shorts, a pair of slippers on his feet. He walked toward me with the same easy, unbothered casualness he always seemed to carry, no matter where I ran into him. Hold on. What was he even doing here, in this office of all places, dressed like he’d just rolled out of bed instead of stepping into a meeting? “Dmitri?” I said, straightening up immediately, my voice coming out far more startled than I’d intended. “I don’t understand. What are you doing here?” I asked, my eyes darting between him and the empty chair he’d apparently been sitting in only minutes ago, my mind racing to catch up with what my eyes were s
ANABEL’S POV I adjusted my skirt for what had to be the third or fourth time, standing just outside the chairman’s office door, my hands smoothing down fabric that hadn’t actually wrinkled at all. It was straight, uncreased, perfectly fine, and yet some restless part of my brain kept insisting I check it again anyway, as though fidgeting with something I could actually control might distract me from everything I couldn’t. I’d barely slept the night before, if I was being honest with myself. I’d spent hours running through every possible version of this meeting in my head until the early hours of the morning, and none of them had actually prepared me for the reality of standing here now, my palms slightly damp and my heart beating faster than a routine meeting ever should. I kept telling myself this was probably nothing, just some standard formality every new hire eventually went through. But if that were true, I couldn’t explain why my whole body had felt like it was bracing for th
ANABEL’S POV I sat on the bedroom floor, surrounded by nearly every piece of clothing I owned, most of it borrowed from Chloe’s closet in the first place. None of it looked any more promising than it had five minutes ago. I’d pulled out a soft blue sundress first and held it up in front of the mirror, only to realize how wrong it looked before tossing it aside. Then I tried a simple black cocktail dress, the kind of thing you wore to a friend’s birthday dinner, not an event where half the city’s most powerful people would be studying every detail of my appearance. “This isn’t going to work,” I muttered, more to myself than to Chloe, who was sitting on the edge of her bed, watching the growing pile with mild amusement. “You’ve only tried on four dresses,” she said. “Give it a second.” “I don’t need a second, Chloe. I need an actual solution,” I said, grabbing another dress off the bed, a deep red one this time. I held it up, immediately shook my head, and tossed it onto the pile a
ANABEL’S POVThe knock on my office door came later that afternoon, right around the time I’d finally started to settle into some kind of rhythm with the filing Priya had given me that morning. I looked up to find the same woman I’d seen briefly in the lobby a few days ago, the one who always seemed to be moving with purpose, a tablet tucked under one arm and an expression that gave absolutely nothing away. “Mrs. Wilson,” she said, stepping inside without waiting for an invitation, the way people who clearly outranked me tended to do. “Do you have a moment?” “Of course,” I said, sitting up a little straighter in my chair, already bracing myself for whatever this was. New employees rarely got personal visits from someone who looked this important unless something had gone wrong. “You’ll need to set aside next week,” she said, glancing briefly at her tablet before looking back at me. “You’ll be attending the Black Tier Gala, accompanying the chairman.” I blinked, convinced for
DMITRI’S POVI stepped out of the elevator and started down the hallway toward my office, shaking my head slightly at what had just happened. Some people really didn’t know how to take a hint. I’d lost count of how many times I’d tried, subtly, to signal to that man not to make such a scene over a broken elevator. A quick nod here, a small glance there, anything to keep him from turning a minor inconvenience into a full apology tour performed in front of an audience. He’d already apologized once over the phone, hours earlier. There was no need to repeat it, especially not in front of Anabel. What was his name again? I genuinely couldn’t remember. All I knew was that he was part of the maintenance team working on getting my private elevator back online, and apparently he considered every encounter with me another opportunity to grovel. I was lucky, at least, that Anabel hadn’t fully connected the pieces yet. She hadn’t looked at that bowing, stammering man and reached the obviou
ANABEL’S POVMy fingers trembled over the laptop as I looked at the screen, still trying to convince myself there had to be another explanation for what I was seeing. Maybe I misunderstood something. Maybe my mind was twisting everything because of what happened last night. But the more I went th
ANABEL’S POVA low groan pulled me out of sleep.At first, I thought I was dreaming. My eyes stayed closed while I turned on the bed, reaching for Miles out of habit.The sheets beside me were cold.I frowned and opened my eyes. The other side of the bed was empty.The digital clock beside me read
ANABEL'S POV I took a small breath, steadying my emotions and finally pushing away all the tears I'd been crying for the past few minutes. Every now and then, I could still feel the heaviness lingering in my chest, but I couldn't keep breaking down forever. There was no room for tears anymore. Y
ANABEL’S POVA man stood there holding a glass loosely in one hand, his expression calm but amused. Even through my blurry vision, I could tell he was attractive. Very attractive.Tall, dark hair, sharp jawline.The kind of face people noticed immediately.I stared at him blankly for a moment befor







