All Chapters of Entangled by Design: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Chapter Twenty-OneThe First MoveEmma sat alone in her apartment long after the sun had disappeared.The lights remained off.Only the glow of her laptop illuminated the room.She replayed the afternoon over and over in her mind.Charlotte smiling.Darrien’s hand brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear.The way Charlotte had looked at him.Emma squeezed her eyes shut.“No.”She whispered the word into the silence.“You’re confused.”Charlotte had always put work first.She had never let emotions interfere with business.Emma had admired that about her.Respected it.Protected it.She opened her eyes again.“This isn’t you.”Her gaze drifted toward the framed photograph sitting on her desk.It had been taken six years earlier.Charlotte stood in front of the company’s very first office—a small rented space with peeling paint and barely enough room for two desks.Emma stood beside her, both of them smiling proudly.Neither had imagined what Hartwell Industries would become.Emma

Charlotte arrived at work earlier than usual the next morning.The office was unusually quiet. Most of the lights were still off, and only a handful of employees had arrived. She appreciated mornings like this. Before meetings began and phones started ringing, the building felt peaceful.She poured herself a cup of coffee and walked into her office.The partnership proposal Darrien had delivered the day before still sat neatly on her desk.She opened it but found herself staring through the pages instead of reading them.Her thoughts drifted back to the conversation at the coffee shop.If none of us changed the plans… who did?Then to yesterday.Different assistants. Different companies. The same problem.Charlotte sighed.She hated not having answers.A soft knock interrupted her thoughts.“Come in.”Emma stepped inside carrying Charlotte’s morning schedule.“Good morning.”Charlotte smiled.“You’re here early.”Emma returned the smile.“I had a few things I wanted to finish before e

Charlotte had barely slept.Every time she closed her eyes, she found herself replaying the previous evening.James’s hand resting gently over hers.Darrien tucking the loose strand of hair behind her ear.Emma’s unauthorized email.The pieces refused to fit together.She sighed and rolled over, reaching for the alarm before it could sound.The room was still dark.Too dark.She frowned.It felt…different.Someone was standing beside her bed.Charlotte’s heart jumped.She sat up so quickly the blankets tangled around her legs.“…James?”Moonlight filtered through the bedroom window.James stood there wearing the same charcoal suit he’d worn earlier that week, his hands tucked into his pockets.He smiled sheepishly.“I didn’t mean to scare you.”Charlotte blinked.“What are you doing here?”He tilted his head.“I was hoping you could answer that.”The room around them slowly began to change.The walls dissolved into shadows.Her bedroom disappeared.They now stood beneath an endless s

Charlotte arrived at Hartwell Industries with one question echoing through her mind.What am I becoming?She had borrowed Darrien’s telepathy before.She had walked through dreams with James.But yesterday had been different.She hadn’t borrowed either ability.They had simply… happened.Almost as if they belonged to her now.She unlocked her office and was surprised to find a small envelope waiting on her desk.There was no name.No return address.Just a single silver wax seal.Her curiosity got the better of her.She opened it carefully.Inside was a blank sheet of cream-colored paper.Charlotte frowned.“…Very funny.”She turned it over.Nothing.She held it up to the light.Still nothing.A knock sounded at her door.“Come in.”Emma stepped inside carrying her morning coffee.“I saw the envelope.”Charlotte held it up.“Someone sent me a blank letter.”Emma looked genuinely puzzled.“That’s… unusual.”“It certainly is.”Emma set the coffee on Charlotte’s desk.“I’ll ask reception

Charlotte stood in front of the conference room mirror, adjusting the sleeve of her blazer.She wasn’t nervous about the presentation.She’d given hundreds.What unsettled her was everything that had happened over the last week.Dreams that felt real.Thoughts she wasn’t supposed to hear.A blank page that refused to stay blank.She took a slow breath.“One thing at a time.”The words barely left her mouth before someone knocked.“Come in.”Emma stepped inside carrying a tablet.“The board has already arrived.”Charlotte smiled.“Thank you.”Emma nodded.“They seem excited.”Charlotte laughed softly.“I hope that’s a good sign.”“I’m sure it is.”Emma hesitated.“I also moved your dinner reservation tonight.”Charlotte looked up.“My dinner?”“You asked me to move it from seven to eight.”Charlotte frowned.“I did?”Emma checked the tablet.“Yesterday afternoon.”Charlotte searched her memory.Nothing.“I must have forgotten.”Emma smiled reassuringly.“You’ve had a lot on your mind.”