THE TRUTH BETWEEN US
1202 Words
CHAPTER FIVE
Leana barely slept,
The words from the unknown number clung to her like a shadow,
We’re watching.
You shouldn’t be here alone.
By morning, exhaustion weighed her down, but she pushed it aside.
She dressed quickly, smoothing her nerves along with her clothes.
Whatever today held, she refused to let it break her.
Lucas was already in the lobby when she arrived sharp, controlled, distant.
“You’re on time,” he said, voice clipped.
“Barely,” she replied, fidgeting with her bag strap.
His gaze lingered on her, dark and calculating. “Stay close today.”
The words sent a shiver down her spine.
There was a warning in his tone, sharp and real, and Leana felt her pulse spike. She could feel it in her chest, a tightness that wouldn’t let go, a tension in the air that made the world feel smaller, heavier, urgent.
The meeting room was sleek, sterile, and cold. Glass walls reflected polished smiles and hushed voices, but beneath the surface, tension simmered.
Leana took her place beside Lucas, tablet ready, hands steady despite the knots in her stomach. She reminded herself to breathe, slow, controlled, as if steady breaths could keep the storm outside and inside from reaching her.
Halfway through the meeting, Lucas leaned toward her, voice low.
“Pull up the revised proposal I sent last night.”
Her fingers stilled.
“I… I didn’t receive one,” she said softly, swallowing.
His eyes flicked to her screen, then back to her face, sharp and searching.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
A flicker of something dark passed across his expression, but he masked it quickly.
“Continue,” he said to the room.
But Leana felt the shift.
The room’s energy changed subtly, small cracks appearing that only she could sense.
A meeting time she hadn’t set.
An email she never saw.
A reminder she didn’t delete.
By the end, Lucas’s silence was heavier than anger. It pressed on her chest, making her stomach twist.
The weight of it lingered, a quiet tension that refused to fade, like the shadow from last night following her across the floor, creeping along her shoulders.
Once they were alone, he turned to her, voice low, tense.
“This isn’t the first time,” he said.
Her heart sank. “I know. But I swear it isn’t me.”
He studied her, eyes unreadable, dark with suspicion and something unspoken.
“Are you overwhelmed?” he asked.
The question cut deeper than she expected.
“No,” she said firmly. “I would never be careless with your work.”
A pause. Silence that stretched long enough to feel dangerous, thick and pressing.
“I’m not accusing you,” he said finally. “But someone is trying to make it look that way.”
Fear prickled her skin. It was worse than blame worse than anger.
Someone was playing a game with them, and she had no idea who. Every nerve in her body screamed caution, yet she couldn’t look away, couldn’t stop the questions racing through her mind.
That night, exhaustion finally won.
Lucas snapped over a folder she hadn’t touched.
“Enough,” she said, voice trembling.
He froze.
“I’m tired of being treated like I’m failing when I’m not,” she said quietly. “I try. Every day.”
Lucas said nothing, jaw tight.
“Get some air,” he finally replied coldly. “Before this becomes something else.”
She didn’t hesitate. She left the room, heart pounding, needing the night to clear her head.
The city smelled faintly of rain and asphalt, sharp and alive.
The streets glimmered wet, reflecting neon signs and streetlights like shards of glass scattered in the dark, and she let the air fill her lungs, steadying her racing thoughts.
“You really play innocent well.”
Leana spun around.
She saw Maya, Lucas’s girlfriend, the tall lady who promised to keep an eye on her.
Maya stood there perfect, furious, smiling like a threat wrapped in silk.
“What are you doing here?” Leana asked.
“I wanted to see the girl stealing my boyfriend’s attention,” Maya snapped.
“There’s nothing going on,” Leana said, firm despite her nerves.
Maya laughed. “That’s what you think.”
Leana’s stomach twisted. “Why are my emails disappearing?”
Maya’s smile widened. “So you noticed. I fixed things before Lucas could see how careless you are.”
Leana went cold. “You sabotaged me.”
“I protected him,” Maya snapped. “From you.”
“Enough.”
Lucas’s voice cut through the night like steel.
Maya turned slowly.
Lucas stood behind Leana, a wall of resolve. Face hard, eyes dark with realization.
“You deleted files,” he said quietly but firmly. “Changed schedules. Altered emails.”
Maya’s confidence cracked.
“I did it for us.”
“There is no us,” Lucas said flatly. “Not anymore.”
Maya’s eyes burned as she looked at Leana. “This isn’t over.”
Lucas stepped in front of Leana. “It is.”
Maya stormed away.
Silence followed.
Leana’s hands trembled. “You heard everything.”
“Yes,” Lucas said.
“You believed her over me,” she whispered.
He exhaled slowly. “I shouldn’t have.”
The words landed heavy between them.
“I was wrong,” he said quietly. “And I don’t say that often.”
Her chest tightened.
“What happens now?” she asked.
Lucas looked at her not as his assistant, not as a problem, but as someone who had pierced the walls he’d built around himself for years.
“Now,” he said, voice low, deliberate, “we start being honest. About everything. About what I feel. About what I’ve done. About why I act the way I do.”
Leana’s pulse spiked. “What do you mean?”
He stepped closer, gaze intense. Hesitant. Vulnerable.
“There’s something I need to tell you… something I’ve never told anyone. Something that explains why I am… like this.
Why I control, why I push, why I doubt, why I… act the way I do.”
Her breath caught. “Lucas… you can tell me.”
He ran a hand through his hair, a rare gesture of uncertainty. “I want to. But once I say it, nothing can go back.
You have to be ready… to understand me completely. To see the real me… even the parts I’ve kept hidden.”
Leana’s heart pounded.
“I’m ready. I want to know.”
Lucas’s lips pressed into a thin line, shadowed by years of fear and control.
“Then… tomorrow, I’ll tell you. Everything. And after that… we’ll see if what’s between us can survive the truth.”
Her stomach twisted. Anticipation. Fear. Desire. She had no idea what he was about to reveal, but she knew this moment this confession waiting in the wings was a turning point.
The city lights outside glittered innocently, unaware of the storm inside.
And Leana realized, with chilling clarity:
Lucas had a secret. One that explained everything… and it would change everything between them.
- Writer
