The boss knows
1169 Words
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*Chapter 4*
The sharp chime of her phone pulled Wren out of her thoughts.
She blinked several times, the soft blur of the city lights outside her window coming back into focus. For a moment she just stared at the dark screen, then reached for the phone on her desk. The uneasy feeling she had been carrying all evening loosened its grip as the display lit up.
*Caleb*
_Miss Wren, could you please review the revised presentation before tomorrow morning? I’ll need your feedback first thing._
Wren let out a quiet sigh and leaned back in her chair.
“So much for getting some rest.”
She typed a quick reply with one hand while rubbing the back of her neck with the other.
_Okay, sir. I’ll have it ready tonight._
She set the phone down and stretched her shoulders until something in her spine gave a soft pop. A tired smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.
“They really weren’t joking when they said the corporate world never sleeps.”
She opened her laptop again. The soft glow of the screen washed over her face as her fingers found their place on the keyboard.
'Well… no rest for the wicked.'
Outside the window the city shimmered — rows of yellow and white lights stretching into the distance, traffic moving like slow rivers far below. Wren worked in the quiet, the only sounds the soft click of keys and the occasional distant hum of a car passing on the street.
She had no idea that somewhere thousands of miles away, someone else was thinking about her with the same restless intensity.
*Litos Branch*
The Sterling Group building in Litos rose among the other skyscrapers like a quiet statement of power. Floor-to-ceiling windows looked out over a city that never fully slept — luxury cars sliding along the brightly lit streets, neon signs flickering against the dark sky.
Inside the top-floor executive office, the air was still.
A young secretary stood near the desk, tablet in hand.
“So… when should I book your flight, sir?”
The man behind the desk didn’t look up from the documents spread in front of him. His voice was deep and even when he answered.
“Tomorrow night.”
“Yes, sir.”
She made a quick note, then left the office with soft footsteps. The door clicked shut behind him.
Almost immediately his phone began to ring.
He glanced at the screen.
*Orion.*
A faint sigh escaped him before he answered.
“What?”
“Wow,” Orion’s cheerful voice filled the quiet room. “So that’s how you answer your best friend? I was expecting something warmer.”
“You’ll survive.”
“Tough crowd.” Orion chuckled. “So… are you really going back?”
Damien leaned back in his chair, eyes still on the dark city beyond the glass. “Yes.”
“And you’re not secretly planning to disappear before your flight?”
“No.”
There was a short pause. Then Orion’s tone shifted, quieter.
“You know she’s there.”
Silence stretched between them.
Damien’s expression hardened. “I know.”
Another pause.
“Are you scared?” Orion asked.
Damien let out a short, humorless laugh. “Scared?”
“You know exactly what I mean.” Orion’s voice lost its usual playfulness. “The last time you saw Wren—”
Neither of them finished the sentence. The memory sat between them, heavy and unfinished.
Orion exhaled. “You always called her tigress.”
A faint smile touched Damien’s mouth before it disappeared again. “My tigress,” he corrected quietly.
The smile was gone almost as soon as it arrived.
“This time,” he said, “I’m prepared.”
Orion wasn’t convinced. “Prepared for what? To see her? To forgive her? Or to hate her all over again?”
Damien didn’t answer right away. Even he wasn’t sure which of those things was closest to the truth.
Finally he spoke, voice low and steady.
“I won’t let history repeat itself. What happened three years ago will never happen again.”
Orion’s tone softened. “Just promise me one thing.”
“What?”
“Don’t make decisions while you’re angry.”
Damien’s gaze drifted to the window again. The city lights blurred slightly.
“I will protect her this time.”
Orion was quiet for a moment. Then he smiled on the other end of the line, though Damien couldn’t see it.
“I hope you’re right.”
Another brief silence settled between them before Orion’s usual lightness returned.
“Alright, enough serious talk. Have a safe flight tomorrow. And make sure you dream about me, Mr. Dam—”
The call ended with a soft beep.
Damien stared at the phone for a second, then slipped it into his pocket. A small smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.
“Idiot.”
He took out a pack of cigarettes, lit one slowly, and watched the orange tip glow in the dim office. The smoke curled upward as he walked toward the enormous glass window. Below him the city stretched out in every direction — thousands of lights, millions of strangers.
Yet only one person occupied his thoughts.
_Wren._
_Three years._
_Three years of unanswered questions._
_Three years of telling himself he had moved on._
_Three years of pretending he no longer cared._
And yet the moment he saw her employee profile appear in the system, everything he had carefully buried came rushing back.
He closed his eyes.
''I should hate you." he said quietly, the words barely more than a breath. "But why can’t I?"
His fingers tightened around the cigarette. Smoke drifted into the cool air of the office.
After a long moment, the sadness in his eyes shifted into something sharper. Determination.
He walked back to his desk, set the cigarette in the ashtray, and picked up his tablet. A few quick taps brought up the employee database.
*Wren Carter*
*Design Department*
*Joined one week ago*
He studied the photo for several seconds longer than necessary, then pressed the intercom.
“Emily.”
His secretary answered immediately. “Yes, Mr. Sterling?”
“Tomorrow I’ll be returning to headquarters. And there’s something I want handled personally.”
“Yes, sir.”
A slow, controlled smile crossed Damien’s face.
“No one should know I’m coming. I want everything to continue as normal.”
“Understood.”
The line went dead.
Damien closed the file and rested his fingertips against the edge of the desk. Memories moved through his mind in quiet succession — fragments of laughter, arguments, the way she used to look at him when she thought he wasn’t watching, the day everything fell apart.
"This time,"he said under his breath, " I will learn the truth."
His eyes darkened.
"And if you really left me by choice… then I will make sure you never walk out of my life again."
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- Writer
