My Billionaire Boss Who Loved Me

A Dangerous Instinct

My eyes landed on one of the temporary steel supports holding up the unfinished floor above.

At first glance, nothing looked unusual. Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right.

Maybe it was nothing but, curiosity got the better of me.

I excused myself quietly and walked a little closer, pretending to study one of the architectural drawings hanging nearby.

The closer I got, the more uncomfortable I became.

One of the steel supports wasn’t perfectly vertical.

It looked slightly out of line.

Most people would’ve walked past without a second glance, but something about it didn’t sit right with me.

I crouched down to inspect the base and frowned when I noticed one of the bolts wasn’t fully secured.

”…That’s strange.”

A worker pushed a trolley stacked with cement bags across the platform above.

The steel support groaned under the weight.

Then it shifted.

My breath instantly caught.

More workers stepped onto the platform, oblivious.

I turned sharply toward Mr. Thorne. He was still discussing deadlines with the contractor.

“Ugh..Mr. Thorne?”

He raised one finger without looking at me.

“One moment.”

I glanced back just as another pallet of steel was being lifted onto the platform above.

My eyes immediately returned to the support again, and this time I saw it shift beneath the extra weight.

A cold knot settled in my stomach.

He was still discussing revised deadlines with the contractor, completely unaware of what was happening behind him.

“Mr. Thorne.”

Neither of them looked up.

I took a step closer, my voice firmer this time.

“Mr. Thorne!”

The conversation stopped immediately. Both men turned toward me, confusion written across their faces.

“What is it?” Mr. Thorne asked.

I pointed straight at the platform. “Please get everyone off there. That support has started to shift.”

The contractor barely spared it a glance before shaking his head. “That’s impossible. We inspected every support on this floor this morning.”

“Then inspect it again,” I replied without taking my eyes off it. “Something’s wrong.”

He let out a short laugh. “Miss Carroway, you’re worrying over nothing.”

Before I could answer, the support groaned again, this time loud enough for every worker on the floor to stop and look around.

Loud enough for every worker on the floor to stop and look around.

My heart lurched.

“Get them down,” I said, more urgently.

The contractor still hesitated, looking between me and the platform as though trying to decide whether I was overreacting.

I wasn’t waiting any longer.

I climbed over the safety barrier and ran toward the workers.

“Maya!” Mr. Thorne shouted behind me.

I ignored him.

The workers looked at me like I’d completely lost my mind as I waved them toward the stairs.

“Everyone, get down! Right now!”

One of them frowned. “What’s going on?”

I looked up just in time to see the support shift again.

My blood ran cold.

“RUN!”

The panic in my voice must have been enough because the workers immediately dropped everything they were carrying.

One of them jumped over a pile of steel rods while another nearly lost his balance trying to climb down the temporary staircase.

A third man hesitated, looking between me and the foreman as though he couldn’t decide who to listen to.

“Move!” I yelled again, grabbing the sleeve of his reflective jacket. “Don’t stand there, just move!”

He finally stumbled forward.

The moment his boots hit solid concrete, a loud c***k echoed through the construction site. Time seemed to stop.

The scaffolding folded inward and crashed onto the concrete below.

Steel pipes clanged together, wooden planks splintered apart, and a thick cloud of dust swallowed the entire site.

People screamed.

Someone shouted for everyone to immediately clear the area.

My ears rang, drowning out every other sound.

For a few terrifying seconds, all I could do was stare.

If those workers had remained on that platform for even five more seconds…

I didn’t even want to finish the thought.

“Maya!”

Strong hands suddenly grabbed my shoulders.

I turned to find Mr. Thorne standing in front of me, his brows drawn together tightly.

“Are you hurt?”

For a second, I simply blinked at him.

“I’m… I’m fine.”

He looked me over once more as if making sure I wasn’t lying before slowly letting go of my shoulders.

The project manager came running toward us, completely out of breath.

“My God…”

His face had lost every trace of colour.

“Everyone… is everyone alright?”

One of the workers nodded shakily.

“We’re okay.”

Another sat down heavily on a pile of cement bags, pressing both hands against his face.

“I would’ve been up there.” his voice cracked.

“I would’ve…”

Nobody dared finishing the sentence.

The silence hanging over the construction site said everything.

The project manager slowly turned toward me, then looked back at the collapsed scaffolding as if he still couldn’t believe what had happened.

“How did you…”

His voice barely came out.

“How did you know?”

I swallowed before answering.

“I noticed the support leaning slightly when we arrived. At first I thought I was imagining it, but then I saw one of the anchor bolts had shifted. Once they started loading more materials onto the platform…”

I glanced at the twisted steel on the ground.

“…it simply couldn’t carry the weight anymore.”

The contractor who had dismissed me earlier slowly removed his hard hat.

He looked embarrassed.

“I inspected that section myself this morning. It looked fine.”

I nodded.

“I understand”

I walked toward what remained of the collapsed support, stopping just short of the safety tape workers were already putting up.

“The bolt never completely failed,” I said quietly, studying the damage.

“It only shifted enough to throw the whole support off balance. Most people would’ve walked past it without noticing.”

The contractor stared at the twisted steel before letting out a long breath.

“I did.”

His shoulders slumped.

“If you hadn’t spoken up…”

He didn’t finish.

Instead, he held out his hand.

“I’m sorry, Miss Carroway. I shouldn’t have dismissed you.”

I shook it with a small smile.

“It’s alright, don’t worry.”

“No.” He shook his head. “I assumed you were just Mr. Thorne’s assistant.”

“She is my assistant,” Mr. Thorne said calmly.

The contractor looked confused.

“But, she’s also a licensed architect.”

Realization washed over the man’s face.

“…That explains it.”

Within minutes, emergency inspectors had taken over the site, shutting the entire floor down.

Workers gathered in small groups while photographs were taken and damaged sections were cordoned off.

As Mr. Thorne and I walked back toward the elevators, several workers nodded at me in passing.

A few quietly thanked me.

“I only did what anyone would’ve done,” I murmured.

Mr. Thorne glanced at me.

“No.”

I frowned.

“Most people wouldn’t have noticed.”

The elevator doors closed behind us, leaving us alone with the silence.

I stared at my trembling hands.

“I almost didn’t say anything.”

“I thought maybe I was overreacting.”

He looked at me.

“You weren’t.”

His answer came without hesitation.

“If you’d ignored your instincts today, three families would’ve gone home to very different news.”

I swallowed hard.

“I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

“You handled it well.”

My eyes widened slightly.

“…Was that a compliment?”

“I acknowledged competent work.”

I smiled despite myself.

“I’ll take it.”

…

By the time we returned to headquarters, Nathan was already waiting outside Mr. Thorne’s office.

The moment he noticed the dust covering our clothes, he frowned.

“Oh my goodness, what happened?”

Mr. Thorne handed him the inspection report.

“Temporary scaffolding failure.”

Nathan skimmed the first page before looking up.

“Was anyone hurt?”

“No.”

“What happened over there?”

Mr. Thorne didn’t even look at me.

“Miss Carroway noticed the structural failure before anyone else.”

Nathan’s eyebrows shot up.

“Seriously?”

“It wasn’t that—”

“It was.”

Mr. Thorne cut me off.

Nathan looked from him to me before a grin spread across his face.

“Wait… you defended Maya?”

Mr. Thorne didn’t answer.

Nathan’s grin only widened.

“And you complimented her too?”

Mr. Thorne looked up.

“Do you have work to do?”

“I do.”

“Then go.”

Still laughing, Nathan walked away.

I turned to leave as well.

“Miss Carroway.”

I looked back.

Mr. Thorne was already reading another report, his attention never leaving the page.

“…Good work today.”

A smile tugged at my lips before I could stop it.

I gave a firm nod.

“Thank you, Mr. Thorne.”

As I quietly closed the office door behind me, one thought lingered in my mind.

For the first time since I started working at Thorne Enterprises…

I had finally earned Eric Thorne’s respect.