The Stolen Night

Chapter Two: The Morning After

What do you do when you wake up beside the one man capable of destroying your entire career?

My gaze remained fixed on the man sleeping beside me.

Ethan Dennis.

The mysterious billionaire CEO of Orion corporation. Young , cold , powerful.

My boss! .

The most feared businessman in New York.

The kind of name that made interns forget their lines in meetings and senior managers double-check their reports multiple times before sending.

You didn’t just work for Ethan Dennis. You survived him.

One mistake could cost you everything.

I had seen it happen. One raised eyebrow, and the CFO would stop mid-sentence, sweating through his five-thousand-dollar suit. No one argued with him. No one wanted to.

The same man who fired three employees once because they were a minute late.

They said he had a zero-tolerance policy for mediocrity. I said it was cruel. But cruel or not, it worked. Orion didn’t miss deadlines. Orion didn’t lose money. Orion didn’t have people who slacked off.

No small talk. No “how was your weekend.” Just clipped instructions, a nod, and he was gone. People joked that he was programmed, that somewhere in that cold exterior was a chip, not a heart.

My entire body froze.

I stared at him.

I didn’t mean to stare. It wasn’t allowed. Not at work, not like this. But here, in this stupid hotel room that smelled like expensive cologne and champagne gone flat, I couldn’t help it.

At work, Ethan Dennis looked untouchable ,always sharp suits, emotionless eyes, clipped words.

But here…

His face was calm , relaxed in sleep , completely unaware of what was going on inside of me .

The lines around his mouth were gone. The jaw that usually looked carved from stone was slack. For the first time, he looked human. Almost like the kind of man you could talk to without rehearsing your words.

The bedsheet was pulled down on his waist, revealing the thin old scar on his left hand.

I had never noticed it before. At work, his hands were always hidden under cuffs, always moving papers, always signing things that changed people’s lives. That scar looked old. Like something from before he was Ethan Dennis, CEO of Orion. Before he became untouchable.

For a few seconds my brain refused to process.

" How did this happen?" I murmured within myself as I tried to remember the flashes of what happened last night.

I remembered being at the company's end of the year party, taking glasses of champagne from the waitress, being drunk , entering a room away from the crowd.

Then the rest was a blur.

I couldn't remember enough, that alone terrified me.

I was the careful type. I always follow company rules.I was the girl who stayed late to fix other people’s slides and left before anyone could ask me to stay for drinks.

"No ,no ,no ". I whispered to myself

This couldn't be real

But , funny enough it was .

Because I was on bed with him and I was completely naked.

The word naked felt wrong in my head. Too loud, too final. I wasn’t supposed to be here. He wasn’t supposed to be here. We weren’t supposed to be anything to each other beyond employer and employee.

I gently pulled the bedsheets closer to me, as if it could undo what has already happened. I started thinking of a way out.

I can't stay here. I can't let him see me , because I was definitely going to loose my job.

Carefully and gently I slid out of the bed like the sheets were made of alarm. Being careful enough at every single step I took, afraid he might wake up .

My heart was hammering so loud I was sure it would wake him. Every movement felt too slow, too clumsy, like I was underwater. The floor was cold against my feet. The air felt heavier, like the room knew what I had done and was judging me for it.

Luckily he didn't wake up .

I gently picked up my scathered clothes from the floor. I dressed facing the wall . Hands shaking.Afraid he might wake up and catch me.

Dressing was worse than undressing. Every button, every zipper felt like it took a year. My shirt was inside out. My skirt had a stain I didn’t want to look at too closely.

One heel near the chair.

The other by the couch.

I didn’t even remember taking them off. That scared me more than anything.

My thoughts were unforgiving.

I shouldn't have come to the party at all .

I shouldn't have drank the champagne.

I should have been home, in bed, watching something stupid on my laptop, pretending I didn’t care that everyone else seemed to have a life outside of work.

" No" . This never happened. That was what I told myself, because that was what I needed to believe.

Denial was easier than reality. Reality meant consequences. Reality meant my job, my reputation, everything I had worked for since I started at Orion two years ago, could disappear with one word from him.

Then , another thought came to me.

What would happen if he remembers?.

Would he fire me?.

Will he pretend nothing happened?.

I didn't know which possibility frightened me most.

I gently grabbed my bag and my heels off the floor not daring to look back . The door seems very far but somehow I made it .

One Step after another.

Slowly and carefully.

Each one heavier than the last.

My legs felt like they didn’t belong to me. Like I was walking in someone else’s body, making someone else’s mistakes.

When I finally reached the door .

My right hand wrapped around the handle.

It was cold.

I paused. I wanted to look back.

To make sure he was still asleep. To confirm this was real.

I looked back.

Dennis was still very much asleep.

His chest rose and fell evenly. Peaceful. Unbothered. Like he hadn’t just ruined two lives in one night.

I opened the door and ran out.

The hallway was empty. Too quiet. My heels clicked too loud against the marble floor, and I kicked them off, carrying them in my hand like that would make me less noticeable.

I actually thought I had escaped. But I never knew I didn't leave completely. I didn't realize my bag was open.

I had been in such a rush, zipping it up with shaking hands, that I must have missed the latch.

Somewhere behind me, lost in the sheets or fallen to the floor .

was a single piece of paper.A resume.

It wasn't mine.

It belonged to my best friend.

Ivy Cole .

Her name was neatly printed at top , bold and confident.

IVY COLE.

Address , phone number , reference. Every single information Dennis could need.

In my rush to escape, I had left the key to a betrayal behind.

And that little mistake?.

It's about to change everything now