Chapter Four: Past Shadows and Present Games
556 Words
Alina barely had time to process Xander’s threat before the morning came—too bright, too fast, and too fake.
A knock at her bedroom door.
She expected breakfast. Maybe silence.
But what greeted her?
A contract.
Another one.
“This is for your new position at Valtieri Holdings,” said a tall woman in a sharp grey suit. Her hair was tight, her face tighter.
Ms. Renna Greaves, personal assistant to the CEO.
“I didn’t apply for a job,” Alina said flatly.
Renna’s smile was icy. “You’re his wife now. Optics matter. If people don’t see you working, they’ll start asking questions.”
She didn’t say the real truth out loud: If you don’t stay visible, you’ll be disposable.
Alina scanned the contract. Executive Assistant to the CEO.
She was expected to report to Xander’s office by 9:00 AM sharp. No exceptions.
She signed. Again.
---
The Valtieri headquarters downtown was an empire of steel and silence.
When Alina entered, the staff stared. Not in welcome—but in disbelief. No one had ever seen the billionaire CEO with a woman more than once. Now suddenly… a wife?
As she walked to his office, her phone buzzed.
A blocked number.
She frowned and opened the message.
> "You shouldn't be there, Alina. He's dangerous. Leave now, or you'll disappear like your sister."
Her blood ran cold.
She didn’t have a sister.
---
She tried to push the text from her mind as she entered his office.
Xander looked up from his desk, clearly displeased. “You're late.”
“It’s 8:57.”
“That’s three minutes wasted.”
She sat across from him, refusing to break eye contact.
“You didn’t tell me I’d be working for you,” she said.
“You want answers?” he replied without looking up. “Start earning them.”
She glared. “And your assistant—Renna? She looks at me like she wants to stab me.”
Xander’s expression twitched, just for a second.
“Renna was... supposed to be my wife once.”
Alina blinked. “Excuse me?”
He looked her dead in the eye. “Now you understand why you need to keep your guard up.”
---
Hours later, Renna brushed past Alina in the hallway, lips curled.
“I hope you’re not falling for him,” she whispered, “because he’s never loved anyone. And he never will.”
Alina didn't flinch. “If you're still clinging to the idea of being his wife, you must not have meant much to him.”
Renna’s eyes flashed with a dangerous gleam.
---
That night, another message came through.
> “Ask him about the fire. Ask him what he did six years ago. Before it finds you too.”
She locked her door.
And slept with the light on.
---
Meanwhile…
Xander stood in a darkened room, watching footage. Alina. Renna. The office.
Someone had hacked the estate’s internal security.
“We’ve got a problem,” he said into the phone.
“She’s being watched. Just like before.”
“Should we pull her out?” the voice asked.
“No,” Xander replied coldly.
“This time, she stays in the fire. I need to know who’s hunting her. And why they’re using my past to do it.”
- Writer
