chapter 4
1387 Words
*CHAPTER 4: "YOU DON’T TOUCH WHAT’S MINE"*
The storm outside was nothing compared to the storm inside that office.
I pushed the heavy glass doors open with shaking hands, clutching the folder of documents Alex had asked for this morning. My heels clicked against the marble floor and the sound echoed too loud.
The office smelled like expensive cologne and rain.
Alex Carter was standing by his desk, tie loosened, sleeves rolled up. His jaw was tight like he’d been in a fight.
And across from him was Mandy Carter.
She turned the second I stepped in. Her red dress hugged her like it was painted on. Her smile was sweet. Her eyes were knives.
“Oh,” she said, voice dripping sugar. “The maid.”
My stomach dropped. “Sir, I have the documents you—”
“Get out,” Mandy cut me off. She didn’t even look at me. She looked at Alex. “We’re talking.”
I froze.
Alex didn’t look up from the papers for two seconds. Then he did. And when he did, the entire room went cold.
“Maya is going nowhere,” he said. Quiet. Deadly. “You get out, Mandy.”
Mandy blinked. “Excuse me?”
“I said get out.” His voice didn’t raise. It didn’t need to. “You heard me right.”
For a second nobody breathed.
Mandy’s perfect face cracked. “Alex. You did this to me... because of an ordinary maid?” She laughed, but it was broken. “If anyone said you would do this to me I wouldn’t believe it.”
Alex closed the folder in his hands. The sound was like a gunshot.
“Get. Out.”
Mandy stared at him. At me. At him again. Then she grabbed her bag and walked out, heels pounding like she wanted to c***k the floor. The door slammed behind her so hard the glass shook.
Silence.
“Sit down,” Alex said.
I jumped. “Sir?”
“Sit. Down.”
I sat. The leather chair was too big for me. I felt small.
“What took you so long?” he asked. He wasn’t yelling. But his eyes were scanning me like he was looking for bruises.
“Sir, there was traffic on the road.”
“Traffic.” He repeated the word like it offended him. He came around the desk and leaned against it, arms crossed. “Next time don’t be late. If you are, I will scold you.”
“Yes, boss.” My voice was barely a whisper.
He studied me. Then he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. The ruthless CEO mask slipped for half a second and I saw exhaustion.
“Get ready,” he said. “Tonight you’re following me to a meeting.”
I blinked. “Meeting? Me, sir?”
“Yes.” He looked at me like it was obvious. “Make sure you dress good and neat. Spray nice perfume.”
“But sir... I don’t have—”
“Don’t worry.” He cut me off. “I will send the maiden to bring dress and perfume for you.”
The word _maiden_ made my chest hurt. That’s what I was to them. Staff.
“Okay, sir,” I whispered. “But why is Mandy not going with you? I thought she is your fiancée.”
Alex went still.
He looked at me for a long time. Then he laughed. Not a nice laugh. A bitter one.
“No,” he said. “She is my parents’ choice. Not mine. It’s just a contract marriage. Her father promised my father half of his business if I marry his daughter.”
My heart did something stupid in my chest. _Why is he telling me this? Is he trying to let me know she’s not his choice?_
“What are you thinking of?” Alex asked suddenly, catching me staring.
“Ehmm... nothing, sir.”
“Go home now,” he said. “Wait for me at the car by 8:00 PM tonight.”
“Yes, sir.”
I bowed and left. My legs were shaking.
---
*TWO HOURS LATER*
I didn’t make it home.
The car that pulled up beside me on the empty street wasn’t Alex’s. The men who dragged me inside weren’t his guards.
“Please,” I begged as they tied my hands. “Who are you?”
One of them grinned. “Message from Ms. Mandy. She said you should learn your place.”
The warehouse smelled like rust and fear. They threw me on the concrete floor. My lip split when I hit.
It was 8:00 PM.
---
*AT THE SAME TIME - ALEX’S PENTHOUSE*
8:00 PM.
Alex stood by the car, suit perfect, jaw ticking.
She wasn’t there.
He called her phone. No answer.
“Go to her room,” he ordered his guards. “Now.”
They came back ten minutes later. “No one’s there, boss.”
Alex’s blood turned to ice.
They broke down her door. Empty. Bed made. Nothing out of place except her phone, smashed in the corner.
“Track her phone,” Alex said. His voice was flat. Too flat. “Now.”
His men scattered.
Mandy called ten minutes later.
“Baby,” she purred. “Why are you worried? I heard she went to meet her boyfriend. I heard her on a call yesterday saying she’d see him today. She’s just a maid, Alex. Forget about her.”
Alex closed his eyes.
“Shut up, Mandy. Get out.”
“But Alex—”
“I said GET OUT.”
She hung up.
At 8:42 PM his phone rang. Security.
“Boss, we found her. She was kidn*pped. Sending you the address now.”
Alex was already running.
---
*THE WAREHOUSE*
He kicked the door in.
Three men. One girl on the floor.
Maya.
Her dress was torn. Her face was bruised. She wasn’t moving.
The world went red.
“Hold them,” Alex growled. “Don’t let them go.”
He picked her up. She was light. Too light. Her head lolled against his chest.
“Stay with me,” he whispered. “Maya. Stay with me.”
He carried her to the car himself. Drove to the hospital with one hand on her pulse the entire time.
Then he came back.
The three men were still there, tied to chairs.
“Who sent you?” Alex asked.
Silence.
“Who. Sent. You.”
One of them broke. “M-Mandy. Ms. Mandy Carter.”
Alex laughed. It wasn’t humor. It was disbelief. Rage.
“Call her,” he said.
---
*20 MINUTES LATER*
Mandy walked in like she owned the place. “Baby, what’s up? Your men said you called. Did you see Maya?”
“Did I see her?” Alex stepped forward. “You think I don’t know?”
“Know what?” Her hands were shaking. “Alex, I can explain. I was just jealous. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
Alex looked at her like she was dirt on his shoe.
“This is the last warning, Mandy. No one touches what’s mine. Get out. Now.”
“What do you mean ‘what’s mine’?” she whispered.
“I SAID GET OUT BEFORE I HAVE SECURITY DRAG YOU OUT!”
Mandy flinched and ran.
Alex turned to his assistant. “Daniel. Cancel the meeting. Tell them tomorrow. Call the maid to bring food to the hospital. Call the driver. I’m going to the hospital.”
“Yes, boss.”
---
I woke up to the smell of antiseptic and him.
Alex was sitting beside the hospital bed, holding my hand like if he let go I’d disappear.
“You’re late,” he said when my eyes opened. “Don’t be late again. I will scold you.”
And then, very carefully, he brushed my hair back.
“You don’t touch what’s mine,” he said. “Ever again.”
Outside, thunder rolled.
Inside, I finally understood.
The ruthless CEO could be wicked to the world.
But to me... he was something else entirely.
---
*A/N: 😭😭 PROTECT MAYA!!! Comment "TEAM ALEX" if you want him to ruin Mandy. Should he break the engagement next chapter??*
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