You Were Always Mine

Unguarded

Oscar's phone buzzed three times without a break before he even looked at it.

He was mid-sentence with a board member on the other line, discussing quarterly projections.

Charles burst through his office door without knocking, breathing heavily as he hurried towards his table.

"Sir."

Oscar held up a hand, still speaking into the phone. Charles didn't wait.

"Sir, you need to see this now."

Something in his assistant's voice made Oscar end the call mid-sentence, the board member's protest cut off entirely.

"What is it?"

Charles turned his tablet around without a word.

The video loaded slowly at first, then it began to play.

Vivian, stepping out of Pearl Corporation's entrance into a wall of noise and camera flashes. Vivian, struck in the shoulder by something wet and yellow, the crowd around her erupting into chaos while she stood frozen for half a second before continuing to walk like nothing had happened at all.

Oscar's jaw tightened with every second that passed.

“What is this about? What's going on?” he asked all at once. "When did this happen?"

"An hour ago." Charles managed to answer the last question.

Charles watches his boss's expression shift from confusion into something darker.

"It's everywhere already. Along with the other allegations."

"Other allegations?"

Charles hesitated, then pulled up another screen, scrolling through headline after headline.

Abusive CEO, falsified documents, former employees speaking out.

Oscar's eyes moved faster than his breathing, jaw tightening as something cold settled behind his expression the longer he read.

"Get her office on the line."

Charles was already dialing before Oscar finished the sentence, phone pressed to his ear, foot tapping once against the floor while it rang.

Oscar watched him, arms crossed, patience thinning with every second that passed.

"She's not picking up." Charles lowered the phone slightly. "Let me try Cassandra."

Oscar's fingers curled into a fist at his side, unreadable rage simmering just beneath the surface of his expression.

Charles's face changed the moment the call connected.

"...Yes, this is Charles. Is Ms. Vivian…" He paused, listening, brows drawing together. "She left the office? When?"

Oscar's head snapped up.

"Where did she go?" Charles asked, voice tightening.

Then his eyes flicked toward Oscar, something urgent flashing behind them.

"The mansion. She went straight home."

Oscar was already moving before Charles finished the sentence.

His jacket sat abandoned over the back of his chair, keys snatched off the desk in seconds.

"Sir, your two o'clock…"

"Cancel it."

"Sir…"

"Cancel everything." Oscar was already at the door.

The drive back to the estate blurred past in a way Oscar barely registered.

His grip on the wheel stayed tight the entire way with something coiled in his chest refusing to loosen no matter how fast he pushed the car.

The gates opened before he'd even fully stopped, and he was out of the car before the engine had settled, moving quickly through the front entrance without waiting for a greeting from the staff.

The house felt too quiet.

He found Zara first, standing near the back windows, arms crossed with worry etched clearly into the lines of her face.

"Where is she?"

Zara nodded toward the glass doors leading out to the estate grounds.

Oscar crossed the room in several long strides and stepped outside.

The field stretched wide behind the mansion, grass still damp from the earlier rain with grey clouds hanging low over the horizon.

And there, running across the length of it at a dead sprint, was Vivian.

She ran like something was chasing her.

Arms pumping, legs covering up the distance in furious strides, her blouse untucked and clinging slightly with sweat despite the cool afternoon air.

She reached the far end of the field, turned sharply, and kept going.

Cassandra stood off to the side near the treeline, arms wrapped around herself, watching helplessly.

Oscar approached her first. "How long has she been doing this?"

"Almost forty minutes." Cassandra's voice was tight with worry.

"I tried to stop her twice. She won't listen."

His eyes returned back to his wife, brows furrowed in question.

“She doesn't do this often sir.” Cassandra explained. "Only when she's furious. Or when she's trying not to think about killing someone."

Oscar exhaled, "I know.”

Admitting it out loud almost made him slap himself across the face but he didn't give a damn right now.

Oscar's eyes tracked Vivian as she rounded the far end of the field again, her pace noticeably slower now, breath visibly ragged even from this distance, but she showed no sign of stopping.

He started walking.

"Sir, I don't think she wants…"

He didn't stop.

By the time he reached the middle of the field, Vivian was closing the distance toward him on her next lap, and he could see clearly now just how exhausted she looked.

Her face was flushed, damp strands of hair stuck to her forehead, chest heaving with each ragged breath.

Her legs looked ready to give out beneath her, and still, she pushed forward.

"Vivian."

She didn't slow down. If anything, she pushed harder, veering slightly to avoid him.

"Vivian, stop."

"Leave me alone." Her voice came out breathless but sharp despite the exhaustion clearly slowing her down.

He caught her on the next pass.

His arm wrapped firmly around her waist, halting her mid-stride, and she gasped at the sudden contact, twisting hard against his grip.

"Let go of me!"

He didn't even act like he'd heard her at all.

"I said let go.."

He didn't.

Instead, in one swift motion, he bent slightly and hoisted her over his shoulder, her feet leaving the ground entirely as she let out a sharp cry of protest.

"Oscar! Put me down! Put me down right now!"

He held her firm, one arm braced securely across the back of her legs, ignoring the fists that immediately began pounding against his back.

"I mean it! Let me go!"

"No."

"Put me down, you absolute…"

He carried her across the field toward the house, her voice rising with every step, kicking and thrashing against him the entire way.

Zara pulled the door open as they approached, eyes wide, wisely saying nothing as Oscar walked straight past her and up the staircase.

"You don't get to do this!"

Vivian's voice cracked, somewhere between fury and exhaustion.

"You don't get to just carry me around like I'm some…put me down!"

He reached her bedroom, kicked the door open with one foot, and crossed to the bed before finally setting her down.

The moment her feet touched the floor, she shoved away from him, chest heaving, eyes blazing with something close to rage.

"How dare you."

"Vivian…"

"You don't get to touch me!"

Her voice shook now, equal parts rage and something beneath it.

"You were about to collapse."

"I don't care!"

"I do."

Something in his voice made her go still for half a second. Eyes still fixed on his face and what she saw in them infuriated her even further.

Then her hand moved.

The slap landed hard across his cheek, sharp enough to echo through the room, his head turning slightly from the force of it.

“I hate you.”