11: He Chose Me in Front of Everyone
1281 Words
Lilian ~
The conference room again. I’m sitting in the front row. Katie keeps glancing at her watch. The finance guys are whispering. Even the interns who normally hide in the back are sitting up straight today. General staff meeting. Edwin called it out of nowhere. Nobody knows why.
Except me.
I know exactly why.
My heart’s banging so loud. Daniel is three chairs over. Not looking at me. Not yet. But I feel him there, like a cold spot on my skin. He’s scrolling his phone, slow and casual, but I know what’s on that screen. The same photos he sent me at six-something this morning. The video clip too. One line with it:
*Today’s the deadline. Unless you come to your senses.*
My stomach is twisted into a wet, sick knot. I didn’t sleep. Didn’t eat breakfast. Just sat on my bathroom floor staring at the tiles, trying to breathe through the panic. He’s going to do it. Post everything. Slack. Company email. The intranet front page probably. Everyone will see me on Edwin’s lap, skirt shoved up, head thrown back, coming on his fingers like some desperate porn clip.
The door opens.
Edwin walks in.
The room shuts up instantly. No more whispers. No rustling. Everyone straightens like kids caught passing notes.
He doesn’t sit at the head of the table.
He stands.
Hands in his pockets. Tie perfect. Suit dark. Hair a little messy, like he’s been pulling at it. His eyes move across the room once. Slow. When they hit me they stop. Just for a second. Long enough that heat rushes up my neck. Then his gaze moves on.
He clears his throat.
“I’m not here to talk quarterly numbers or project timelines.”
A few confused glances bounce around.
He takes one step closer to us.
“I’m here to tell you something personal. Something that concerns me. And one person in this room.”
My lungs forget how to work.
He looks straight ahead. Voice low. Steady. Like he’s reading verdict.
“Lilian Shealy is my girlfriend.”
Someone actually gasps. Loud. Katie’s mouth falls open. One of the finance guys mutters “No way” under his breath. Heads whip toward me. Eyes wide. Phones already half-out like people are ready to text the news.
Edwin doesn’t pause.
“She is my partner. My chosen lover. We’re together. Have been for some time.”
My face is on fire. Burning. Everyone’s staring at me now. Some shocked. Some smirking. Some just frozen with their mouths open.
I want to disappear. Sink through the floor. But I can’t move.
He keeps going. Voice doesn’t shake once.
“A few days back we had a bad argument. The new Boston expansion project. Things got heated. Really heated. After everyone left, in my office… we had s*x. On my desk.”
The silence is so thick it hurts my ears.
I stare at my hands in my lap. Nails digging into my palms. I can feel every single pair of eyes on me.
Edwin continues.
“We know it was wrong. Wrong place. Wrong time. Unprofessional. Stupid. But it happened. And it wasn’t just once. We care about each other. Deeply. That’s the reality.”
A nervous cough somewhere behind me.
He lets the quiet stretch another second.
“Here’s what’s not okay. Someone in this company walked in on us. Took photos. Took video. And now that person is threatening to drop everything on the company platform. Slack. Email. The internal portal. Trying to humiliate us. Ruin us. Force us to end what we have.”
He pauses again. Lets it land.
“I’m standing here telling you myself because I won’t let some coward control the story from the dark. If those images go out, they go out with my name on them. Not whispered. Not anonymous. From my mouth. Right now.”
He looks around slowly.
“I’m not ashamed of Lilian. I’m proud of her. She’s brilliant. She fights harder than anyone I’ve ever met. She took a dying subsidiary that I was ready to shut down and she turned it around. Saved jobs. Saved families. She makes this place better. She makes me better.”
My eyes sting. Hot. Blurry.
He’s looking right at me now.
“And I love her.”
The word hits me like a slap and a kiss at the same time.
Love.
He said love.
In front of the whole damn company.
My throat closes. I can’t swallow. Can’t breathe right.
He holds my eyes while he speaks to everyone else.
“So if the person who has those photos is in this room - or if you know who it is - hear me. You don’t scare me. You don’t own me. You don’t get to hurt her. Release them if you want. But you do it knowing I stood here today and claimed her. Publicly. No hiding. No apology for how much she means to me.”
He straightens his shoulders.
“I’m sorry if the s*x-in-the-office part makes anyone uncomfortable. That was reckless. We own that mistake. But I won’t say sorry for loving her. Or for protecting what we have.”
He takes a breath.
“That’s all. Meeting’s over.”
Nobody moves at first. Chairs stay still. Nobody stands.
Then someone shifts. Someone else stands. Whispers explode. Eyes dart from me to Edwin to Daniel.
Edwin doesn’t wait for the chaos.
He walks straight to me.
Everyone watches.
He stops right in front of my chair. Holds out his hand.
I look up at him. His face is serious. Eyes soft in a way I’ve never seen in public.
I put my hand in his.
His fingers close around mine. Warm. Firm. Safe.
He pulls me up gently.
Then, loud enough for the closest rows to hear:
“Come to my house tonight. Stay the whole weekend. I want you there. With me.”
My heart is so loud it hurts.
He doesn’t kiss me. Doesn’t hug me. Just squeezes my hand once, thumb brushing my knuckles.
Then he lets go, turns, and walks out.
Leaving me standing in the middle of the stunned room.
I look over at Daniel.
He’s still sitting.
Face pale. Eyes glassy. Mouth a tight line.
His phone is face-down on the table.
He lifts his head slowly.
Looks at me.
For the first time since I met him, the calm mask is gone.
He looks sick. Angry. Lost. Like someone just ripped the ground out from under him.
I don’t smile. Don’t smirk. Don’t say a word.
I just hold his stare for long.
Then I turn and walk out after Edwin.
My legs feel shaky. Weak. But I keep moving.
People are whispering. Staring. Some pointing. Phones already out.
I don’t care.
Because Edwin just stood in front of everyone and said he loves me.
He didn’t whisper it in the dark. He didn’t text it. He said it loud. In front of the whole company. No shame. No excuses.
He fought for me.
Right there.
And Daniel?
Daniel looks like a man who just lost everything he thought he controlled.
He can post the photos now if he wants.
It won’t matter the same way.
Because Edwin already told the truth first.
And he told it holding my hand.
I love him too.
And I’m done pretending I don’t.
I reach the elevator. Press the button.
Doors slide open.
I step inside alone.
As the elevator doors close, my phone vibrates.
A Slack notification pops up.
Company-wide message uploading…
My heart stops.
Is Daniel about to drop the photos and videos?
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