Chapter 4
1175 Words
---
*Title ng Chapter:* The Kiss He Wasn't Supposed to Give
*Kain Corp. 47th Floor. 2:43 AM.*
Hindi na ako nagtatago.
72 hours na lang bago mag-launch ang Project Omega. Kung hindi ko mahanap yung huling backdoor, babagsak lahat.
Damian and I had been working non-stop for 48 hours. Coffee. No sleep. Just code and tension.
"You're staring," I said without looking up from the screen.
"You're wrong," Damian replied.
I glanced at him. He was watching me, not the code. Again.
"Stop it," I muttered.
"Stop what?"
"Looking at me like I'm a problem you need to fix."
Damian leaned back in his chair. "You are a problem, Luna Morales. The kind I can't figure out."
"Then stop trying."
I went back to typing. My fingers flew across the keyboard.
Line 9921. Another backdoor.
"Got it," I whispered.
Damian was beside me in an instant. "Where?"
"Shanghai server. Same as the others. Selina's not working alone."
Damian's jaw tightened. "I know."
I turned to look at him. "What do you mean you know?"
"WeiTech's CEO called me an hour ago. He wants a meeting. Tomorrow. 10 AM."
"That's a trap."
"I know." Damian ran a hand through his hair. He looked exhausted. "But if I don't go, he'll leak what he has. Project Omega dies."
"Then we find the leak before tomorrow."
Damian looked at me for a long time. "You haven't slept in two days."
"Neither have you."
"I don't have a choice. You're not me, Luna."
I wanted to argue. But I couldn't. My hands were shaking from caffeine and lack of sleep.
"Go to bed," Damian said softly. "I'll finish this."
I shook my head. "No. We're close."
"Luna."
"Damian."
We stared at each other.
He sighed first.
"Fine. But after this, you're sleeping. That's final."
I nodded and turned back to the screen.
---
*3:12 AM.*
Damian's phone rang.
He answered it on speaker.
"Damian," a female voice said. "It's over. WeiTech has everything."
Selina.
Damian stood up. "Where are you?"
"Doesn't matter. What matters is you call off Project Omega. Or I release everything in 6 hours."
I froze.
6 hours.
Before the launch.
"You're bluffing," Damian said.
"Am I?" Selina laughed. "Check your email, nephew."
The line went dead.
Damian's jaw clenched. He opened his laptop.
A video started playing.
It was me.
Me at 14 years old, sitting next to my brother in our old apartment. We were laughing.
Then the video cut to a file.
_Kain Corp. Family Records. Victor Kain. Last Will._
"Stop it," I whispered.
Damian paused the video. He looked at me.
"Luna," he said slowly. "Who are you?"
I stood up. My chair fell back with a crash.
"Don't," I said. "Don't do this."
"Tell me the truth," Damian said, his voice low and dangerous. "Now."
I couldn't breathe.
If I told him, he'd know. He'd know I owned 51% of his company. He'd know I had the power to fire him.
And he'd never look at me the same way again.
"I don't have time for this," I said, grabbing my bag. "Fix the leak, Damian. That's what matters."
I walked to the door.
"Luna!"
Damian grabbed my arm and spun me around.
"Tell me," he said.
His face was inches from mine. I could see the anger. The hurt. The fear.
"I'm Luna Morales," I whispered. "That's all you need to know."
"Liar."
He leaned in closer.
"Then why does Selina have your family records?" he asked. "Why does she know about Victor Kain's will?"
My blood ran cold.
Victor Kain's will.
She knew.
"Let me go," I said.
"No." Damian's grip tightened. "Not until you tell me the truth."
I looked up at him.
And I saw it.
The moment he realized.
"You're his granddaughter," Damian whispered.
It wasn't a question.
I didn't answer.
Damian let go of me like I'd burned him.
"You're the heir," he said. "51%."
Silence.
I nodded once.
Damian stepped back. His face went blank.
"You lied to me," he said quietly.
"I had to," I said. "You would have fired me if you knew."
"And now?" Damian laughed, but there was no humor in it. "Now what? You fire me?"
"I don't want to fire you," I said. "I want to save this company. With you."
Damian shook his head.
"You should have told me from the start."
"And you would have trusted me?"
"No," he admitted.
"Then what's the difference now?" I asked.
Damian didn't answer.
Because there was no answer.
---
*3:47 AM.*
We didn't speak for 20 minutes.
Both of us were typing, trying to find the leak.
But the tension was suffocating.
"Damian," I said finally. "I'm sorry."
He didn't look at me. "Don't be."
"I didn't mean to lie. I just—"
"You lied because you thought I'd hurt you," Damian finished for me. "And maybe you were right."
I looked at him.
He looked tired. Older than his 33 years.
"I'm not going to fire you," Damian said suddenly.
I blinked. "What?"
"You're the owner. You can fire me. But I'm not going to fire you."
"Why?"
"Because you're the only person who's ever been honest with me, even when you were lying."
I didn't know what to say to that.
So I said nothing.
Damian stood up and walked to the window.
"6 hours," he said quietly. "We have 6 hours to stop Selina."
"We will," I said.
Damian turned back to me.
"And Luna?"
"Yeah?"
"When this is over, we're talking. About everything."
I nodded.
"Deal."
---
*5:02 AM.*
We found it.
The final backdoor. Hidden in the admin logs.
Selina had been smart. Too smart.
I closed it.
Then I set a trap.
"Done," I said, leaning back.
Damian looked at me. Really looked at me.
"You saved it," he said quietly. "You saved my company."
"Your company," I corrected.
"No," Damian said. "Our company."
My heart skipped a beat.
Damian walked around the desk and stood in front of me.
"Luna," he said.
I looked up.
He cupped my face with his hand. His thumb brushed against my cheek.
"You shouldn't have lied to me," he whispered.
"I know."
"But I'm glad you're here."
Damian leaned down.
I should have stopped him.
I didn't.
His lips met mine.
It wasn't gentle. It wasn't slow.
It was desperate. Angry. Real.
I kissed him back.
For a moment, everything else disappeared. Selina. WeiTech. The company. The lie.
It was just me and him.
Then Damian pulled back, breathing hard.
"What was that?" he asked, voice rough.
I didn't know what to say.
So I said the truth.
"I don't know," I whispered.
Damian nodded once.
"Neither do I."
He stepped back.
"Go to bed, Luna," he said. "We talk in the morning."
I stood up on shaky legs and walked to the bedroom.
Before I closed the door, I looked back.
Damian was staring at me.
Like he didn't know whether to kiss me again or fire me.
---
*End of Chapter 4*
---
- Writer
