The CEO's forgotten Kiss

Chapter 1: “I love you so much Zayden. And i will not let you look anything like him” Elira whispered, her lips barely brushing the soft curls on Zayden’s forehead. Her heart ached as she lingered by the door of the run-down apartment. Her coat was soaked, even before she reached the sidewalk. She didn't look back, she just could not afford to. The storm lashed the Brooklyn skyline like a beast unleashed wind howling, rain turning the streets into rivers. But Elira barely noticed. Chaos had lived inside her far longer than this storm. Zayden would be safe with Mrs. Harlow. The old woman had no idea she was holding the son of a billionaire. No idea that the toddler clinging to his stuffed fox was born of secrets, betrayal and one unforgettable night with the most dangerous man Elira had ever loved, Caelum D’Arden Vallis. The name was poison wrapped in diamonds. The man who haunted her The man who, if he ever found out the truth, would never let them go. She didn’t have time to think about the past, not when the future was balancing on a knife’s edge. One hour.That’s how long she had to infiltrate the world that had once nearly destroyed her. A world of glass towers and vulture smiles. A world of forged identities, fractured loyalties and bloodstained boardroom deals. But this time she wasn’t the naïve girl who fell in love with a billionaire's lies. This time, she was the weapon. And she had everything to lose. The Vallis Conglomerate headquarters stood like a dark heart in Manhattan’s financial district, steel and shadow, thirty-five stories of wealth and warning. The Iron Spire, they called it. Elira stared up at it from the sidewalk, her fingers trembling inside her coat pockets. Her thrifted heels were soaked, the makeup she'd applied meticulously at 5 a.m. already fading. But her spine stayed straight. "I can do this" "I have to do this" She muttered, as she walked into the lobby like she belonged there. “Elena Vale. Finalist for the Innovation Initiative,” she said, sliding her ID across the polished marble counter. But the receptionist who barely glanced up, while busy on her computer, said. “The Fifth floor please. Mr. Grimes will see you shortly.” Good. Grimes was a name she could handle. Grimes didn’t know her past. Grimes wouldn’t look at her and see the woman who once ran from Caelum Vallis barefoot, bleeding, and pregnant. The elevator was a gleaming silver coffin. Elira’s reflection stared back at her in the mirrored walls, pale skin, full lips trembling despite the coat of lipstick, and wide brown eyes rimmed with fear and fire. She shoved the fear down and closed her eyes, breathing. She’d practiced her story a hundred times. The falsified resume, the fabricated references, the fake address in Midtown. Everything was in place Except for her heartbeat which now thundered against her ribs like a war drum. In her bag was a folded crayon drawing a house, a sun, and a stick-figure family of three. Her son's blue-eyed rendering of a father he’d never met, blue like his. The elevator pinged and it was time to lie her way into the lion’s den. The boardroom on the Fifth floor was a frostbitten box of chrome and glass. Elira counted four other candidates. Each one polished, rich and extremely prepared. One of them was literally rehearsing aloud. Another in a powder blue suit, eyed her with barely veiled disdain. She ignored them and sat at the end of the table, smoothed her skirt for ten minutes. That’s all she needed to impress Grimes and vanish back into the shadows with what she came for. But then the door opened and every breath in her body froze. Caelum D’Arden Vallis walked in like a blade. Tall, Immaculate. His obsidian suit clung like sin, His hair gleamed like polished jet. But it was his eyes, those glacier eyes that punched the breath from her lungs. They scanned the room. Stopped on her, and didn’t move. “Elena Vale,” he said slowly, the corners of his mouth curling with something far colder than recognition. “Well. This is... unexpected.” Her stomach twisted into knots. She prayed he’d look away, that he’d doubt himself. That the years had blurred the memory of her face, but Caelum Vallis never forgot anything. “Mr. Vallis,” one of the candidates called nervously. “I thought Mr. Grimes was handling...” “Mr. Grimes had a scheduling conflict.” His voice was velvet over steel, as he interrupted. “I prefer to personally evaluate talent... when the stakes are high.” His eyes never left hers, not once. The interview began, but Elira couldn’t hear a word. She felt like she was drowning in the past, in the scent of his cologne, in the sound of the voice that used to whisper promises against her skin. She forced herself to breathe, to speak, to shine. She had to, because if Caelum found out what she was hiding... if he learned about Zayden he would never let her leave. The others filed out in silence an hour later Elira gathered her folder with shaking fingers, hoping he'd let her go. “Miss Vale,” he said smoothly, standing behind the glass table, hands in his pockets. “Stay.” Her heart dropped to the floor. She turned slowly. He was watching her like a predator watches a deer that thinks it’s escaped. “I want to know,” he said, “why a woman I buried years ago is suddenly sitting in my boardroom under a different name.” Elira fought the quake in her voice. “Maybe it’s just a coincidence.” “No,” he said, voice low. “You don’t do coincidences. You do escape plans. Vanishing acts. Lies.” “And you do surveillance. Power plays. Ego.” Her voice sharpened. “Tell me, Caelum, how many people did you have to threaten to get where you are now?” His smile was blade-thin. “I don’t threaten. I replace.” Elira flinched, because she remembered. The day he replaced her in his life without so much as a goodbye. She stepped forward, her chin high. “I’m not here for you. I came for the program.” “You came to hide,” he said. “But here’s the problem with hiding, Elira…” He moved closer. So close she could feel the heat of his body. The storm outside echoed to the one in her chest. She swallowed hard and then said. “If you plan on disqualifying me, just say so.” “You’re not going anywhere,” he said, voice like a promise laced with danger. “You start tomorrow.” But Elira stared at him, stunned. “Why?” She asked and his answer was firm but soft. “Because if you’re here… you’re mine again, Elira.” That single response kept ringing inside her head, as the elevator doors closed behind like prison gates and right there, her phone buzzed. She quickly checked and it was a message from Mrs. Harlow. Zayden’s Nanny. "Zayden's fever just spiked, I’m taking him to the ER. Will keep you posted" The message read and Elira’s chest caved in. But then another buzz came in just as she was about to tuck the phone into her purse. Harlow, for the second time. "Mrs. Harlow, a strange man came by. Tall in a black suit. He said he’s a friend of Zayden’s father but I didn’t let him in, so he left a card" Elira’s hands shook as she opened the photo, a silver business card Embossed with a familiar crest. The Vallis crest? Her vision blurred. “Caelum knew...?"