THE WARNING
805 Words
Lily’s grip tightened around the phone.
The voice on the other end was calm.
Too calm.
Who is this? Lily asked again.
Another soft laugh drifted through the speaker.
“I’m surprised Alexander didn’t warn you about me.”
The blood drained slowly from Lily’s face.
Victoria.
Lily lifted her eyes toward Alexander.
He was watching her.
Still. Focused.
Waiting.
What do you want?Lily asked carefully.
“To help you,” Victoria replied.
“I don’t need help.”
“Oh, sweetheart,” the woman said softly. “You really do.”
The line crackled slightly.
Lily felt something cold settle in her stomach.
“You’re new in his world,” Victoria continued. “Which means you probably think you’re special.”
“I never said that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
Lily clenched her jaw.
“If this is your way of scaring me...”
“I don’t scare people,” Victoria interrupted smoothly.
“I warn them.”
A pause followed.
Long enough to make Lily uncomfortable.
“Ask Alexander what happened to his brother.”
The words slid through the phone like ice.
Lily’s breath caught.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
Another quiet laugh.
“It will.”
The line went dead.
Silence swallowed the room.
Lily slowly lowered the phone.
Alexander hadn’t moved.
His eyes were fixed on her face.
What did she say?
His voice was controlled.
But something sharper hid beneath it.
“She told me to ask you something.”
A muscle in his jaw tightened.
“What?”
Lily hesitated.
Then she said it.
“She said I should ask you what happened to your brother.”
The temperature in the room seemed to drop.
For a brief moment
Alexander looked completely still.
Not angry.
Not surprised.
Just… still.
Then he turned away.
“That’s not your concern.”
The dismissal was immediate.
Cold.
But Lily didn’t move.
“She sounded pretty confident it was.”
Alexander walked toward his desk and picked up a stack of documents.
Conversation over.
At least, that’s what he thought.
Lily stepped closer.
“You told me people would benefit from your downfall.”
No response.
“You told me your ex-fiancee recommended me.”
Still nothing.
“But you didn’t mention a brother.”
Alexander’s pen stopped moving.
Slowly, he set it down.
When he looked up again, his expression had hardened.
“Be careful, Lily.”
The warning was quiet.
“About what?”
“About the questions you ask.”
Her pulse quickened.
“Why?”
Alexander held her gaze for a long moment.
Then he said something that made her stomach twist.
“Because the answers might make you regret signing that contract.”
The air between them thickened.
Lily searched his face, trying to read something—anything.
But Alexander Sterling was impossible to read.
Which only made her curiosity worse.
“If it’s nothing,” she said carefully, “then answering shouldn’t be difficult.”
Silence stretched again.
Finally, Alexander spoke.
“My brother is dead.”
The words were simple.
Flat.
Like a statement from a report.
Lily waited.
But he said nothing else.
“That’s it?” she asked quietly.
“Yes.”
“That’s all you’re going to tell me?”
“Yes.”
Frustration rose inside her chest.
“That’s not exactly reassuring.”
Alexander stood.
And suddenly he was much closer.
Too close.
His voice lowered slightly.
“You signed a contract to pretend to be my fiancee”
His gaze dropped briefly to the phone still in her hand.
“You didn’t sign a contract to investigate my past.”
Lily held her ground.
“Your past seems to be chasing me already.”
For a moment something flickered in his eyes.
Something darker.
Then it disappeared.
“Get your things,” he said calmly.
She blinked.
“What?”
“You’re moving tonight.”
“To the penthouse?”
“Yes.”
“That feels sudden.”
“It is.”
“And if I say I need time to think?”
Alexander’s expression didn’t change.
“You already signed.”
Her chest tightened.
He was right.
Of course he was right.
Alexander picked up his car keys.
“Ten minutes.”
He started toward the door.
Then paused.
Without turning back, he added quietly—
“If Victoria contacted you once…”
He slipped on his jacket.
“…she won’t stop.”
The door opened.
Then closed behind him.
Lily stood alone in the office.
Her phone still felt cold in her hand.
Victoria’s words echoed again in her mind.
Ask Alexander what happened to his brother.
But if his brother was truly dead…
Why did it feel like Alexander had just lied to her?
- Writer
