Chapter 4
1518 Words
Chapter Four
Keiran’s POV
I meant it, I had better not lose that job because of that Psycho’s activity.
Right now, the only thing keeping me sane after the ugly news I received was that Sunny was alive.
Chloe's daughter, that was the only thought I allowed myself to hold onto after the lawyer’s call ended. She has always wanted me to take care of her daughter even when she had to buy the simplest things such as groceries and Sunny chose me in a heartbeat when she was asked who she would love to stay with.
I had already received the official email confirming temporary guardianship procedures for Sunny.
I closed my phone and exhaled slowly. Not now. I would deal with it properly when I had time to fall apart in private. Right now, I had a different problem that required functioning limbs and a clear head.
Varek Ing.
The taxi stopped outside his hotel, and I stepped out without hesitation. The building looked like money disguised as taste, too polished to feel real. Inside, everything was quiet in a way that felt intentional. Like the people here believed nothing ever went wrong if it was expensive enough.
On my way to the elevator, I caught fragments of conversation from staff near the desk.
“Can you believe it, same guy, different woman every night.”
“She left early this morning again but I wish I'm her.”
The other one giggled and pushed her shoulders, “I know right? He's hot and the best player!”
I didn’t react outwardly, but something about it settled into my thoughts anyway.
So that was about him.
The elevator doors closed, and I stared at my reflection briefly, tightening my expression until it became something neutral again. I didn’t have space for distraction.
By the time I reached his floor, I was already in work mode.
I knocked once but no answer.
Knocked again, still nothing. Thrice and annoyance was already crawling up to my chest.
I called him but it went straight to voicemail.
I sighed under my breath. “Of course.”
I knocked harder this time, and I was already calculating how much damage I was willing to cause to a hotel door when it finally opened.
And there he was.
Varek Ing.
Barefoot and shirtless. Hair slightly messy like he had just rolled out of sleep or rolled out of trouble. There was an ease in the way he leaned against the doorframe, like he had never once been rushed in his life as he took his hands through his dark hair.
His eyes moved over me slowly, deliberately, like I was something mildly entertaining interrupting his morning.
Hmm,” he said, voice low and rough in a way that sounded half-awake and entirely unbothered, “...this is an aggressive way to say hello.”
“I called you…three times.” I said.
“I noticed.”
“You did and didn’t answer?" I'm trying so hard not to lash out, not right now.
“I didn’t feel like it.”
That should have irritated me more than it did. Instead, I just stepped past him into the suite because wasting time arguing with him felt pointless.
Behind me, I heard him shut the door. Not hurried or defensive. Just deliberately slow, like he was deciding whether I was worth locking in with him.
The room smelled faintly of alcohol and something expensive I couldn’t place. Clothes were scattered like no one in here believed in structure. A woman’s heel sat near the couch, one single detail that said more than anything else.
Varek leaned casually against the counter. “You always walk into men’s rooms like you own them?”
“I walk into rooms where I’m fixing problems like yours.”
“That explains the attitude.”
I turned slightly. “Sit down…We need to talk.”
He didn’t move, not even a little.
Instead, he took his phone out and started scrolling like I wasn’t speaking.
That alone annoyed me more than anything else so far.
Then I grabbed my laptop from my bag and opened it anyway. “You’re not in a position to negotiate basic instructions.”
That made him glance up briefly, just for a second, before his eyes dropped back to his phone.
“You don't remember me?” He asked with a slightly low tone that confused me.
“Of course I do! You're trending everywhere and about to get an oscar award for smashing your career!” I raised my voice this time slightly irritated at the stupid question and he chuckled.
“Caleb didn’t mention my manager was going to be… this,” he said casually.
“This what?”
He finally looked at me properly now, slow and unbothered. “Bossy, Intense. Possibly into control issues.”
That earned the faintest smirk but I continued anyway. “Your public image is unstable, your sponsorships are nervous, and your behavior is costing you more than you think.”
He shifted slightly, still not sitting, still leaning, still scrolling his phone like I was background noise he had decided to tolerate.
“You talk a lot for someone who is about to manage a little error,” he said and I scoffed, pinching my brows in exhaustion.
“I fix things a lot Varek.”
His eyes darkened a bit but he hummed like he didn’t care either way.
That should have been the end of it but it wasn’t because I noticed something else.
The way he didn’t rush, he didn’t react or try to dominate the conversation in the obvious way most arrogant men did.
No.
Varek was worse. He acted like he already knew how this ended and he was tired of wasting his time.
Like I was the one following a script he had read before.
I didn’t like that feeling.
“Sit down,” I said again, sharper this time.
He finally looked up and smiled slowly like I had just asked for something personal.
“You’re very used to being obeyed, aren’t you?” he asked huskily and I rolled my eyes.
“I’m used to efficiency.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
I stepped forward slightly. “And I don’t care what you asked.”
For a second, something shifted in his expression. He pushed off the counter slightly but still didn’t sit.
Instead, he walked a few steps closer to me, slow enough that it felt deliberate.
Close enough that I could smell whatever expensive cologne he wore underneath the mess of last night.
“You’re not what I expected,” he said quietly.
He tilted his head slightly, eyes dropping briefly to my face like he was studying me in a way that felt too personal.
Then he added lightly, “You know, Caleb really undersold you.”
My brows pulled slightly. “What did he say?”
“That you were strict,” he said, glancing at his phone again like this was all casual conversation. “He didn’t mention the part where you look like you enjoy punishing people for breathing incorrectly.”
I stared at him.
“Are you always this irritating?”
Despite myself, something almost pulled at my reaction—almost amusement, almost frustration.
I masked it immediately.
“Sit down, Varek.”
This time, I turned slightly like I was done negotiating. I reached for my bag.
“If you’re going to waste my time, I’ll leave and let your career collapse naturally or you find another Manager!”
That did it, not instantly but I felt the shift, behind me, I heard him move slowly and casually.
Like he had finally decided the game was worth playing.
There's a pause, then finally, the sound of him sitting. He was on the couch now, leaning back like he owned the world, one arm draped lazily, phone still in hand.
But now he was looking at me properly.
Like I had finally done something worth his attention.
“Better,” I said.
His mouth curved slightly. “You’re kind of bossy when you win.”
“I don’t lose.” And then my phone rang.
I frowned immediately and checked it, it's an Unknown number.
I answered without thinking too much. “Yes?”
A voice came through fast, excited, almost breathless.
“Miss Hale, are you currently with Varek Ing?”
My stomach tightened slightly and I frowned.
“Yes…..Why?” I heard a giggle and hushed voices in the background before she finally responded.
“YOU’RE BOTH TRENDING.”
My brows pulled together. “What?”
There was shuffling on the other end, like someone was pulling up headlines.
Then I heard the next words that were dead aloud, my phone beeped and the headlines appeared, everything in the room shifted at once.
“AN ULTIMATUM? Varek CONFRONTED OUTSIDE HIS HOTEL ROOM; MYSTERIOUS GIRLFRIEND RUTHLESSLY SHUTS HIM DOWN.”
I slowly turned my head toward Varek but he was already looking at me with a smirk.
- Writer
