Chapter 6
1223 Words
Maya stood frozen at the door, her fingers tightening around the frame like it might hold her upright.
“Hi, Maya,” Sophia Hale repeated, her voice laced with silk and something sharper beneath. “We need to talk.”
Leah appeared behind Maya, her voice laced with suspicion. “Can we help you?”
Sophia’s smile stayed unbroken. “I’m not here for you, sweetie. Just Maya.”
Leah crossed her arms. “Well, this is her apartment, and I don’t think she invited you.”
Maya placed a gentle hand on Leah’s arm, eyes still locked on Sophia. “It’s fine.”
“No, it’s not—”
“I said it’s fine.” Maya stepped forward and opened the door wider. “You wanted to talk? Let’s talk.”
Sophia walked in like she owned the air. She didn’t look around, didn’t comment on the modest furniture or the faint smell of lemon cleaner. She simply sat legs crossed, posture perfect and waited for Maya to close the door.
Leah hovered nearby, unwilling to leave. Sophia noticed but didn’t acknowledge her.
Finally, Maya spoke. “Why are you here?”
Sophia removed her sunglasses slowly, revealing eyes that didn’t blink nearly enough. “Because I like to know who I’m working with.”
“I’m not working with you.”
A pause.
“You’re working for Lucas,” Sophia said softly. “Which means you’re in the house I helped build. Which means... in a way... you work for me.”
Maya’s jaw gripped. “I’m not interested in whatever power play this is.”
Sophia smiled again not warmth, but admiration. “You’ve got a spine. Good. You’ll need it.”
Leah scoffed. “If you came to intimidate her, you can go back to your designer cave.”
Sophia ignored her. “I came to offer something. Something Maya will want.”
Maya blinked. “What?”
Sophia leaned forward slightly. “A way out.”
Silence settled like dust.
“I know what it’s like,” Sophia said. “To be the new girl. The outsider. The underestimated. Except in my case, I clawed my way up. No favors. No softness. No one like Lucas shielding me.”
“I don’t need shielding.”
Sophia laughed, short and sharp. “Don’t be naive. Men like Lucas don’t notice girls like you unless they want something.”
Maya’s stomach tightened.
“I’m offering protection,” Sophia continued. “From him. From the politics. From the war that’s about to erupt at that company. You can either be caught in the crossfire... or you can choose a side before it’s too late.”
Maya took a step back. “And let me guess your side is the right one.”
Sophia stood. “No, Maya. My side is the one that survives.”
She walked to the door, paused, and looked over her shoulder. “Think about it. You’re smart, but smart doesn’t keep you safe. Alliances do.”
She opened the door and let herself out.
Leah locked it behind her. “What the actual hell was that?”
Maya didn’t answer. Her brain was spinning too fast to form thoughts, let alone words.
Later That Night. Lucas stared at his phone. The internal audit was underway. Cracks were already trickling in minor at first, but enough to itch beneath his skin.
He should’ve expected this. Sophia never returned unless she wanted control. And she didn’t knock when she took it. He swiped through his texts. None from Maya. He didn’t know why he checked. She wasn’t his responsibility.
And yet… that look on her face earlier. The way she shrank into herself after the coffee spill. The phone call she got. Something was happening around her, and not just by accident.
He poured a drink but didn’t touch it. Instead, he made a call.
“Yeah?” came Jaden’s voice on the other end his most trusted executive, and one of the few people Lucas actually kept close.
“I want everything we have on Sophia’s activities in the past six months.”
There was a pause. “You think she’s playing an angle?”
“I know she is.”
“And you think she’s using the new girl to do it?”
Lucas didn’t answer.
Jaden whistled. “Well, damn. That’s cold even for Sophia.”
The next day Maya stepped into the building with a forced breath. She hadn’t slept much since Saturday. Sophia’s voice kept playing in her mind, words like traps hidden in lace.
She walked through the lobby head held high but her nerves were coiled like springs. As she reached the elevators, her phone buzzed.
Private number. Again.
She didn’t answer — not this time. But another message came through.
> You chose the wrong side.
She looked around the lobby. No one was watching her, but suddenly, she felt exposed.
The elevator doors opened. Inside stood Lucas Stravon.
Alone. Their eyes met, hers flinched.
His didn’t.
“Are you getting in or not?” he asked coolly.
She stepped in, the doors sliding shut behind her like the beginning of a trap.
The doors slid shut with a soft thud, trapping Maya in a box of silence and glass.
She stood stiffly at one corner, eyes on the floor buttons like they were answers to questions she couldn’t ask. Lucas stood on the opposite side, arms folded, his gaze trained ahead.
Neither of them said a word.The hum of the elevator was the only sound between them — that, and the quiet thud of her heartbeat in her ears.
Floor 2. Silence.
Floor 3. Still silence.
Floor 4. He shifted. “You’re early,” Lucas said, voice neutral.
She nodded without looking at him. “Didn’t sleep much.”
Another beat passed.
“I’ve been told coffee doesn’t help with that,” he added, almost — almost — like a joke.
She let out the smallest exhale through her nose. “Not when you spill it on your boss.”
His lips twitched. Barely.
The silence that followed was less sharp than before.
And then… ping.
Maya’s phone buzzed in her bag.
She hesitated before reaching for it. The screen flashed:
> PRIVATE NUMBER:
Choose wisely, Maya.
This company doesn't give second chances to the soft.
Her fingers tightened around the phone. Every drop of warmth drained from her skin.
Lucas glanced at her. “Everything okay?”
She quickly locked the screen and slipped the phone back into her bag. “Yeah,” she lied. “Just spam. Happens all the time.”
But her voice betrayed her — a second too high, a second too fast.
Lucas didn’t press. But he didn’t look away either.
His eyes narrowed slightly, as if he was reading something she hadn’t said.
Maya turned her face to the elevator doors, forcing her features back into neutrality.
Floor 6.
Floor 7.
Ding.
As soon as the doors opened, she stepped out fast, almost too fast her heels clicking against the tile as if she were outrunning something.
Lucas watched her go, still inside the elevator. He didn’t follow. But he didn’t stop watching either. There was something wrong. And he wasn’t sure if it was Maya or what was coming for her.
- Writer
