Chapter 9
1534 Words
Sophia’s heels clicked across the marble as if they owned the sound. The office quieted in waves until she stopped at Lucas’s door.
“Still dramatic,” Lucas muttered under his breath before standing.
“Lucas,” Sophia purred, stepping inside without knocking. “It’s been a while.”
Lucas shut the door behind her, voice clipped. “What do you want?”
Her smile sharpened. “Straight to business. I’ve missed that about you.”
“You didn’t come here to dwell on old times. Speak.”
Sophia walked to the window, dragging her fingers across the glass. “Word travels, you know. Your little assistant… She's adorable. So… devoted.”
Lucas’s jaw flexed. “Stay out of this, Sophia.”
“Out of what?” She tilted her head, faking innocence. “You’ve barely noticed anyone in years. Then suddenly, there’s this girl—and you’re driving her home during storms, keeping her late in your office…” Her eyes gleamed. “It doesn’t take much for people to talk.”
“Careful.” His voice dropped.
She turned, unbothered. “I’m only concerned for her. This world—it breaks girls like Maya. She doesn’t belong here. Not with you. Not in this company.”
“She’s none of your business.”
“Oh, but she is. Everything you touch becomes my business.” Sophia’s smile faded into something colder. “If you care about her, you’ll let her go. Before she gets caught in a war she can’t win.”
Lucas stepped closer, eyes hard. “You don’t get to threaten her.”
“Threaten?” Sophia laughed softly. “No, darling. I’m warning you. Maya is fragile. And fragile things… shatter.”
Lucas didn’t blink. “If you so much as breathe in her direction, I’ll make sure you regret it.”
Sophia’s lips curved again, slow and taunting. “Ah, there’s the Lucas I know. Protective. Possessive. Dangerous. She has no idea what kind of
man you really are.”
His voice cut through the room like ice. “Get out.”
For a moment, she held his gaze, testing him. Then she shrugged lightly and headed for the door.
“Consider this mercy,” she said over her shoulder. “Next time, I won’t be so kind.”
The door clicked shut behind her, leaving Lucas alone with his fury.
….
By the time Maya finally got home, the sky was bruised with evening. She unlocked the apartment door quietly, half-expecting Leah to come charging at her with a thousand questions.
Instead, Leah was curled up on the couch, arms crossed, glaring.
“You’re alive,” Leah said bluntly.
Maya stiffened. “I texted you.”
“You disappeared last night, Maya! Do you know how worried I was? You don’t answer, you don’t come home—” Leah’s voice cracked. “I thought something happened to you.”
Maya set her bag down gently. “I’ll explain everything. Just… not right now, okay? I’m exhausted.”
Leah huffed but didn’t push further, retreating into silence and the glow of the TV.
Maya slipped into her room, shutting the door with a sigh. She tossed her blazer onto the bed, then froze.
Something white was sticking out of her bag. A folded piece of paper that hadn’t been there this morning.
Her fingers trembled as she pulled it free, unfolding it slowly.
The handwriting was the same jagged scrawl as before:
“I warned you. Stay away from him. Next time, you won’t get a warning.”
Her stomach dropped. She glanced at the locked window, the door, every corner of the room. How had it gotten into her bag? Who had been close enough to slip it in?
Her phone buzzed on the nightstand, making her jump. A text.
Lucas: Did you get home safe?
Maya stared at the message, heart pounding, the note still crumpled in her hand. For the first time, she didn’t know how to answer him.
She sank onto the bed, clutching the paper, her mind a storm louder than the one from last night.
……
The alarm buzzed, and Maya slapped it off with a groan. Her eyes felt heavy, her head pounding from the little sleep she got. She sat up, hugging her knees, replaying that single line in her mind
“Stay away from him or you’ll regret it.”
Her stomach twisted.
A knock at her door pulled her out of the spiral.
Leah peeking in “Finally awake? You look like you fought ten demons in your dreams.”
Maya forcing a weak smile “Something like that.”
Leah stepped closer and folded her arms “Maya… talk. You barely slept. You kept tossing, whispering in your sleep. What’s going on?”
“Nothing. Just… stress from work.”
“Don’t give me that. You disappear for a whole night, come home acting like a ghost, and now you’re telling me it’s just work? Do you take me for a fool?”
Maya sighs, rubbing her face“I didn’t mean to worry you.”
“Then explain.”
Maya hesitated, her throat tightening. She thought of Lucas, of that kiss, of the note that had nearly frozen her heart.
“Someone… someone left me a message. A warning.”
Leah’s eyes widened. “A warning? What kind of warning?”
“To… stay away from someone.”
“Someone? Don’t play riddles with me, Maya. Who?”
“I can’t. Not now.”
“Maya! This is serious. You can’t hide things like this. If someone’s threatening you, you go to the police, you don’t sit here acting like it’s a bad dream.”
“No. No police. I’ll handle it.”
Leah outraged “Handle it? You? What are you going to do, glare the stalker into submission?!”
“Leah, please. If I involve the police, it’ll only get worse. They’ll drag my job into this, drag people into this who don’t deserve it.”
Leah studied her, quiet for a moment, then narrowed her eyes.
“This has to do with your boss, doesn’t it?”
Maya froze. “I… I never said that.”
“You didn’t have to. I know that look on your face. Maya, what did you get yourself into?”
Maya stood abruptly, brushing past her toward the close “I need to get ready for work.”
“Don’t you dare shut me out, Maya. If something happens to you, I swear—”
Maya forcing a shaky laugh “Nothing’s going to happen. I’ll be fine.”
But her hands trembled as she buttoned her blouse, and Leah saw it.
The elevator doors slid open, and Maya stepped out, clutching her bag a little tighter than usual. She tried to keep her head down, but Lucas was already standing near his office, eyes sharp, watching her every move.
“Inside. Now,” he said firmly the moment she passed him.
Maya blinked, startled. “What? I just got—”
“I said inside,” he repeated, holding the door to his office open.
She hesitated but walked in. The door clicked shut behind her, and Lucas turned to face her.
“You didn’t sleep,” he said coldly. “And don’t try to deny it.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re lying.”
“I said I’m fine, Lucas.” She dropped her bag on the nearest chair, her voice trembling.
Lucas studied her, jaw tight. “What happened?”
“Nothing.”
“Maya,” he warned. “Don’t play games with me. You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
She pressed her lips together, looking anywhere but at him.
Lucas stepped closer, lowering his voice. “Talk to me.”
Her chest rose and fell quickly, and finally, she whispered, “Someone… someone’s threatening me.”
His eyes darkened instantly. “What do you mean, threatening?”
“I got a note. Yesterday. Outside my apartment.”
“A note?” His voice sharpened. “What did it say?”
“That I should stay away from you.”
Silence filled the office, thick and heavy. Lucas’s fists clenched at his sides.
“Why didn’t you tell me immediately?” he demanded.
“Because it’s my problem, not yours.”
“No,” he snapped. “It became my problem the moment it mentioned me.”
She flinched at his tone but stood her ground. “I don’t want you to fight my battles. This job is already hard enough without me dragging you into some childish scare tactic.”
Lucas stepped closer, his voice low and fierce. “This isn’t childish. This is a threat. And I don’t let people threaten what’s mine.”
Maya’s breath caught. “I’m not—”
“You work for me. You’re under my roof. That makes you my responsibility,” he cut in.
She shook her head, backing away slightly. “You can’t control everything, Lucas. You can’t fix this the way you fix a contract or a business deal.”
He stared at her, his jaw tightening. “Watch me.”
- Writer
