Melt His Walls

Chapter Five: Lines We Can’t Undo

I barely slept again that night. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw his gray gaze—sharp, piercing, unrelenting—and the messages that had started arriving almost immediately after my first day. Someone was watching me. Someone who knew everything I did, even when I thought I was alone. And Callum… he was always there in my mind, a storm I couldn’t escape, even in my dreams.

By morning, I forced myself out of bed, trying to ignore the way my chest tightened with every thought of what I might face. The city was quiet, but my nerves were anything but. I repeated the mantra I had started using since day one: It’s just a job. Nothing personal. Nothing dangerous. But even as I said it, my gut told me it was a lie.

The elevator ride up was tense. Every floor felt slower than the last, my thoughts racing through every possible scenario. When the doors opened, the office was alive with the usual morning hum, but something felt off. My instincts prickled at me, a warning I couldn’t ignore.

Callum was at his desk, arms crossed, leaning slightly against the edge like he owned the world. His gaze met mine, steady and assessing, and I felt a shiver run through me.

“You’re early,” he said, voice calm but with that undeniable edge.

“I like to be prepared,” I replied, trying to sound confident, though my stomach knotted.

“Good,” he said. “Because today will test you in ways you aren’t ready for.”

My stomach twisted. “Not ready? I… I can handle it,” I said, though doubt lingered at the edges of my mind.

He didn’t respond. Just turned back to his paperwork, eyes scanning the documents in front of him with deliberate precision. That silence was worse than any instruction he could give. I wanted to demand clarity, but I had learned quickly that pressing him for answers was a mistake.

The morning dragged on. Contracts, spreadsheets, and analysis consumed my every thought. My hands ached, my eyes burned, but I kept going, focused with almost obsessive precision. Every so often, I caught the shadow of his gray eyes following me across the office. Not my work—me. Measuring, judging, calculating.

Lunch came and went unnoticed. I barely ate, unable to focus on anything but the tension that wrapped itself around the office like smoke. My phone buzzed with ordinary office emails, nothing threatening, but I couldn’t stop glancing at it, expecting danger, expecting someone, anything, to appear in my messages.

Then I noticed a small slip of paper tucked under my keyboard. My name was written clearly: Bella Hart.

I picked it up carefully. Inside was a single note:

"You can’t trust everything you see. Or everyone you meet."

My stomach dropped. Someone was watching me, someone knew where I went, what I did, and perhaps, even what I thought. I shivered, clutching the note as if it could protect me.

Afternoon crawled by. My hands shook, my mind raced, but I couldn’t falter. Every movement I made felt magnified, scrutinized. Every shadow, every whisper across the office, seemed suspicious.

By the time the clock neared five, my body was tense, exhausted, yet alert. I packed my bag carefully, the note crumpled slightly in my fist. I had survived another day, barely, but the thrill and terror of it pulsed in my veins.

Just as I reached the elevator, my phone buzzed again. Heart hammering, I grabbed it, hoping—foolishly—that it was a normal message.

It wasn’t.

A photo appeared on my screen. It was Callum. Standing in his office, expression unreadable, eyes staring directly into the camera like he could see me through it. A text below the photo made my chest seize:

"Meet me tonight. Alone. Or this ends differently."

My breath caught. The words sent a shiver down my spine. Ends differently… What did that mean? Threat? Test? Punishment? Desire? I didn’t know. And yet, despite the warning, despite the danger, a reckless part of me wanted to go.

Because with him, danger and desire had always been dangerously close.

I swallowed hard, my hands trembling. I knew this choice could change everything. And I had no idea if I was ready for it.

Tomorrow wasn’t just another day at Blackwood Holdings.

It would be a test I didn’t know the rules to.

And I wasn’t sure I could survive it.