His Favorite Confession

The Silent Test

"—and that's why the downtown layout requires a higher initial outlay," Alora stammered out, forcing her eyes down to the printed budget sheet before her trembling hands could betray her.

Hayden raised a single, dark eyebrow. A brief, critical crease appeared between his brows at her sudden hesitation. "Is there a discrepancy in those projections, Alora?"

"No, Mr. Vance," she lied smoothly, swallowing hard as her heart hammered violently against her ribs. "Just... double-checking the secondary figures."

Hayden studied her face for a long, agonizing second, his sharp gaze searching hers. For a moment, Alora feared he could hear the deafening roar of her pulse. But then he simply nodded, leaning back in his leather chair.

"Very well. Ensure the revised risk assessment is finalized and on my desk by four o'clock," he said, his voice returning to its usual flat, authoritative tone. "That will be all."

"Understood."

Alora gathered her folders with rigid precision, managed a tight, polite nod, and walked out of his office. The moment the heavy mahogany door clicked shut behind her, the air rushed back into her lungs in a quiet, breathless gasp.

She hurried down the carpeted hallway and sank into her chair at her workstation. Her hands were shaking. Through the floor-to-ceiling glass walls of his corner office, she could still see Hayden. He had already turned back to his desktop monitors, his profile set in that familiar, unreadable stone.

It felt completely surreal. Was it truly possible that the cold, intimidating billionaire CEO of Vance Enterprises was "Midnight"—the soft-spoken, emotionally honest man on the *Echo* app who talked to her until three in the morning?

She needed proof. Undeniable, absolute proof.

Taking a deep breath, Alora pulled her smartphone out of her purse. She unlocked the screen and opened the *Echo* app, her thumb hovering over the chat history with Midnight. Her mind raced as she plotted her next move. It couldn't be obvious, and it couldn't risk revealing her real-world identity if she was wrong. It had to be a test only the man sitting in that office would react to right now.

With trembling fingers, she typed out a quick, cryptic message:

*Rough morning? Hope that single-origin dark roast is helping with the headache.*

Alora hovered her thumb over the screen, took a sharp breath, and hit send.

The status instantly flipped to *Sent*, then *Delivered*.

Across the room, through the clear glass partition, Alora locked her eyes on Hayden Vance.

A second passed. Then two.

Suddenly, a soft, muffled vibration echoed from Hayden's desk. Hayden froze mid-keystroke. He slowly turned his head toward his personal phone lying face-down next to his rare coffee mug, reached over, and picked it up.