BAIT🥹

THE SHOCK OF HER LIFE

Sophia didn’t want to admit it—not even to herself—but every day she felt her feelings for Hash growing stronger.

It was in the way he looked at her… not like a boss.

Not like a stranger.

But like someone who saw through every wall she built.

It was in the way his voice softened when it came to her, like she had some hidden key to a gentler part of him no one else ever touched.

It was in the way he noticed things—her discomfort, her silence, the slightest tension in her face—things nobody else cared enough to see.

She tried to hide it.

Tried to bury it.

Tried to act normal, calm, distant.

But her heart refused to listen.

Her heart was winning.

And that terrified her.

---

That day started like any other.

Tension.

Whispers.

Stares that felt like needles.

Sophia kept her head down, typing quietly, taking calls, arranging documents… pretending her chest wasn’t full of confusing emotions she didn’t ask for.

But around 2 p.m., Mrs. Kate walked toward her desk with a too-sweet smile—one of those smiles that meant trouble.

“Sophia,” Kate said, holding a blue folder. “Please take this file to Mr. Hale’s office.”

Sophia froze slightly.

“Me?”

“Yes, you,” Kate replied, still smiling. “You handled this project. Take it to him.”

Sophia hesitated, wondering if this was another setup, another test, another attempt to make coworkers talk again.

But she took the folder anyway.

“Okay, ma.”

Her heart beat faster—not from fear…

But because she was going to see him.

---

The elevator ride felt too short.

Her palms were sweaty.

She told herself to calm down.

This is work, Sophia.

Just deliver the file and walk away.

But her heart didn’t listen.

When the elevator doors opened, she stepped out onto the top floor—quiet, polished, intimidating. Hash’s department always felt like another world entirely.

She walked down the hallway, heels tapping softly against the tiles, and reached his office door.

She was about to knock when she heard it—

A woman’s voice inside.

A familiar voice.

Sophia frowned.

Her heartbeat slowed… then sped up in a strange, painful rhythm.

She knocked gently.

No answer.

The door was slightly open.

Just slightly.

So she pushed it… only a little.

And her entire world froze.

---

Inside the office, sitting casually on Hash’s desk, laughing softly with her hands on his shoulders…

Was Amber.

Amber.

The name alone made Sophia’s stomach twist violently.

Amber—the girl who took her to that party.

The girl she trusted.

The girl who left her alone the night everything fell apart.

The girl connected to the darkest chapter of her life.

Amber turned.

Her smile died instantly.

“Oh…” she whispered, eyebrows lifting. “Sophia?”

Sophia’s breath caught.

Her fingers tightened painfully around the folder.

Her past.

Right here.

In Hash’s office.

Hash stood up slowly, adjusting his suit jacket like nothing strange was happening.

“Sophia,” he said softly. “Do you need something?”

Amber slid off the desk with slow confidence, her eyes cold, victorious—almost amused.

She walked toward Sophia with a smirk tugging at her lips.

“Long time,” she said lightly, as if they were friends.

As if she hadn’t destroyed her life.

Sophia’s throat felt tight.

Her hand trembled around the file.

“Mrs. Kate asked me to bring this,” she managed to say.

She placed the folder on a chair instead of handing it to him.

She refused to walk closer.

Refused to step into a room where her past trauma and her present feelings collided like a punch to the chest.

Hash noticed her trembling hand.

Noticed her pale face.

“Sophia, are you okay?” he asked, stepping closer.

She stepped back instantly.

“I’m fine,” she whispered, though her voice cracked on the last word.

Amber crossed her arms, watching them both with an expression that held too much knowledge.

Then in a tone filled with power she didn’t deserve, she said:

“Babe, I’ll wait in your car.”

Sophia’s heart stopped.

Babe?

Babe.

The word slammed into her like ice water.

Amber kissed Hash lightly on the cheek—light, casual, confident—and walked toward the door.

Sophia flinched when Amber’s shoulder brushed hers.

The door closed behind her.

Silence.

The air was heavy.

Deadly heavy.

Hash stepped forward again, frowning.

“Sophia—”

She looked away.

Her eyes burned.

Her chest hurt so much she could barely breathe.

So this was it.

The man she was slowly… helplessly… falling for—

the man who made her feel seen

safe

wanted

He belonged to someone else.

And not just anyone.

But her.

The girl tied to her nightmare.

Tears stung her eyes, but she swallowed them painfully.

“I need to get back to work,” she whispered, her voice shaking.

“Sophia…” Hash said softly, “you look—”

“I’m fine,” she repeated, forcing strength she didn’t feel.

He didn’t believe her.

She could see it in his eyes.

Worse… he looked confused.

Like he knew something was wrong.

Very wrong.

Because he had seen the way she reacted.

The way she froze.

The way her entire soul seemed to shrink the moment Amber walked in.

His jaw tightened.

“Sophia knows Amber,” he murmured under his breath when she turned to leave.

Of course she did.

More than he would ever understand.

More than she could ever explain.

Sophia stepped out of the office with shaky legs.

She walked back to the elevator.

Back to her floor.

Back to her department.

Every step hurt.

By the time she sat at her desk, she felt like the world had collapsed onto her chest.

Her coworkers whispered again.

The lights felt too bright.

Her breath felt too thin.

Sophia Wanaya walked back to her desk with a broken heart…

and a past she could no longer run away from.

Everything she tried to bury was coming back.

Through Hash.

Through Amber.

Through fate itself.

And for the first time in a long time—

She was truly scared.