Episode 4
1677 Words
Part 1
A Game Between Two Women
The glass elevator slid upward in silence, reflecting Amika’s composed face back at her.
This was her first time inside King Corporation—
not as a guest,
not as an outsider,
but as his wife.
The doors opened onto the executive floor.
Minimal. Polished. Immaculate.
Every conversation paused the moment she stepped out beside Nicholas. His hand rested on her back, steady and deliberate, exactly where it always did.
“Don’t let go of my hand,” he said quietly, without looking at her.
It wasn’t a request.
Amika nodded and matched her steps to his.
Inside the glass-walled conference room, senior executives were already seated. The meeting began immediately—formal, controlled, efficient.
Amika stayed silent.
She didn’t understand every term, every number—but she felt it. The authority radiating from the man beside her. The way the room bent around him.
Then—
The door opened.
A woman in a cream-colored suit entered with calm confidence. Elegant posture. Professional smile.
Selena.
“Sorry I’m late,” she said smoothly.
Nicholas looked up. His expression didn’t change.
“You weren’t invited.”
Selena laughed softly and placed a folder on the table.
“And yet,” she replied, “this project still needs me.”
Her gaze slid to Amika.
Measured. Assessing.
“Oh,” she smiled politely, “you must be his wife. It’s nice to see you again.”
Amika returned the smile.
Unflinching.
“Likewise.”
Two smiles collided across the table.
Silent.
Sharp.
Throughout the meeting, Selena was brilliant. Precise. Confident. She spoke fluently about figures, projections, risks.
Amika saw it clearly now.
This wasn’t just an ex.
This was a woman who had once stood in his world—
on equal ground.
The realization weighed heavy.
When the meeting ended, the executives filed out one by one, leaving only the three of them.
“May I speak with you for a moment?” Selena asked Amika gently.
Nicholas frowned. “That won’t be—”
“I’d like to,” Amika said calmly.
Nicholas studied her for a long moment, then nodded.
“Fifteen minutes.”
He left the room.
The door closed.
Silence surged in.
Selena’s smile faded.
“Do you know,” she said slowly, “that I was with Nick back when he had nothing?”
Amika listened.
“I know every version of him,” Selena continued.
“The broken one.
The cruel one.”
She stepped closer—close enough to press her presence forward.
“You know him through a contract,” she whispered.
“And women like you… get hurt the worst.”
Amika inhaled deeply and lifted her chin.
“Thank you for the warning,” she said evenly.
“But I’m not competing with your past.”
Selena laughed—cold, amused.
“Good,” she replied.
“Because my past… never loses.”
The door opened.
Nicholas returned, his eyes moving between them, reading the tension instantly.
“Time’s up.”
Selena picked up her bag, then leaned in and whispered to Amika one last time.
“Don’t fall too deeply,” she said.
“This man destroys everything he loves.”
She left.
Amika remained still, her heart unsteady.
Nicholas turned to her, his gaze intense.
“What did she say to you?”
Amika hesitated—then answered.
“The truth.”
Something shifted in his eyes. A fracture. A loss of control.
Part 2
Jealous Without Realizing It
The car was too quiet.
The kind of silence that pressed in from all sides, making Amika acutely aware of every breath she took. Nicholas sat rigid behind the wheel, hands tight on the steering wheel, eyes fixed on the road ahead.
He hadn’t said a word.
She glanced at him, catching the tension in his jaw, the restraint written plainly across his posture.
“If you’re angry,” Amika said softly, “could you at least say it?”
He didn’t look at her.
Didn’t answer right away.
“I’m not angry,” he said at last.
His voice was low. Hard.
As if he were forcing something back down.
Amika let out a quiet laugh—not mocking, just tired.
“You don’t have to lie to me,” she said.
“We didn’t marry each other for honesty in the first place.”
Something shifted.
The car slowed.
Then stopped at the side of the road.
Nicholas turned to her, his gaze sharp enough to steal the air from her lungs.
“Don’t talk like you don’t care,” he said slowly.
“If you truly didn’t, you wouldn’t have stood there listening to Selena instead of walking away.”
Amika went still.
“You looked her in the eye,” he continued, his voice dropping.
“You listened to her.”
Her heart jolted.
“And why does that matter to you?” she asked, her voice beginning to tremble.
“It matters,” he said immediately.
Too fast.
He froze, as if only just realizing what he’d admitted.
Silence filled the car again.
Amika studied him, her gaze steady now.
“You’re jealous,” she said.
The word landed like a blade.
Nicholas turned his face away, inhaling deeply.
“I’m not jealous,” he replied—but the certainty was gone.
“I just don’t like people interfering with what’s mine.”
Mine.
The word sent a chill through her chest.
“I’m not an object,” Amika said clearly.
“And I’m not a battlefield for you and her to play games on.”
He looked back at her, something dark and conflicted flickering in his eyes.
“You’re here because of a contract,” he said, his tone cooling, armor snapping back into place.
“And as long as that contract stands—”
He leaned closer. Close enough for her to feel his breath.
“You belong to me.”
Amika swallowed the sting in her eyes but didn’t look away.
“And if one day I don’t want to belong to anyone,” she asked quietly,
“what will you do?”
Nicholas stayed silent.
Too long.
The car pulled back onto the road, her question left hanging between them.
At King Estate, Nicholas exited the car without waiting, walking straight into the house. Amika followed, her steps heavy, her thoughts heavier.
He didn’t speak to her again that night.
But just before entering the bedroom, he stopped and turned back.
“Don’t let me see you close to another man,” he said.
His voice was low. Absolute.
Amika met his gaze—hurt, steady.
“And you?” she asked.
“Do I get the right to stop you?”
Nicholas looked at her, eyes flashing once before he answered with a single word.
“No.”
The door closed.
Amika stood there, fists clen
Part 3
Too Close to Turn Back
The rain had been falling since early evening.
Raindrops tapped rapidly against the glass, restless and insistent—like a heart that refused to calm down.
Amika sat alone in the upstairs study at King Estate. Documents lay neatly arranged in front of her, untouched. Her eyes skimmed the pages, but the words meant nothing. Her thoughts were somewhere else entirely.
Footsteps sounded behind her.
Steady. Familiar.
“You’re still awake.”
Nicholas stood at the doorway. His suit jacket was gone, sleeves of his dark shirt rolled up. He looked… tired. Not weak—but worn in a way she hadn’t seen before.
“Could I be alone?” Amika asked quietly, without looking up.
He didn’t answer.
Instead, he walked in and stopped beside the desk.
“I don’t like it when you avoid me.”
His voice was calm. Controlled. Heavy with pressure.
Amika let out a soft laugh. Not mocking. Just exhausted.
“I’m not avoiding you,” she said, lifting her gaze to meet his.
“I just don’t want to be part of your game tonight.”
The word game made his brow crease.
“You think everything is a game?” he asked, his tone lowering.
“Yes,” she replied instantly.
“The contract. Selena. The way you call me yours.”
Silence fell.
Her words had struck somewhere he kept guarded.
“What do you want me to do?” Nicholas asked finally.
Slow. Serious.
Amika hesitated—then spoke softly.
“Stop acting like I don’t have a heart.”
The air thickened.
Nicholas reached out and placed his hand on the edge of the desk, close to hers.
Too close.
“I never meant to hurt you,” he said.
His voice dropped—less guarded. More real than she expected.
Her pulse spiked.
“But you are,” she answered.
He stepped closer. The space between them disappeared.
Amika stood up instinctively, backing away until the edge of the desk pressed against her lower back.
His hand lifted—then stopped midair.
As if he were hesitating.
“I can stop,” he said quietly.
“If you tell me to.”
Her heart jolted. Her breath faltered.
She looked at him and saw it—tension in his eyes, something raw beneath the control.
“If I tell you to stop,” she asked, her voice trembling,
“will you really?”
Nicholas didn’t respond right away.
He looked at her for a long moment—like he was fighting himself.
Then he stepped back.
Amika exhaled sharply, like she’d just escaped something dangerous.
“Get some rest,” he said, his voice cool again—but not entirely the same.
“That’s enough for tonight.”
He turned and walked out.
The door closed behind him.
Amika sank back into the chair, clutching her chest as her heartbeat refused to settle.
She understood it now.
The line between contract and feeling was blurring fast.
And if one day Nicholas didn’t stop—
or she didn’t—
She might be the only one left bleeding.
- Writer
