The kiss was no secret—not because anyone had seen it, but because energy like that couldn't be contained. Not in a high-rise office filled with whispers and watchful eyes.
By midday Wednesday, the whispers had begun.
"Did you hear the new girl got called into Mr. Cole's office alone?"
"Twice. In two days."
"She's either brilliant or bold. Or both."
Eliana kept her head down and her lips sealed. She knew how fast reputations formed in places like this—especially for women like her. Smart. Ambitious. Attractive. Unapologetic.
She wasn't here to win friends. She was here to win respect.
But Adrian? Adrian wasn't making it easy.
He kept watching her. Not obviously—never obviously. But she felt it. The weight of his eyes when she passed the glass corridor. The pause in his voice during meetings when she spoke. The way he seemed to always be nearby... without ever being too close.
Until now.
"You've stirred things up," Victoria Kane, his assistant, said, sliding into the seat across from Eliana at the breakroom café table.
"Excuse me?"
"You're not invisible anymore, Blake. That's a good thing. But in this building? That also means someone's going to want you out."
Eliana leaned forward, her voice low. "Is this a warning or a threat?"
"Neither." Victoria stirred her coffee calmly. "Just a reminder. We play chess here. Not checkers."
"Good," Eliana said, standing. "Because I didn't come to play small."
Victoria watched her walk away and smiled faintly. "Neither did he."
Later that night, Adrian stared at his office window. The city lights glittered, but his thoughts were heavy.
Eliana had walked into his company, shaken his control, and now... she was shaking his reputation.
She was the one thing he couldn't afford: a risk.
And he wasn't sure anymore if he wanted to avoid her—or fall harder.