NovelEnglishChapter 89
The way he had looked at me-calm, unreadable, then cold-like I'd overstepped just by standing there. When he
mockedfor being concerned about “gossip,” | knew it wasn’t just teasing. He was remindingof where |
stood. Of who he was. Of who | wasn't.
I'd heard that tone before. It was the sone I'd heard from strangers at the golf club that day-right before the
headlines calleda gold-digger, before whispers claimed | wore that dress just to seduce my boss. | thought
I'd survived that storm. But maybe | hadn't. Maybe I'd just dressed the wounds prettier.
The difference was, this tthe voice was his.
| had no words to offer him that wouldn't sound desperate. So
I'd laughed awkwardly, pathetically-and muttered that I'd
overthought it. Then | excused myself like the fool who walked
into the wrong room and thought she belonged.
When | passed Mike in the hallway, he looked up from his
tablet and tried to smile. “Don’t take it personally. He's... not
great at expressing himself”
| managed a stiff smile, clutching my bag tighter. “It’s fine. | just
remembered | left something on the stove.”
He tilted his head. “You don’t cook”
| laughed once under my breath and shrugged. “Just
sometimes.”
| didn’t wait for a reply. | just left.
The elevator ride down was quiet. Still. And when | stepped out
into the open air, | wasn’t angry. | wasn’t even sad. | was just... embarrassed.
Back at my apartment, | changed into the comfiest sweatshirt | owned and sat cross-legged on the couch,
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtstaring at the wall without really seeing it.
It wasn’t that | had feelings for Alexander. | wasn’t that foolish. |
knew he was the kind of man people respected from a distance,
not someone you stood next to.
But somewhere along the way-between him pullingout of
that fire, between the way he stood in front of the cameras and
silenced the Windsors-1'd started to feel something dangerous.
Like I could trust him, Like he might seeas more than just
Ethan's ex-wife or a temporary assistant trying to find her
footing.
| guess that was my mistake.
Maybe I'd confused gratitude for something else.
He saved me. But that didn’t make us equals.
He stood on ground | wasn’t allowed to touch. And I-no matter how steady | looked-was still someone pulling
herself together, still trying not to flinch every tsomeone raised their voice.
He wasn’t wrong. Peoplewouldgossip if they saw us too close.
But what stung was how quickly he shut the door. Like even
the possibility of it was laughable.
| curled deeper into the couch, exhaling through my nose. No
more illusions. No more lines blurred.
He’s my boss. And I'm supposed to stay at a professional
distance from Alexander.
The Next Day
| was halfway through picking at my lunch-slukewarm
rice and sautéed greens | didn’t really want-when my phone
rang.
Mike.
Just seeing his nmade my stomach clench. | wiped my
hands and picked up. “Hey.”
“Olivia,” he greeted, unusually polite. “Are you busy this
evening?”
| glanced at the barely touched plate in front of me. “Not
particularly. Why?”
There was a pause, long enough forto sense that this wasn't just a friendly check-in. With Mike, it never was.
“Well,” he cleared his throat, “Alpha
Alexander needs his dressings
changed. Normally @a(haridies Hout
he's tied pout of town, and | have to
visit my mother—she had a fall this
morning, nothing serious, but | need
to be there” The content is on
novelenglish.net! Read the latest
chapter there!
| frowned, my fingers tightening around the edge of the table. “Oh...”
Mike must've caught the hesitation in my voice.
“You're the only one who knows his medication routine,” he
added gently. “And you're... trusted.”
The word hung there. Trusted.
| exhaled quietly. “You don’t have a nurse on call?”
A
“We do,” he admitted. “But he doesn’t like strangers fussing over
him, especially with wounds. He didn’t say it, but... he'd
probably prefer it if it was you.”
| swallowed, trying to ignore the memory of our last encounter
-the way he looked atlike I'd imagined something that
wasn't there, like I'd embarrassed both of us by showing up
with fruit and concern.
“I don’t think he'd want to see me,” | said quietly,
“He didn't say that,” Mike replied.
"Actually, he didn’t yenythiag 1
poy int @lI\Btt bys) him. He
n't ask directly” The content is on
novelenglish.net! Read the latest
chapter there!
| pressed the bridge of my nose,
closing my eyes. TRiSmowifY He
barely |boKed\at r me.” The content is
on novelenglish.net! Read the latest
chapter there!
Mike's voice softened. “That's his way of showing you're not just anyone.”
I didn’t know what that meant, and | didn’t want to ask.
Finally, | sighed. “Fine. I'll cafter dinner.”
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