THE CEO'S SECRET HEIR

at her feet. Her room was dim, the only light came from a crack in the window, and the endless flickerin

r and over again. She couldn't stop asking herself what could have got

ren't her thing, especially not grand corporate events in massiv

ove. But the company had marked it as a mandatory attendance event, and she couldn't afford to risk h

voided everyone, stayed near the waiters, picked at

he ended up

, the shame of it all knotting in her stomach

e man she had never looked at twice, not because he was

rich, and untouchable. The face of the company, the heir to a billion-poun

nged five words with

ye

s standing in his office doorway, and there he was, his suit jacket hanging on the back of his chair, shirt unbuttoned

t speak, n

up at her.

ag," she muttered, her

ly reacting. "Stay if yo

uld hav

d've end

it d

ed being seen fina

hy it happened. Maybe the silenc

ent, and in that moment, nothing else mattered. Th

and weakened by loneliness, she l

o

but from the emotional weight it carried. She crossed the small room and stared at

older and wiser, like sh

ed to her reflection. "It

pretending, and she would pr

e fog. It was the long

when Monday came, she woke up before her alarm, forced herself into a soft beige blouse and plain black

uspected

skipped a beat, but she kept walking. There wa

ctly what

what she

opened h

ite blinked at the

ne: 12:3

ngers

caught in

le update. Something about his itin

PM, her palms

office at 12:29, folde

en trying to avoid al

t k

er fist and

me

n't look up when she entered. The room was

it

e

ng, then finally

at, her heart betrayed her with a l

sliding a folder across the desk toward her. "I

m and steady. "Of course. I'll sen

er longer th

at felt too long, too quiet, like he was trying to read something from

you need to s

blin

, s

we're

st

rn

d the door, his voice

n for that ni

stop

fingers tightenin

softly. "And it w

efore he could s