~ Clara’s POV ~
I’d been staring at the same paragraph of a marketing report for twenty minutes, and the words had long since stopped making sense.
Every time my eyes strayed to the bottom right corner of the monitor, my stomach did a slow, nauseating roll.
Seventy-two hours.
The words had been burned into the back of my mind since I first read them three days ago.
Even now, staring at a half-finished spreadsheet, the text from Julian was all I could see:
“I have the importamt documents showing some ‘irregularities’ in Evelyn’s first major acquisition and under the table deals with Cartel bosses that can that can put her in prison for a very long time. You have 72 hours. Meet me at the lounge at The Celeste Hotel. Come alone, or the press gets a copy.”
I didn’t know if it was a lie, and knowing Julian im sure he wouldn’t come at her with a blank gun.
My hands were fidgeting.
I tried to type, but my fingers kept slipping on the keys.
I looked up, catching my reflection on the computer screen, and the exhaustion in my eyes was staring back at me, even though I’d just arrived.
Beyond the frosted glass, Miss Evelyn was Leaning back on her chair, a hand pressed on her temple, a habit I’d noticed she does when in deep thought.
There were faint shadows under her eyes that hadn’t been there a week ago.
I knew she’d been staying late, working through the night while I was safely tucked away in the mansion, recovering.
And I have no idea what she’s been so diligently working on.
A fierce, painful ache tightened in my chest as I kept staring at her.
If Julian went to the press, the scandal alone would gut everything she’d built.
And it would be my fault.
Because she had stepped in for me and protected me.
I took a breath, as I finally made up my mind to meet him.
The Celeste Hotel was only twenty minutes away.
Though I didn’t have any plan on what to do when I get there or how i would take those documents from him.
All I had was the desperate need to make sure that the Miss Evelyn doesn’t loose anything because of a man like Julian.
I looked back at the screen.
3:45 PM.
Closing the report, I texted julian back.
Now all I need to do is walk into that hotel lobby and find out exactly what it would take to make Julian leave Miss Evelyn alone.
Even if it meant i had to go back with him.
“Clara. My office,” Miss Evelyn’s voice came through.
I took a shaky breath, smoothed my hair, and stood up.
Walking into her office felt different today.
Every step was heavy with the weight of the lie I was about to tell.
The interaction was a little different than I expected.
She gave me the new mobile device the company had just manufactured and demanded I gave her my old one.
I inwardly panicked and wanted to insist that i can have both phones but if i argued, she would suspect something was going on so i hesitantly handed it over
All the while her movements were so calm and steady while my heart was trying to beat its way out of my chest.
When she looked at me, truly looked at me with that gaze that was starting to feel less like a boss and more like someone who cared, I nearly cracked.
Before I left the office i told her about the team dinner celebration, weaving the lie as carefully as I could.
She told me not to stay out too late, that I was still recovering.
Her kindness made me feel warm and ache at the same time.
I left her office with the new phone in my pocket and a tight knot in my gut.
An hour later, I was standing in a loud, crowded bistro three blocks from the office.
The design team was in high spirits, clinking glasses of champagne and laughing about the project win.
I stood on the edge of the group, a half-smile plastered on my face while my eyes scanned the exits.
“Clara, you’re not drinking!” Sarah, one of the junior designers, shouted over the music, trying to hand me a glass.
“Oh, I’m still on meds from the flu,” i lied, my voice sounding distant even to me.
“I think I should use the restroom. I’ll be right back.”
Heading towards the restroom, I turned when I noticed no one was watching and headed toward the back exit, slipping through a door that led to a side alley.
The cool night air hit me as i hurried to the street corner and flagged down a taxi, my heart beating so fast I thought I would pass out in the car.
“The Celeste Hotel please” I told the driver.
I walked through the lobby briskly, my eyes darting everywhere as I searched for Julian.
I found the lounge he mentions, tucked away behind a screen of frosted glass.
It was dimly lit and quite.
He looked…
different.
His suit hung loosely on his frame, and there was a frantic, bloodshot look in his eyes that I’d never seen before.
He looked terrible on a second look.
“You’re late,” he hissed as I sat down across from him.
He didn’t wait for me to speak.
He filled a glass with dark red wine and pushed it toward me.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost, Clara. Drink. You need to relax if we’re going to talk about your new mistress’s dirty little secrets.”
“I don’t want to drink, Julian. I came for the documents,” my voice came out steady and firm and that really suprised me.
“Documents? Everything in good time.” He leaned forward, his eyes locking onto mine, then I saw him reach out and tried to touch my hair but I swatted his hand away
“Don’t touch me”
“Ah, I see she changed you. But dont deceive yourself, your still my wife and will return when the contract is over” he snarled at me
But honestly his threats didnt bother me lik it used to.
I had already made up my mind to file for a divorce once the contract draws to close.
I will never allow him touch me again.
“Don’t be rude, wife. Drink the wine. Let’s act like civilized people for five minutes atleast”
I needed him to talk and stay calm long enough for me to figure out if he actually had anything.
I picked up the glass and took a long, deep swallow.
It was bitter, heavier than i had anticipated.
“There,” He said, a slow, predatory smile spreading across his face.
“That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
I opened my mouth to demand the proof again, but the words felt thick.
The room suddenly gave a slow, nauseating tilt.
Julian’s face began to blur, his smile stretching out until it looked like a distorted mask.
My limbs felt like heavy and dark veil started to pull across my vision.
“Julian… what…” my words slurred
I tried to stand, but my legs weren’t there anymore.
The last thing I heard was the sound of his glass clinking against the table and his low, terrifying chuckle as the world went completely black.