ELARA~
This woman was unbelievable right now.
I looked at her and I hated that she could stand there like that, shoulders square, eyes finally visible and hauntingly calm—staring down at me like none of what I’d just screamed at her mattered.
No,” I whispered.
“I am not okay.” She took off the shades she’d been wearing and met my eyes.
It was annoying and unfair.
But somehow, I still couldn’t look away.
In that silence, the truth hit me with the force of a physical blow.
And I realized at that very moment, I had fallen for this somewhat annoying being.
I’d been locked in since the first day I saw her, the way her voice could command a room without rising an octave, her dress style and even the way she walked.
It was wrong.
It was timing at its absolute worst.
My ex-manager was trying to bury me, and my ex’s death was a public discussion now.
She wasn’t helping, either.
Looking at me with that unreadable expression, dropping those abrupt, cryptic lines that left me spiraling.
All this mixed signals were killing me.
I didn’t know what she wanted, but I knew I wanted her to see me more than just her client, more than just a job, I needed her to see me for me.
My eyes dropped to her lips and Isla Matthews—no, the fixer—closed the distance between us in a blurred second.
Before I could even gasp, her lips met mine.
I didn’t move at first.
I was too stunned, my brain still short-circuiting from the shock.
But then instinct took over—a raw, starving hunger I hadn’t known I possessed.
I grabbed the hem of her crisp white shirt, my fingers bunching the expensive fabric as I drew her closer, desperate to bridge the last millimeter of space between us.
The world around me faded instantly.
She was all I wanted to feel now and the burning need to have her only grew hotter.
I moved forward, backing her against the door I’d just tried to escape through.
She tensed when my hand found the back of her neck, a small, sharp intake of breath hitching in her throat before she deepened the kiss with a ferocity that made my knees weak.
”Fuck…” she breathed against my lips.
She pulled me back in, her hands finding my waist and pulling me flush against her.
She kissed me with such intensity that breathing became a secondary concern.
My mind went completely blank, the “Elara Jones” persona dissolving until there was nothing left but skin and heat and the taste of her.
My fingers curled tighter in her shirt, holding onto her like she might pull away, like this would disappear if I didn’t.
Her hands slowly roamed my body and it only made everything worse, or better.
I couldn’t tell anymore.
Every time our lips parted, it was only for a second before I was pulling her back again.
I didn’t want space.
I didn’t want to think.
If I thought, I’d have to deal with the fact that we were in a government building and the clock was ticking.
My hand slid up, my fingers tangling in the hair at the nape of her neck.
The small, guttural sound she made in response sent a shiver down my spine that had nothing to do with the air conditioning.
Click.
Isla didn’t look at me.
She straightened her blazer, her mask sliding back into place with a speed that was almost terrifying.
“Give me a minute, Michael.”
The door closed again.
For a heartbeat, the silence in the room was louder than the kiss had been.
I stared at my reflection in the mirror—my lips were swollen, my eyes wide.
I looked like someone who had just survived a crash.
Isla didn’t say a word.
She just adjusted her cuffs, put on her dark shades, and walked out.
Twenty minutes later, I was back on the witness stand.
Chris’s lawyer was more lively than earlier and that kiss dulled my brain a little too much.
I glanced over at Isla who wasn’t even paying me any freaking attention.
I expected that but a surprise in the change of her behaviour would’ve been nice.
A small sign—a glance, a nod, anything to acknowledge what had just happened—would have been better.
But no.
To her, the recess was over.
“Answer the question, Ms.
Jones,” Sterling barked, snapping me back to reality.
”No,” I said, my voice firmer than I felt.
”No further questions, Your Honor,” he said, returning to his seat with a smug flick of his pen.
The judge nodded.
“Counsel?”
I returned to my seat fully aware of Micheal’s stare.
He rose slowly and approached the stand, stopping just a few feet from Chris.
“Cross-examination, your Honor”
I glanced at Isla again.
She was staring straight ahead, her eyes hidden behind those damn shades.
I turned my focus back to the floor.
I didn’t want to feel this way, discarded the moment the “work” began again.
“Mr.
Maxwell” Micheal began and I turned my focus back to him.
“Within two hours of your contract being terminated, you filed a case against Ms.
Jones, correct?”
Chris looked at me, a flicker of that fatherly mask slipping for a split second.
“Yes.”
”That’s a very short amount of time to prepare a comprehensive legal action, isn’t it?
Most firms take weeks to draft a defamation suit of this scale.”
“I alrady had con…” he caught himself, his eyes darting to his lawyer.
“So you were prepared to sue her at any given time?” Micheal asked.
“No I…”
”But you only filed after you leaked the videos you had in your possession?
The ones that conveniently made you look like a victim?”
“That’s not true, I…”
“Let’s be clear” Micheal cut in again, pushing his lens forward “You had legal documents ready, or nearly ready, within hours of being removed from your position as her manager”
Chris didn’t respond immediately.
He looked at Sterling, his eyes darting.
“I acted quickly, yes,” he finally muttered.
”Quickly,” Michael repeated, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
“Or preemptively?”
“Objection, Your Honor!” Sterling stood.
“Counsel is being argumentative and speculative.”
Michael didn’t even turn his head.
“I’m establishing intent, Your Honor.
The timeline speaks for itself.”
The judge leaned forward.
“Overruled.
Answer the question, Mr.
Maxwell.”
“I acted based on what I believed was an unfair treatment”
“Unfair treatment” Micheal nodded taking a step closer “And yet prior to your termination, you remained in Ms.
Jones employment for how long?”
“Six years”
“During which you had full access to her schedules, private materials, and internal operations correct?”
“Yes, but—”
“Including sensitive content?”
“Objection!” Chris’s lawyer stood again
“My Lord” Micheal turned to the judge “If counsel would allow me finish, I’ll get there.”
“Proceed”
Michael turned back to Chris.
“You were trusted with confidential material, yet the moment that trust ended, you initiated legal action within two hours”
“I…”
“Mr.
Maxwell did you leak the videos in question?” Micheal switched up cutting in again like it were second nature.
“No”
“That is your sworn testimony?
Under penalty of perjury?”
“Yes”
“And yet,” Michael paused, pulling a folder from his desk with a flourish, “the digital footprint of the files in question has been traced back to a private server.
A server registered under your credentials, Mr.
Maxwell.”
Chris’s face went from pale to a sickly, mottled grey.
“I…
there are other people who had access.
My assistants, the tech team—”
”Answer the question.
The server is yours?”
“Yes” Chris exhaled, the sound of a man watching his leverage evaporate.
“So your claim of defamation has no standing, because you did, in fact, leak the very videos you claim damaged your reputation.
You created the fire so you could sue for the smoke.”
“Objection your honor”
“Overruled” the tension in the air was thick now and despite the cold temperature of the room, I could see the visible sweat forming on Chris’s face.
“You had possession of sensitive material involving Ms.
Jones.”
“As part of my job”
“Including footage that could damage her reputation?”
“I didn’t…”
“And yet you never reported it, not once.” Micheal finally took a breather “Why?” He then asked
“Objection my…”
“Would you sit down and allow the witness to answer, Mr.
Gordon?.” Micheal turned toward him.
“Order” the judge hit his gavel thrice “Counsel Rephrase”
Micheal turned back to Chris “Let’s talk about another piece of footage”
Chris swallowed hard.
My heart skipped a beat.
Another footage?
I turned toward Isla, who seemed too engrossed in whatever was playing in front of us.
Her body was leaned forward, her hands gripped the arms of her chair.
There was only one video I knew about.
The kiss with Angela.
The one that started this whole nightmare.
If there was another piece of footage, it meant I had been kept in the dark by the very person I’d just kissed in the back room.
What other footage was Michael talking about?.
If you thought the kiss was the climax of the chapter, think again.
Michael is bringing the heat, Chris is crumbling, and Elara just realized that Isla might have more secrets than she let on.
What is this ‘other’ footage?
And did Isla play Elara just to get through the day?
Drop your theories below!