Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 26246 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 131(@200wpm)___ 105(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26246 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 131(@200wpm)___ 105(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
“I was in a Zoom meeting with Adriano when I heard your voice in the background.”
Oh, how convenient.
“You were saying something about broccoli being better than ice cream—”
She took it back. This was absolutely inconvenient, and so she hastily cut him off, saying, “You’ve, um, convinced me.”
“Did I get that right?”
“I believe you now. You never spied on me—”
“What was that about, by the way? Broccoli and ice cream?”
“May I go now, Mr. Havington?”
Her boss slid his hands deep into his pockets. “Don’t you think it’s time for us to be truthful?”
Oh, if only.
Kyara wanted to laugh. She really hoped she ended up laughing, too...because otherwise she would start crying over Mr. Havington’s choice of words.
“You want us to be truthful.”
His gaze narrowed. “You sound like you’re allergic to it.”
Oh, you bet I am.
Every time her mother came back from a rehab program, sponsored either by the government or a rich person’s charity, she would tearfully ask for Kyara’s forgiveness, saying that she didn’t mean to be a bad mother.
I just want to live my life staying true to my feelings, baby. Is that so bad?
Kyara’s hands clenched against her sides. She knew Shayla would be disappointed—no, wait, actually, she thought she was going to make her sad when she told her about this, but truth...had always felt overrated to her. She knew she was probably wrong about this, but it was how she felt, and that was why—
“Do you really want the truth, Mr. Havington?”
“I can already tell you intend to make the truth as unpleasant as possible, but yes, I still do want—”
“I’m with Cyrus,” she blurted out.
“An unfortunate lapse in judgment.”
“It’s not an—” Wait, she couldn’t let herself be sidetracked. “Anyway—” Kyara cleared her throat. “Cyrus and I had a misunderstanding—”
“What kind of misunderstanding?”
“But be that as it may, we’re still together.” For how long, she wasn’t quite sure, but that was none of his business.
“You still haven’t answered my question.”
Oh no.
She knew that tone of his. People who didn’t know him would probably describe it as lazy. But she had heard it enough to know that the tone meant her boss meant business. He wasn’t letting this go until she gave him an answer...even if they both knew none of this was his business.
“What kind of misunderstanding, Kyara?”
“A private matter.”
She held her breath as soon as she said this, but...
Okay.
Um.
Okay.
It had been crickets so far, and this had her feeling uneasy.
“A-Are you going to fire me?”
More silence.
So much silence.
Lyrius was deciding what to do with the line he had been holding behind his teeth for two weeks. He had been planning to give her time. He had revised that plan in the pantry an hour ago. And he was about to revise it again.
But just as she was about to squirm—
“No, Kyara, I’m not going to fire you.”
Oh thank—
“Because I’ll steal you from him instead.”
No no no—no.
“Mr. Havington!”
Kyara’s heart was absolutely pounding right now, but it was out of...of...dismay and...and...horror.
“I’m glad we had this talk, kyria.”
The Greek word came out of his mouth without his permission and he did not call it back. He had spent three years addressing her in English only. Tonight he had touched her for the first time, named her his out loud for the first time, and used his first language for the first time in her hearing.
“Y-You—”
“—should also call me Lyrius when it’s just the two of us, yes?”
Chapter 5
“THIS IS REALLY INAPPROPRIATE.”
“The two of us sharing an elevator?”
Kyara looked at her boss, Lyrius gazed back at her, and well, she could only be impressed at how good he was at pretending to be dense and obtuse when all the business articles about him spoke of his ruthlessness and cunning.
“What if someone sees us?” she asked finally.
“That’s your problem, not mine.”
The very selfishness of his answer nearly had her choking. Seriously?
“But in any case, they’ll get used to seeing me take you home sooner or later.”
“No, they won’t,” she protested. “You’re my boss—”
“And your future boyfriend—”
“I already have a boyfriend!”
“Yes, me.”
“No, not you—”
“For now. But I will be once you break up with him.”
“I won’t break up with him!”
“Even if he’s made you cry?”
“It’s...it’s a misunderstanding. We’ve never had a misunderstanding—”
“You’re not lying, are you?”
Oh, finally!
All these back-and-forth had been making her feel like she was such a loser, but finally, here was something she could be proud of.
“No, I’m not lying. We never had a—w-why are you smiling?”
“Why shouldn’t I? You just as good as told me you found him boring.”
“I didn’t say that at all!”
“Ah, my mistake. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that your relationship was boring? Is that better, kyria?”
“No, it’s not better!” Why did she sound so defensive even to her ears? “And it’s not true either because I can prove it—”
“Can you now?”