Daniel walked into the office, still lost in the afterglow of their morning together. He loved these small moments with Anna—when the world felt simple, just the two of them. But as soon as he crossed the threshold of her sleek, glass-walled office, the atmosphere shifted. Anna was different here, in her element as the head of the company, composed and focused.
She was at her desk, eyes locked on the screen, typing quickly. The moment he stepped inside, her posture stiffened, and in an almost reflexive movement, she clicked her laptop shut, her face shifting into a calm, unreadable expression.
"Hey," Daniel greeted her with a smile, moving closer. "Busy morning?"
Anna glanced up, her expression softening just slightly. "Just the usual," she said smoothly, standing up from her desk. "Running a company isn't exactly relaxing." She smiled, but there was something else behind it—something guarded.
Daniel chuckled, though he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. "I can imagine," he said, moving toward her. "You seem a little more tense than usual today. Everything okay?"
Anna walked around the desk, standing beside him. "Just a lot on my plate," she replied, her voice light but distant. She ran a hand through her hair, her fingers brushing over the elegant bun that held back her long, dark strands. "I was going through some old files, nothing important. You know how it is, business stuff."
Daniel nodded, but he felt a flicker of doubt. He had known Anna for years, and he could tell when she was hiding something. He just didn't know what.
"Anything I can help with?" he asked, his tone casual, though his curiosity was piqued. He trusted her, but there was something she wasn't telling him, and it gnawed at him, no matter how hard he tried to ignore it.
Anna smiled at him, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "No, I've got it covered," she said quickly, moving to change the subject. "How about we focus on the marketing pitch for tomorrow? We need to make sure the investors are on board."
Daniel frowned slightly, but he didn't push. He trusted Anna, even if something felt off. "Sure, let's go over the numbers."
As they dove into the work of running their company, Anna couldn't help but glance at the closed laptop, her mind briefly wandering back to the encrypted files she had just been going through before Daniel walked in. There, buried deep in those documents, was the name of the man she had been tracking for months. The man responsible for the destruction of her family.
Daniel's father.
Years ago, his father had ruined her life, taking away everything she held dear. Her father had been a good man—someone who believed in justice and fairness. But Daniel's father had taken that from her in one swift, brutal moment. And now, she was getting closer to finding the proof she needed, the evidence that would finally allow her to exact the revenge she had been quietly planning for so long.
But Daniel had no idea. He didn't know the truth, and he couldn't know—not yet. Anna's heart twisted with the weight of the secret she carried. She loved Daniel, deeply, but the line between love and vengeance was starting to blur. Could she keep this from him forever? Could she go through with her plan without losing him in the process?
Anna forced herself to focus on the present, pushing the thoughts of revenge to the back of her mind. For now, she would have to play the role of the businesswoman, the partner, the lover. But one day soon, the truth would come out, and when it did, everything would change.
"Ready to knock this out?" Daniel asked, unaware of the storm brewing beneath the surface.
Anna smiled and nodded. "Absolutely," she said, her voice steady, though inside, she knew this was only the calm before everything came crashing down.