Aria>>
"WHAT?!" The word tore from my throat like a serrated blade. My voice roared through the room, the force of it rattling the concrete walls.
Mr. Phillip flinched under my glare, his fingers tugging at his collar as he swallowed hard. He was my superior, yet even I knew he feared me—or rather, my anger.
"A-As of today…" His voice wavered. "Your employment with XE Corporation is terminated."
The words hit like a punch to the gut, knocking the breath from my lungs. My nails dug into my palms as my mind reeled.
"I'm fired?" The words barely felt real.
No. No way. There had to be some mistake. I'd given years to this company—seven years. Seven years of carving my soul into this company's altar.
Phillip cleared his throat, jolting me back. His gaze skittered to the desk, to the termination papers quivering under my glare. Cowardice reeked off him—sour sweat, shaky breaths.
"This must be a fucking mistake." My voice sharpened as I slammed my hands onto his desk. "Fix it."
He flinched. Sweat gleamed on his forehead.
"I'm sorry, Aria," he muttered. "These orders came from above."
Each word only stoked the fire burning inside me. My pulse thundered, heat simmering beneath my skin.
"This can't be right." My voice shook with disbelief. "I can't just be discarded like this… not after everything."
Late nights bleeding into dawn, caffeine and ambition the only sacraments I consumed. I'd outworked, outsmarted, outlived every sycophant in this hive. If anything, I should be getting a promotion, not… this.
My teeth clenched as I forced my hands into fists.
The air turned glacial. I leaned in, close enough to smell his fear. "Who gave the order?"
His throat bobbed. "Aria, it's over. Just take the severance and—"
"WHO?!"
The scream shredded the room. Phillip jerked back, chair screeching. For a heartbeat, his mask slipped—pity flickering beneath the panic.
"Kael," he whispered. "It was Kael."
"Mr. Kael?"
I whispered the name like a curse, my mind struggling to process it. That heartless dick.
The room suddenly felt smaller, the walls pressing in as if even they knew the weight that name carried.
Everyone in XE feared him. Some respected him. Others despised him. But no one—no one—dared to cross him.
Kael was the newly appointed CEO of XE Corporation, a man whose presence alone could turn the air suffocating.
Three months ago, when the former CEO stepped down, everyone assumed his second son would take over. It was the natural course. The firstborn had walked away from the family, a ghost of the past.
But then, he arrived. Kael Roman. The forgotten son.
He walked through HQ's doors that morning, a shadow of war still clinging to him, his presence commanding silence, demanding fear.
He had just retired from the army, forced out by an injury no one dared to speak of. But he hadn't left the battlefield behind—he had brought it with him.
Under his rule, XE was no longer just a corporation.
It became a warzone.
Deadlines turned into ultimatums. Productivity and profits skyrocketed under his rule, but so did fear. There was no patience for slackers, no tolerance for mistakes. Everyone was walking a thin rope—one wrong move, and you paid.
And yet, I had never feared him. Not once. I was not weak. I was not incompetent. So why was I being cast aside like a worthless pawn? After my dedication to work?
My fingers curled around the termination letter, nails biting into the paper as I crumpled it in my grip. No. This was wrong. If Kael was the one behind my firing, then he was mistaken.
Or worse—he wanted me gone for a reason I didn't yet understand. Either way, I was about to find out.
I turned on my heel and stormed toward the elevator. My pulse roared in my ears, my breath sharp as steel.
Kael owed me an explanation. And I was going to get it.
The sharp ding of the elevator pulled me back to reality, its doors sliding open to the highest floor of HQ. The floor reserved only for the President.
For him.
I stepped out, my heels clicking against the marble, the sound anchoring me in place as my pulse hammered in my ears. My mind raced, scenarios unfolding in flashes—how this confrontation could go terribly wrong.
Kael Roman wasn't just the president of this company.
He was a dictator.
A man who could ruin me in an instant. And I was just an office worker, clawing for a shred of fairness in a world where power crushed the weak without hesitation.
But my anger?
It drowned out the fear.
I had nothing to lose anymore. They had already ripped my job away from me. The worst that could happen was getting kicked out… right?
But as I neared his office, a strange sensation prickled the back of my neck.
Mia's desk was empty.
That was odd. The woman practically lived here, glued to her seat like a loyal watchdog.
I ignored the unease gnawing at me and stormed toward the large, intimidating double doors that led to Kael's office. A man whose mere name sent fear crawling up people's spines.
I hesitated.
This was it.
The moment that could either save me… or destroy me.
With a deep inhale, I gritted my teeth, twisted the knob, and shoved the door open.
And then—
I froze.
The sharp, wet sound of skin slapping against skin filled the air. Moans. Low, breathy, desperate. The scent of sex hung thick in the room.
Mia. Prim, polished Mia—Bent over the massive desk. Her blouse discarded on the floor, boobs spilling on the dark furniture as they recoiled from the force of her back getting blown out.
Her fingers clawed at the polished wood, her lips parted in a soundless gasp, eyes barely open.
And behind her— Kael.