Chapter 1:THE STAIRWELL INCIDENT
The office evacuation alarm blared.
Heaven’s fingers froze over her keyboard. Right..Aiden Cross’s annual visit. The reclusive CEO who banned staff from his presence.
She’d been so focused on editing "Forgive and Forget" the film project she’d poured months into that she’d missed the warnings. Now, her coworker Sarah yanked her arm. “He’s here move!”
Heaven grabbed her bag, her works are not put in order.
No time.
The elevators were jammed. She took the stairs, heels slipping on concrete and collided with a wall of tailored wool and sandalwood.
“Easy there tigress, you almost gave me jumpscare ,not that I'm complaining ”
The voice was low, calm. Familiar.
Aiden Cross steadied her with one hand, his other holding a leather-bound planner. Up close, he was all sharp angles and quiet intensity, his green eyes scanning her like she was a puzzle he couldn’t solve.
"I...I...I am ....I am sorry" heaven stammered but she found herself wanting to hold on to him reluctant to let go.
A camera flashed below. Aiden’s grip tightened briefly before he stepped back, giving her space. “The press are downstairs. You might want the service exit.” He gestured to a dim hallway.
She fled.
Only later, in the taxi, did she notice—her locket was gone.
AIDEN’S POV (LATER THAT NIGHT)
The silver locket glinted on his desk.
He shouldn’t have picked it up. But when he’d seen it abandoned on the stairwell—the same one "she’d"dropped weeks ago at the café near her apartment—he’d acted on impulse.
It clicked open. Inside, a photo of a smiling woman."Damn".
He’d have Brian return it tomorrow. No explanations. No more noticing how her sleeves always rolled up at the elbows, or how she hummed when editing.
Some obsessions were better left unsaid.
