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RISING OF A MISTRESS TO A SECOND WIFE
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LET THE GAME BEGIN

Chapter 3 - LET THE GAME BEGIN

There was a moment of silence after Sasha closed the office door behind her. Kian didn't look up immediately. His pen moved over the document in front of him steady,intentional. But she didn't miss the way his hand paused for just a breath when she stepped in. "π‘Ίπ’Šπ’•", he said,gesturing toward the chair across from him.

Sasha obeyed,eyes scanning the room-polished aok shelves,the sharp scent of cologne and cedar wood, and Kian himself,seated behind the kind of desk that silently reminded peopl whi was in control.

" 𝑾𝒆'𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 π’“π’†π’”π’‰π’–π’‡π’‡π’π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒂 π’‡π’†π’˜ 𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π‘΅π’‚π’Šπ’“π’π’ƒπ’Š π’†π’™π’‘π’‚π’π’”π’Šπ’π’, he began. "𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 π’‚π’”π’”π’Šπ’”π’•π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝑳𝒆𝒙 𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕 π’‡π’“π’π’Ž 𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒕 π’˜π’†π’†π’Œ. π‘«π’Šπ’“π’†π’„π’• π’„π’π’π’π’‚π’ƒπ’π’“π’‚π’•π’Šπ’π’."

She nodded professionally, though something flinched in her chest at the mention of Lex, she had heard rumors around the office about his charmimng personality.

"𝑰 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕 π’šπ’π’–'𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒆 π’šπ’π’–π’“π’”π’†π’π’‡ π’‚π’‘π’‘π’“π’π’‘π’“π’Šπ’‚π’•π’†π’π’š." Kian added, his eyes lifting to meet hers.

Sashatilted her head slightly. "𝑢𝒇 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆. π‘¨π’π’šπ’•π’‰π’Šπ’π’ˆ π’”π’‘π’†π’„π’Šπ’‡π’Šπ’„ π’Š 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓?"

"𝑡𝒐," Kian said, leaning back."𝑳𝒆𝒙 π’˜π’Šπ’π’ π’ƒπ’“π’Šπ’†π’‡ π’šπ’π’–. 𝑯𝒆 π’˜π’π’“π’Œπ’” π’…π’Šπ’‡π’‡π’†π’“π’†π’π’•π’π’š. 𝑡𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒙 𝒂𝒔 π’˜π’† 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 π’†π’‡π’‡π’Šπ’„π’Šπ’†π’π’•. "

There was a sublte tension in the way he said We.She caught it, but ignored it,offering only a polite smile.

"𝑼𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒅."

She stood to leave,but as her fingers touched the door handle,he added" 𝑺𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒂",she turned back, "𝒀𝒆𝒔 π’”π’Šπ’“?" His gaze lingered for a second too long."𝑫𝒐𝒏'𝒕 π’ˆπ’†π’• ...𝒕𝒐𝒐 π’„π’π’Žπ’‡π’π’“π’•π’‚π’ƒπ’π’†. "

It wasn't a threat.But it wasn't not one either.

"𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 π’Œπ’†π’†π’‘ π’•π’‰π’Šπ’π’ˆπ’” π’‘π’“π’π’‡π’†π’”π’”π’Šπ’π’π’‚π’,"Kian added his gaze locking on hers," 𝑡𝒐 π’…π’Šπ’”π’•π’“π’‚π’„π’•π’Šπ’π’π’”." She blinked,pretending not to notice the edge in his voice."𝑢𝒇 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆."

As she turned to leave,Kian voice stopped her again."𝑺𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒂"

"𝒀𝒆𝒔?"

"𝑫𝒐𝒏'𝒕 π’Žπ’Šπ’”π’•π’‚π’Œπ’† π’Žπ’š 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 π’˜π’†π’‚π’Œπ’π’†π’”π’”."

She gave a small smile ,but inwardly, she was already bubbling with curiosity about this Lex of a guy."𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒉 π’šπ’π’–'𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕 π’˜π’π’“π’Œπ’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝑳𝒆𝒙 π’‡π’“π’π’Ž π‘΄π’π’π’…π’‚π’š."

The following Monday,Lex arrived at HQ all easy smiles,fitted shirts,and an energy that turned heads in every corridor. Sasha didn't swoon like the rest,though she played it cool,her smile polite but warm,her eyes attentive but not too soft. "𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’‡π’‚π’Žπ’π’–π’” 𝑺𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒂," Lex grinned during their first official meeting. "π‘²π’Šπ’‚π’ π’˜π’‚π’”π’'𝒕 π’π’Šπ’†π’Šπ’π’ˆ...π’šπ’π’–'𝒗𝒆 π’ˆπ’π’• 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 '𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒆 π’†π’—π’†π’“π’šπ’•π’‰π’Šπ’π’ˆ π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰π’π’–π’• π’ƒπ’π’Šπ’π’Œπ’Šπ’π’ˆ π’—π’Šπ’ƒπ’†.' "

She chuckeld lightly. "π‘―π’π’‘π’†π’‡π’–π’π’π’š π’Š π’π’Šπ’—π’† 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’“π’†π’‘π’–π’•π’‚π’•π’Šπ’π’."

"𝒀𝒐𝒖 π’‚π’π’“π’†π’‚π’…π’š 𝒅𝒐."He winked.

She dismissed it with a small eye-roll,amused but unfazed. Still,her laugh light and genuine,floated into the hallway, where Kian happened to be passing.

He stopped mid-step.

Through the glass wall,he could see Lex leaning close,Sasha relaxed,shoulders not stiff like they usually were around him. She looked...comfortable. His jaw clenched before forced himself to keep walking. The week progressed with unspokeb games.

Sasha, ever the professional, maintaned her polished composure but there was something almost intentional about how she ignored Kian's lingering glances in meetings,how she kept her responses clipped,efficient,untouched by any heat. He noticed.And it frustrated him. Especially when she'd smile,genuinely at someone else. A male intern once asked for her help with a spreadsheet,leaning in just a bit too much.

Sasha didn't flinch, didn't push back. She just explained the task,patient and kind. Kian,watching from a cross the room,felt something dark twist inside him.

He interrupted five minutes later with a sharp,"𝑰𝒔 π’•π’‰π’Šπ’” 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 π’šπ’π’–'𝒓𝒆 π’•π’Šπ’Žπ’† 𝑺𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒂?"'she blinked. "𝑰 π’˜π’‚π’” 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 π’‰π’†π’π’‘π’Šπ’π’ˆ..."

"π‘«π’†π’π’†π’ˆπ’‚π’•π’Šπ’π’ π’Šπ’” 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 π’šπ’π’–π’“ 𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒆 π’π’π’˜. π‘Ίπ’•π’‚π’š 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅." She nodded but the message was clear, don't get too close.

Lex of course,noticed the under current too."𝒀𝒐𝒖 π’Œπ’π’π’˜,"he said one afternoon while they were walking back from a client meeting, "𝑰 π’•π’‰π’Šπ’π’Œ π‘²π’Šπ’‚π’'𝒔 𝒂 π’π’Šπ’•π’•π’π’† π’•π’†π’“π’“π’Šπ’•π’†π’“π’Šπ’‚π’."

Sasha raised a brow."𝑰𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒐?" Lex laughed"π‘ͺπ’π’Žπ’† 𝒐𝒏. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 π’˜π’‚π’š 𝒉𝒆 π’˜π’‚π’•π’„π’‰π’†π’” π’šπ’π’–...π’Šπ’•'𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒕𝒍𝒆,𝒃𝒖𝒕 π’Šπ’•'𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆. 𝑢𝒓 π’Žπ’‚π’šπ’ƒπ’† π’šπ’π’–'𝒓𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 π’‘π’π’‚π’šπ’Šπ’π’ˆ π’…π’–π’Žπ’ƒ?"She smiled,non committal."π‘΄π’‚π’šπ’ƒπ’† π’Š 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆 π’•π’‰π’Šπ’π’ˆπ’” 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’˜π’‚π’š 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒅𝒐."

But she did. She saw it all. The sharp glances. The shift in his tone whenever she was too at ease around another man. The way his gaze would fall to her mouth when she spoke. Only for him to look away as if angry with himself.

She just chose not to react.

It was safer that way.

One late evening,long after most staff had left, Sasha had stayed behind to finalize project notes. She didn't expect anyone else to be around,let alone Kian. He appeared quietly in the doorway,his tie loosened, sleeves rolled up,shadows under his eyes.

"𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 π’”π’•π’Šπ’π’ 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆."

"𝑰 π’˜π’‚π’π’•π’†π’… 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π‘΅π’‚π’Šπ’“π’π’ƒπ’Š π’…π’†π’„π’Œ 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝑳𝒆𝒙'𝒔 π’Žπ’†π’†π’•π’Šπ’π’ˆ π’•π’π’Žπ’π’“π’“π’π’˜."

Kian stepped in slowly, hands in his pockets,

" 𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒗𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆 π’Žπ’π’“π’† 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅. "

"𝑰 π’π’Šπ’Œπ’† 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 π’•π’‰π’π’“π’π’–π’ˆπ’‰."

Their eyes met. The air thickened.

There it was again...the spark neither of them wanted to acknowledge. It pulsed between them,sharp and frustrating. "𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆 π’‚π’π’šπ’•π’‰π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝑺𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒂."

Her heart skipped. But her expression remained composed,"𝑰'π’Ž 𝒏𝒐𝒕. 𝑰 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 π’π’Šπ’Œπ’† π’Žπ’š π’˜π’π’“π’Œ 𝒕𝒐 π’”π’‘π’†π’‚π’Œ 𝒇𝒐𝒓 π’Šπ’•π’”π’†π’π’‡." Kian took another step closer,then stopped.His gaze darkened, unreadable. " 𝑳𝒆𝒙 π’”π’†π’†π’Žπ’” π’Šπ’Žπ’‘π’“π’†π’”π’”π’†π’…." She tilted her head."𝑯𝒆'𝒔 π’†π’‚π’”π’š 𝒕𝒐 π’˜π’π’“π’Œ π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰. "There was a pause. Then coldly Kian said," 𝑡𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒐 π’†π’‚π’”π’š,π’Š 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆." The words hung there...loaded,bitter,revealing too much. Sasha's eyes narrowed slightly, but her voice stayed light." 𝑰𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒏...𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒐𝒓 π’‘π’“π’π’‡π’†π’”π’”π’Šπ’π’π’‚π’,π’”π’Šπ’“?

The sir stung. He saw it in her eyes. He cleared his throat,looking away."𝑩𝒐𝒕𝒉" for a moment,neither of them spoke. Then,Sasha gathered her things."𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍," she said softly,"π‘»π’‰π’‚π’π’Œ π’šπ’π’– 𝒇𝒐𝒓 π’„π’‰π’†π’„π’Œπ’Šπ’π’ˆ π’Šπ’. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 π’Š π’•π’‰π’Šπ’π’Œ π’˜π’†'𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇𝒇 π’‘π’“π’†π’•π’†π’π’…π’Šπ’ƒπ’ˆ π’•π’‰π’Šπ’” π’•π’†π’π’”π’Šπ’π’ 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏'𝒕 π’†π’™π’Šπ’”π’•. " Kian looked back at her, jaw tight. "𝑨𝒓𝒆 π’˜π’† π’‘π’“π’†π’•π’†π’π’…π’Šπ’π’ˆ?"

"𝑨𝒓𝒆𝒏'𝒕 π’˜π’† π’‚π’π’˜π’‚π’šπ’”?" And with that she walked past him not rushing not flustered... Just calm and unreadable. But as the elevator doors closed,her chest tightened. Because despite all of her effort to ignore it...this game they were palying... It had only begun. Kian rushed behind her right on time as the elevator opened. He pushed her back inside the elevator and quickly pressed the closing button then the roof button before she could grasp wahat was happening. Inside the elevator non of them said anything for about 5 seconds.Kian then pressed a key and stopped the elevator switching it off temporarily. He moved closer, and she met his gaze ,cool and composed."π‘²π’Šπ’‚π’..." she said warning in her voice."𝑫𝒐𝒏'𝒕 π’”π’‚π’š π’Žπ’š π’π’‚π’Žπ’† π’π’Šπ’Œπ’† 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕,"

He muttered,low and rough."π‘³π’Šπ’Œπ’† π’˜π’‰π’‚π’•?"

"π‘³π’Šπ’Œπ’† π’šπ’π’– 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 π’Šπ’• 𝒕𝒐𝒐." There it was. No longer hinding anything. He was close now...too close. Her heart pounded, but she didn't move. Neither did he. "𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 π’Žπ’‚π’Œπ’Šπ’π’ˆ π’•π’‰π’Šπ’” π’„π’π’Žπ’‘π’π’Šπ’„π’‚π’•π’†π’…," she whispered. "𝑡𝒐," he said. " π‘»π’‰π’Šπ’” π’Šπ’” π’‚π’π’“π’†π’‚π’…π’š π’„π’π’Žπ’‘π’π’Šπ’„π’‚π’•π’†π’… π’šπ’π’– 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 π’Žπ’‚π’Œπ’† π’Šπ’• π’Šπ’Žπ’‘π’π’”π’”π’Šπ’ƒπ’π’†. " His hand hovered near her shoulder, not touching her...but his presence was overwhelming. Heat pulsed between them."𝑰'𝒗𝒆 π’•π’“π’Šπ’†π’… 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 π’Šπ’• π’•π’π’ˆπ’†π’•π’‰π’†π’“, "he admitted" π‘»π’“π’Šπ’†π’… 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔,𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒅 π’π’Šπ’Œπ’† π’Š 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 π’π’π’•π’Šπ’„π’† π’†π’—π’†π’“π’š π’…π’‚π’Žπ’ π’•π’‰π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 π’šπ’π’–."

Sasha exhaled,the tension between them ignite the second she raised her head to meet his height, chest to chest,breath to breath. He reached up, almost brushing her cheek. But then,softly,firmly...she caught his wrist. Her eyes fixed to his,calm and deadly serious."π‘²π’Šπ’‚π’." He froze"𝑳𝒆𝒕 π’Žπ’† 𝒍𝒆𝒕 π’šπ’π’– 𝒐𝒏,𝒐𝒏 𝒂 π’π’Šπ’•π’•π’π’† 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 π’Žπ’†,"she said tracing her fingers gently and shallowly over his chest,her eyes still locked on his."𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒕 π’Šπ’” π’Š'π’Ž π’‚π’„π’•π’–π’‚π’π’π’š π’—π’†π’“π’š π’—π’†π’“π’š π’‚π’…π’…π’Šπ’„π’•π’Šπ’—π’†." She said,her voice slow,seductive and sharp. "𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒄𝒉 π’Žπ’† 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆 ...π’šπ’π’– π’˜π’π’'𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑." He didn't speak. Couldn't. His throat tightened. Her hand still on his chest.She leaned just a little closer...enough to let her breath trace his skin "𝑨𝒏𝒅 π’šπ’π’–...π’šπ’π’–'𝒓𝒆 𝒂 π’Žπ’‚π’“π’“π’Šπ’†π’… π’Žπ’‚π’.𝑩𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 π’ƒπ’š π’šπ’π’–π’“ π’π’˜π’ 𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒆𝒔.𝑩𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 π’ƒπ’š π’šπ’π’–π’“ π’π’‚π’Žπ’†.𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 π’Šπ’Žπ’‚π’ˆπ’†.𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 π’‘π’“π’Šπ’π’„π’Šπ’‘π’π’†π’”." He swallowed hard,jaw locked. She let go of his wrist, slowly, stepping back without breaking eye contact. "𝑰𝒇 π’šπ’π’– 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒔𝒆 π’šπ’π’–π’“π’”π’†π’π’‡ π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰ π’Žπ’†,𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆'𝒔 𝒏𝒐 π’ˆπ’π’Šπ’π’ˆ π’ƒπ’‚π’„π’Œ." Silence stretched. Finally, he whispered,"𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 π’•π’‰π’Šπ’π’Œ π’Š 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆 π’‚π’π’šπ’Žπ’π’“π’†."Her smile was soft, pained then she slowly pressed the key to turn on the elevator and pressed the basement button."𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍,π’Š 𝒅𝒐." There was no mockery in her voice. Just the kind of truth that tasted bittersweet.

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