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RISING OF A MISTRESS TO A SECOND WIFE
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LINES CROSSED

Chapter 4 - LINES CROSSED

𝑺𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒂'𝒔 𝑷𝑢𝑽

kian was changing.

It started subtly...too subtle for someone who didn't know him. But Sasha knew. She saw it in the way he lingered longer at her desk when he dropped off files that didn't need to come in person. She felt it in the way his eyes tracked her every movement when she walked into a room. Silent. Intense. Possessive.

At first, she told herself it was just the residual tension from their last conversation,that heated moment where words burned, and boundaries blurred.

But then he started showing.

At her coffee spot,leaning against the counter like he owned it. At her favorite lunch deli.

In the parking lot after work. Always with an excuse, never with an invitation. And always looking like he had something to say but wouldn't.

One morning,he appeared outside the elevator just as she was stepping in."𝑰'𝒍𝒍 π’“π’Šπ’…π’† π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰ π’šπ’π’–,"he said,stepping in without asking.

Sasha didn't respond. She just pressed the ground floor button and stood silently beside him,arms crossed.

He stood too close.

Too deliberate.

As they rode down,his eyes never left her face. His mouth twitched into a smirk,but there was no humor in it.

He stared at her lips then smirked.

"π‘­π’–π’π’π’š π’‰π’π’˜ π’šπ’π’– π’π’π’π’š π’˜π’†π’‚π’“ π’•π’‰π’Šπ’” 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒐𝒇 π’π’Šπ’‘π’”π’•π’Šπ’„π’Œ 𝒐𝒏 π’…π’‚π’šπ’” π’šπ’π’– π’Œπ’π’π’˜ π’˜π’†'𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 π’Šπ’ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’”π’‚π’Žπ’† π’“π’π’π’Ž."

She turned to him, sharp. "𝑫𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒇𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 π’šπ’π’–π’“π’”π’†π’π’‡ π‘²π’Šπ’‚π’". His jaw tightened." 𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕 π’”π’‚π’šπ’Šπ’π’ˆ, 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕 π’•π’‰π’Šπ’π’ˆπ’” π’šπ’π’– 𝒄𝒂𝒏'𝒕 π’‡π’Šπ’π’Šπ’”π’‰. "

That made her snap. "𝑬𝒙𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒆 π’Žπ’†?"

"𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒅 π’Žπ’†," he said,his voice low but heated. "𝒀𝒐𝒖 π’‘π’π’‚π’š 𝒉𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒅. 𝑷𝒖𝒔𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒍. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 π’ˆπ’†π’• 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒄𝒕 π’π’Šπ’Œπ’† π’šπ’π’– 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 π’Šπ’• 𝒕𝒐𝒐."

"𝑢𝒉,π’Š 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 π’Šπ’•," she said stepping closer,furry,lacing her voice."𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 π’˜π’‰π’š π’Š'π’Ž π’Œπ’†π’†π’‘π’Šπ’π’ˆ π’Žπ’š π’…π’‚π’Žπ’ π’…π’Šπ’”π’•π’‚π’π’„π’†. "

Just as the elevator doors slid open,she added,"𝑫𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒖𝒔𝒆 π’•π’†π’π’”π’Šπ’π’ π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰ π’‘π’†π’“π’Žπ’Šπ’”π’”π’Šπ’π’."

He didn't follow her out.

But his eyes did.

Later that day, as the Nairobi project team gathered in the conference room, Sasha, kept her gaze firmly on the presentation slides. Lex, seated beside her, leaned in and whispered.

"𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 π’ˆπ’π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒐𝒏 π’ƒπ’†π’•π’˜π’†π’†π’ π’šπ’π’– 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑴𝒓.π‘²π’Šπ’‚π’?"

Her breathe caught."π‘΅π’π’•π’‰π’Šπ’π’ˆ." Lex raised a brow," 𝑺𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒂 ,π’Š'π’Ž 𝒏𝒐𝒕 π’ƒπ’π’Šπ’π’…." Before she could respond,the doors opened,and a tall,well-dressed man stepped in with confident ease. He had Kian's strong jaw and dark,assessing eyes...but his smile was light and warmer.

"π‘¬π’—π’†π’“π’šπ’π’π’†,π’•π’‰π’Šπ’” π’Šπ’” π‘¨π’…π’“π’Šπ’‚π’ π‘²π’Šπ’‘π’”π’‚π’π’ˆ. Kian announced." 𝑯𝒆'𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒄𝒐-π’π’†π’‚π’…π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π‘΅π’‚π’Šπ’“π’π’ƒπ’Š 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕 π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰ π’Žπ’†?" Adrian's gaze swept across the room...and landed squarely on Sasha.

"𝑷𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 π’Žπ’†π’†π’• π’šπ’π’– 𝒂𝒍𝒍," he said smoothly, but his eyes didn't leave hers.

Later,as the team mingled and notes were exchanged, Adrian made his way toward her."𝒀𝒐𝒖 π’Žπ’–π’”π’• 𝒃𝒆 𝑺𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒂," he said, offering a hand."𝑰 π’Žπ’–π’”π’• 𝒃𝒆," she replied,shaking it.

"𝑰'𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 π’šπ’π’–π’“ π’˜π’π’“π’Œ.π‘²π’Šπ’‚π’ π’Žπ’†π’π’•π’Šπ’π’π’†π’… π’šπ’π’–'𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒑." She blinked."𝑯𝒆 π’…π’Šπ’…?"

Adrian's smile deepened. "𝑯𝒆 π’…π’Šπ’…π’'𝒕 π’”π’‚π’š π’Šπ’• π’π’Šπ’Œπ’† 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕,𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆. 𝑯𝒆'𝒔 𝒂 π’π’Šπ’•π’•π’π’† 𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 π’ˆπ’†π’π’†π’“π’π’–π’” π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰ π’„π’π’Žπ’‘π’π’Šπ’Žπ’†π’π’•π’”."

"𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 π’“π’Šπ’ˆπ’‰π’•."

"𝑰'π’Ž π’Žπ’π’“π’† 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏 π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰ π’Žπ’Šπ’π’†," he said,lowering his voice just enough. "𝑨𝒏𝒅 π’‡π’“π’π’Ž π’˜π’‰π’‚π’• π’Š'𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒐 𝒇𝒂𝒓,𝒉𝒆 π’˜π’‚π’” π’–π’π’…π’†π’“π’”π’†π’π’π’Šπ’π’ˆ π’šπ’π’–."

Sasha chuckled, then quickly caught herself.Kian was watching from across the room.

His jaw clenched. His stare was cold steel.

She straitened. "π‘΅π’Šπ’„π’† 𝒕𝒐 π’Žπ’†π’†π’• π’šπ’π’–, π‘¨π’…π’“π’Šπ’‚π’,"

"π‘³π’π’π’Œπ’Šπ’π’ˆ π’‡π’π’“π’˜π’‚π’“π’… 𝒕𝒐 π’˜π’π’“π’Œπ’Šπ’π’ˆ π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰ π’šπ’π’–," he and as he walked away,she could still feel his presence...charming, easy going...and dangerously curious. The rest of the day felt like walking a tightrope between two fires.

One was quiet and burning...Kian, with his unspoken demands,his jealosy masked as professionalism, his nearness like gravity.

Then the other was fresh and playful... Adrian. Flirtatious and open,tempting her with something that felt like sanity.

By the time she got back to her desk her head was pounding.

Lex came by with a raised brow." 𝑺𝒐...𝒂𝒓𝒆 π’šπ’π’– π’ˆπ’π’Šπ’π’ˆ π’•π’Š π’”π’–π’“π’—π’Šπ’—π’† π’˜π’π’“π’Œπ’Šπ’π’ˆ π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰ 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 π‘ͺ𝑬𝑢'𝑺?"

Sasha exhaled sharply."π‘Ήπ’†π’Žπ’Šπ’π’… π’Žπ’† π’˜π’‰π’š π’Š π’‚π’ˆπ’“π’“π’†π’… 𝒕𝒐 π’•π’‰π’Šπ’” 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕?"

"𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 π’šπ’π’– 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒐𝒔," Lex teased.

"𝑨𝒏𝒅 π’Žπ’‚π’šπ’ƒπ’†...𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 π’šπ’π’–'𝒓𝒆 π’Šπ’ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’Žπ’Šπ’…π’…π’π’† 𝒐𝒇 π’”π’π’Žπ’†π’•π’‰π’Šπ’π’ˆ π’šπ’π’– 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏'𝒕 π’‡π’–π’π’π’š π’‡π’Šπ’ˆπ’–π’“π’†π’… 𝒐𝒖𝒕 π’šπ’†π’•."

She didn't respond.

Because Lex was right.

And that was the scariest part of all.

Later that week ,Lex found himself hanging out more with Adrian and Kian,something that felt surprisingly natural. The trio had been close since childhood,and now, with the Nairobi project merging their companie strengths their bond seemed tighter than ever.They laughed over beers,argued over blueprints, and reminisced like brothers. Sasha often caught glimpses of them together... Adrian with his easy charm.

Kian with his brooding silence, and Lex, the calm storm between them.

But while the boys shared history,Lex was creating something new with her. Their conversations flowed easily, full of warmth and unspoken understanding. They shared inside jokes, late work night's and quiet walks after meetings. Sasha didn't even realize how inseparable, they had became untill Kian's stare stared to linger longer.

And Adrian...always smiling began asking questions. "𝑺𝒐,π’˜π’‰π’‚π’•'𝒔 π’“π’†π’‚π’π’π’š π’ˆπ’π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒐𝒏 π’ƒπ’†π’•π’˜π’†π’†π’ π’šπ’π’– 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑳𝒆𝒙?"

Adrian asked one afternoon,half-joking.

"𝒀𝒆𝒂𝒉," Kian added coolly. "π’šπ’π’– π’•π’˜π’ π’”π’†π’†π’Ž...𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆."

Sasha only shrugged, refusing ti give them the satisfaction of a real answer.

Neithet of them said anything else. But she could tell...they didn't like it.

And for the first time in weeks, Sasha ft like she wasvholding the upper hand.

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