The atmosphere inside KnightCorp had shifted. It wasn't the sharp, efficient silence of the past….where heels clicked against polished floors and assistants moved like soldiers, heads down, obeying Liam Knight's iron code.
Now the silence was… loaded. Heavy. Paranoid.
Because Alicia Blake hadn't been seen in weeks. Nobody to ask her whereabout from.
The girl who had once shadowed Ms. Delacroix with nervous precision, who carried tablets and folders as if they might detonate if handled wrong, had vanished. No polite resignation. No farewell email. No new transfer. She was simply gone.
And Liam Knight wasn't talking.
"Have you noticed?" one of the junior assistants whispered near the glass stairwell, her French manicure trembling against her coffee cup.
"Noticed what?"
"That Alicia hasn't come in. It's been almost a month. And Mr. Knight…..he hasn't said anything. Nothing. No replacement. No announcement."
"She probably quit," another muttered, though the unease in her eyes betrayed the lie. "You know how he is. The pressure. People burn out."
"No," a third chimed in, her voice sharp as she leaned closer. "I saw her once, at the elevator. Weeks back. She looked pale. Scared. And then she just… disappeared. Doesn't that bother you?"
Their voices dropped instinctively. Even whispers felt dangerous when it came to Liam.
Because Liam Knight heard everything.
Across the executive wing, Liam's name crackled through hushed conversations like static.
The staff had seen changes in him too. He was always cold, always commanding…..but lately, his temper was volatile. He snapped at board members. He shredded contracts over a single typo. He barked at Delacroix in front of the team…..something unthinkable before.
His anger is like a ticking time bomb or should i say like a volcano expected to explode at any moment.
And yet, when anyone dared ask about Alicia…her files, her status, her absence….his face became a mask of ice.
"We don't discuss employees who are no longer relevant," he'd said once, voice so flat it froze the question in the air. "What has she done"
But he never said she was gone.
The paranoia thickened when the detective returned.
He didn't storm in with uniformed officers. That wasn't how it worked with Liam Knight. No one dared humiliate him publicly, not without consequence.
Instead, the man came quiet, wearing a gray suit and carrying only a badge that flashed like a warning before slipping back into his pocket. He didn't raise his voice. He didn't press for meetings. He simply lingered.
He spoke to security guards, receptionists, and low-level assistants.
"Did you see Alicia Blake? When was the last time? Did she ever say where she was going?"
No one gave him answers.
Because they don't know... and because fear tied their tongues.
KnightCorp wasn't just a company. It was a fortress. And Liam Knight was its ruler. You don't betray a man like that.
Still, whispers spread faster than his silences could kill them.
Why would a detective be asking about her? Why was Liam ignoring it all? Why had no replacement been hired?
Something didn't add up.
Liam noticed.
He always noticed.
He stormed into the executive floor that morning like a storm in a tailored suit. His jaw was tight, his tie undone, his eyes black with fury. The air shifted around him, people straightened their backs, lowered their gazes, froze mid-sentence.
"Mr. Knight….." one brave associate began, holding out a report.
The report was shredded before it touched his desk.
"I don't need incompetence disguised as efficiency," Liam snarled, his voice carrying across the glass walls. "If you can't deliver perfection, get out."
Silence. Utter, absolute silence.
He turned, his gaze slicing across his staff like a blade.
"Does anyone have something to ask me?" he demanded.
Not a breath. Not a sound.
Even Delacroix kept her eyes down, though her pulse hammered at her throat.
Liam's smirk was cruel. "Good. Then work."
He vanished into his office, slamming the door so hard the glass trembled.
But inside, the storm only worsened.
Because Liam knew the detective had been there again.
He'd seen the man's shadow moving through the halls, soft-spoken questions leaving unease in his wake.
And worse…..he'd seen the shift in his staff's eyes.
Doubt. Suspicion. Fear.
All things Liam Knight despised.
Penthouse – Alicia
The hours blurred for Alicia.
Her "day off" had turned into weeks of gilded imprisonment. Every curtain was drawn, every door locked with a code she didn't know. The penthouse, with its velvet shadows and panoramic views, had transformed into a cage.
A luxurious cage, yes….but a cage nonetheless.
She padded barefoot across the marble floors, her body still sore from Liam's relentless touch the nights before. He never stopped claiming her, as if sex itself were a chain binding her tighter to him.
And yet, it wasn't just physical.
He called throughout the day, his voice a blade against her ear.
"What are you doing right now?"
"Where are you standing?"
"Are you thinking about leaving?"
"Are you thinking about committing sucide?"
Every questions felt like a test.
She lied when she had to. Told the truth when it was safer. Smiled when he returned at night, knowing if he saw the fear in her eyes, he'd pry it out of her with both hands.
Still…..she felt the shift too.
Liam was unraveling.
His calls grew shorter, angrier. His returns at night carried more alcohol, more bruised knuckles, more desperate hunger. He fucked her like he needed to erase something inside himself.
And she, trembling, let him. Because what else could she do? She couldn't do anything again, she has submitted to her fate.
But that evening, Alicia caught a whisper of the outside world.
The news channel flickered across the penthouse television while she folded the silk slip he'd left on the bed.
"…unconfirmed reports that Detective Hale has visited KnightCorp headquarters several times this week… inquiries appear to be related to the sudden absence of Liam Knight's executive assistant, Alicia Blake…"
Her breath hitched.
The screen shifted to stock market updates, but the words had already carved themselves into her chest.
The detective hadn't stopped.
Someone still knew she existed.
Back at KnightCorp
The whispers reached a breaking point by late afternoon.
"He's hiding something."
"You think she's….?"
"Shh! Do you want to get fired?"
The tension rippled until even the senior partners avoided Liam's gaze. The detective's presence still lingered, his polite inquiries seeding unease that refused to die.
Finally, Delacroix dared to step into Liam's office.
"Mr. Knight," she said carefully, her French accent crisp. "The staff is unsettled. Perhaps it would be wise to make a statement about Miss Blake. To… calm speculation."
Liam looked up from his desk.
The silence was deadly.
"A statement," he repeated slowly. "About a woman who is no longer relevant."
Delacroix held her ground, though her nails dug crescents into her palm. "Yes, sir."
His eyes narrowed.
"Tell the staff this," Liam said coldly. "Miss Blake is on leave. She'll return when I decide she will. Anyone who asks again can join her in absence."
Delacroix exhaled quietly, bowed her head, and left.
But the damage was already done.
Penthouse – Alicia
That night, Liam returned later than usual. His tie was gone, his shirt open at the collar, his knuckles red.
He didn't greet her. Didn't ask about her day.
He just walked straight to her, pressing her back against the wall, his mouth crushing hers.
"You're mine," he growled against her lips, his voice ragged. "No one takes you from me. Not the detective. Not your family. Not your friends. Not anyone."
Alicia gasped, her heart pounding, fear and desire tangling like barbed wire.
She wanted to protest. She wanted to scream. But his kiss swallowed her words, his hands sliding possessively over her body until thought itself burned away.
KnightCorp – Staff
The staff worked late into the night, heads bowed, fear anchoring them to their desks.
But whispers refused to die.
"She's alive," someone whispered, clutching the memory of Liam's words.
"Or he's lying," another hissed.
None dared say it aloud where Liam could hear. But the cracks were spreading.
And the detective wasn't done.
By midnight, Liam held Alicia in his arms, her body trembling against his chest.
But even as she drifted toward sleep, one thought throbbed inside her like a wound:
The outside world hadn't forgotten her.