She lifted her chin, letting a cold mask of confidence settle over her face. "Where exactly?" she asked, voice sharper than she meant.
"Seventh floor, ma'am. Conference room."
''Seventh floor? Isn't it Kai's Office? Suddenly she remembered... That means I'll encounter him?''
''Mam? Seventh floor, the receptionist called again to bring her in sense.
Alina nodded once. "Fine."
Her legs moved before her brain could stop them. She balanced the tray in her hands and walked toward the elevators, each step echoing too loudly in her ears. The silver doors reflected her face at her, pale, tense, but with fire flickering in her eyes. You're not weak. You're not going to crumble, she reminded herself.
The elevator chimed, doors sliding open. Inside, a few employees already stood waiting, their ID cards swinging from their necks. One of them noticed the large order she was carrying and quickly pressed the 7 button for her.
"Conference room delivery?" a young man asked kindly.
Alina just nodded. Words felt dangerous right now. The elevator hummed to life, numbers ticking upward. She could feel her heartbeat matching the rhythm faster with every floor.
Her mind betrayed her again. She imagined walking into that room and seeing him there. Those eyes that had haunted her every sleepless night. That voice, deep and merciless, cutting through the air like it always used to. Her chest tightened. She bit the inside of her cheek, forcing the thought away.
It doesn't matter. He doesn't matter. I'm not here for him. Just deliver, leave, forget. That's it. The ding of the elevator shook her out of her spiral. Seventh floor.
The doors opened, revealing a hallway filled with movement assistants carrying files, interns rushing past with laptops, and the faint buzz of important conversations. This was his empire, his world. And somehow, she had walked right into the… center of it.
A door slammed somewhere down the hall, hard enough that the vibration seemed to shake the glass panels. The low buzz of voices outside turned silent. Then, cutting through the silence, a voice rose sharp, controlled, but laced with fury.
"Who touched it?"
Alina froze. That voice. Her stomach twisted. She stepped toward the open glass doors of the adjoining office. The workers in the conference room tried not to look, but their eyes flicked nervously in the same direction. Curiosity and something hotter, angrier pulled Alina forward until she saw.
Kai Arden.
He stood behind a wide desk, tall, imposing, his presence filling the space like fire eating up oxygen. His jaw was tight, his eyes cold steel. On the polished surface of his desk lay scattered papers and a space where something should have been. The staff gathered before him looked pale, shrinking under the weight of his rage.
"Do I employ children here?" His voice cracked like a whip. "Do you think this is a playground where you can misplace what's priceless?"
"S-sir, we're still looking...." One of the employees among them replied without even looking at him
"Looking?" He was furious."If you had been careful in the first place, would you need to look now? Tell me"
The words burned through the room. No one spoke. No one moved. Not even Alina, the silence that followed wasn't empty, yet it was heavy, pressing down on Alina's chest. She had thought he was careless. That he didn't value words, that he was just another arrogant star looking down on people who tried. But in that moment, with the way his voice broke on the word years, she understood. She is absolutely right. He was more than that.
Alina stood frozen in the doorway, her hand still gripping the empty tray. She should've turned back, walked away, vanished. But she couldn't. She couldn't tear her eyes off the man before her, the same man she hated, the same man who once made her life ache.
Her chest tightened, not with fear, but with fury of her own. What kind of man is this? To shout, to humiliate, to treat people like this?
But even as she thought it, something in his tone betrayed that it wasn't just paper. That manuscript... whatever it was...was precious to him. Too precious.
"Until it's found," Kai's voice dropped to a deadly calm, "no one in this office rests. If you think this is negotiable, if you think you can get away with carelessness in my presence... think again. You don't work for me unless you understand perfection."
Silence followed. Heavy, suffocating silence.
Alina's nails dug into the side of the tray. Her blood boiled. She hated the arrogance, the cruelty in his words. And yet, she hated even more how her heart raced because this was the Kai she remembered. Fierce. Relentless. Consuming the air around him until no one else could breathe.
Her lips pressed into a thin line. He hasn't changed. Not one bit. But deep down, she wondered what could matter so much that it could strip him down to raw fire like this?
Alina stood there, half-hidden in the doorway, the empty tray pressed against her chest as though it could shield her from the fire pouring out of him. Kai didn't see her. His fury was too sharp, too consuming. His words lashed at the staff, each syllable a knife.
For a heartbeat, she couldn't move. She hated every ounce of him, hated how he could command a room, hated the fear he carved into people's faces. And yet… she couldn't look away. Her phone buzzed suddenly, breaking the moment. The sharp vibration jolted her back to reality. She glanced down. Maya.
With stiff fingers, she answered.
"Alina, another delivery just came in," Maya's rushed voice spilled through. "Urgent. Need you to pick it up now."
Alina swallowed, her eyes flicking one last time toward Kai. He was still there, raging, his figure framed against the wide window like a storm about to break.
''Fine," she whispered, more to herself than to Maya. And without another glance, she turned on her heel and walked out.
Her steps were quick, almost desperate. Past the curious stares, past the glass doors, past the echo of his voice that seemed to follow her no matter how far she moved. By the time she reached the elevator, her palms were damp, her chest heaving.
Why do I always end up in his orbit? she thought bitterly. As if the universe is laughing at me.
The doors slid shut, cutting off the sound of his fury, but the echo remained lodged in her ears.
The rest of the day passed in a blur of rushing streets, heavy trays, and endless addresses. Alina delivered coffee after coffee, her arms aching, her legs sore, the weight of exhaustion pressing down harder with every stop. The city traffic was merciless, the customers impatient, and by the fifth delivery, she had already lost count of how many times she wished she could throw the entire order into the nearest trash bin.
But she kept moving. Because that's what she did, she kept going, even when every nerve screamed to stop. By the time she returned to the cafe, the sky outside had melted into shades of dusky pink and deep violet. She dropped onto the nearest chair, her whole body aching, her throat dry. For a moment, she just closed her eyes, willing herself not to collapse.
Then a warm cup appeared in front of her. Alina blinked, looking up. Maya stood there, her usual mischievous smile softer now, gentler.
"Hot chocolate," Maya said simply. "You look like you need it."
Alina stared at the cup, steam curling up in delicate swirls. Her chest tightened unexpectedly. She wrapped her hands around the cup, letting the warmth seep into her fingers. For the first time all day, she felt something loosen inside her.
"Thanks," she murmured, her voice quiet, almost reluctant.
Maya grinned and slid into the seat opposite her. "Don't thank me. Just drink it. Consider it my thank you for surviving hell on wheels today."
Alina huffed out a laugh, tired, but real. She lifted the cup, the rich sweetness of chocolate brushing her lips, and for a fleeting second, she allowed herself to breathe.
Even if tomorrow dragged her back into the chaos, even if fate seemed determined to circle her around Kai Arden, at least tonight she had th,.. a small warmth against the storm.