A LOVE UNTAMED

ally made it easy for Liana to sink into her work. But today, something was... off. S

y

many

ickers-quick, darting looks that slid over her like a shadow. A cough that sounded suspiciously like a

on the file she car

she was imagini

moves, huh?" a voice h

n't she know he ha

g to be the exception

r steps to remain steady as she crossed to her desk. Her chest

came th

e dripping admiration. "You really are the one Pierce trusts. Everyone

loud enough for half

y that. It's not about competition-it's about capability. Mr. Pierce valu

just noticed her return. Her smirk was razor thin, victoriou

uiet snorts, polite coughs, the kind of complicit

stomach

ing not to hear, pretending it didn't matter. She typed her passwor

hispers d

you can get ahead

hinks Pierce

and burn. Th

circled li

e. "Still," she mused aloud, her voice smooth enough to carry across the of

eement rippled

er cheeks burned, but her spine refused to curl. She wou

re. No

he had done her job. And yet somehow, in the span of an hour, she'd

en of w

na-the

est emails took twice as long to type; every keystroke sounded like a hammer

lready there. They stopped their conversation abruptly when she approached, ex

her pages silently, ignoring thei

oor like champagne bubbles. She was relishing the attention, basking in it as though it were her birthright. Every nod

she str

e probably thinks fetching files means she's climbing the ladder

dug crescents

off Vanessa's face with the truth. But the rational part of her brain remin

es into calm neutrality, and opened a fresh doc

ted to play th

fight her with whispers.

zz had dulled into post-lunch letharg

ema

onathan

ollow-up o

idened. Her st

er desk as though they'd sensed it. Vanessa's sm

reignited

trouble

aste time when so

be out by the e

d in her ears. She cl

. To

yourself and your notes to my office at 4 PM shar

athan

mistakes. He hadn't sounded displeased.

know that. And Vanessa

rce's office twice in one day? That can't be good. Every

hter. Mor

shifted. She closed the email, lifte

fake throne. But she knew one thing Vanessa didn't: she

alled in for

ht, the whispers might just