Chapter 6: She reminds me of her

Third person

When his eyes met Valerie's, Lucas cocked an eyebrow in a questioning or, more like, disdainful way.

Valerie's pretense of calm seemed to crumble under Lucas's piercing stare.

He then took a seat without acknowledging her greeting and began scrolling through his phone, leaving the room pregnant with an awkward silence.

After what felt like an hour of silence, Valerie released a breath she didn't know she was holding. “I'll go get you some coffee,” she suggested before disappearing into Adam's office.

She returned almost immediately with a cup of coffee in hand.

“Here,” she murmured, and extended the cup to Lucas, careful not to let their fingers touch.

"Miss Thorne..." Lucas took the cup, raised it to his lips, and sipped slowly. His expression remained unreadable.

Valerie nibbled on her fingers nervously. "Is there anything else you need, sir?”

Placing the cup on the table, he leaned back in his chair. “I really wasn't expecting to see you here.”

His dark and cold gaze almost made her tremble, but she gritted her teeth to compose herself.

She rolled her eyes internally, she could say the same.

"Neither was I," she whispered. Her voice was barely audible, but he heard it anyway.

"Sure.” His voice was smooth, almost velvety, but there was an underlying edge to it. “Explains why you told my mother that I was cheating on her."

His mother?

Goodness… It keeps getting worse.

Valerie swallowed the lump in her throat and bit her lips in regret.

She really wished she could blame it on the alcohol, but she was very much sober that morning.

“I-I’m really sorry,” she stuttered. “I didn't know.”

And then she gave him a big grin. Maybe he could see her as the jolly person that she was and forget what happened.

But Lucas’s gaze hardened, making Valerie lower her eyes to the floor. Her lips pressed together as she brushed the sides of her dress with sweaty palms.

What now?

The room remained silent. And Lucas took another sip of the coffee, his gaze never leaving hers.

"So you just go around answering the calls of people you have one-night stands with?” His voice was a low murmur.

Then he scoffed. “Hoping that one of them might be his wife?"

And what was that look on his face? Was it disgust?

Her brows furrowed at his accusation.

She was going to take responsibility for what she did, but he was going too far.

“I was really hoping we wouldn't mix our personal lives with business, but while we’re at it...”

“I should clarify that I don't go around having sex with different strangers, but I certainly don't expect someone like you to understand,” she continued before she even had the chance to stop herself.

He remained silent.

When she saw the furious look on his face, she lowered her eyes back to the ground.

Shit! Maybe she went too far; she shouldn't have said that.

Her words were clearly fueled by rage.

No matter how much Adam lusted over her, he would definitely not forgive her for offending a big shot.

Valerie lifted her gaze slowly, and their eyes met. He was staring at her, but she couldn't read his expression.

“What I meant to say was...” Valerie managed, her pulse racing.

"I'm not interested," he muttered dismissively.

Valerie bit her lip nervously, unsure of how to remedy the situation.

Just then, Adam walked in. “Mr. Stone,” he called out and bowed slightly, exchanging a handshake with Lucas. "Sorry, I kept you waiting.”

“Mmmh,” Lucas hummed, and then he looked at the watch on his wrist. “Fifteen minutes of my time have been wasted already.”

“Uh, sorry,” Adam chuckled uneasily. “I apologize for that.”

Lucas turned to Valerie and studied her for a moment longer before speaking up. "Well, Miss Thorne, it seems we have unfinished business. Perhaps we should discuss it some other time."

Really? He'd just called her a prostitute in a thousand different languages.

She gave him a tense smile. “Yes, sir.”

Adam’s eyes flickered from Lucas to Valerie suspiciously, and then he let out a wry chuckle. “If it's anything serious, you should probably discuss it with me.”

Lucas shifted his eyes to Adam. “There's no need for you to worry, Mr. Smith; it's just something I need to discuss with Miss Thorne.”

“Oh,” Adam murmured, forcing a smile.

Valerie was going to be his, and he won't stand for Lucas having private talks and exchanging glances with her.

“Mr Smith?” Lucas called, snapping Adam out of his thoughts.

“Sorry, let's go in, please,” he said curtly, leading the way to his office.

Inside Adam's office, they spoke about Lucas's investment in the company and the project at hand.

After about thirty minutes, Lucas stepped out of the office, and his roaming eyes didn't fail to notice Valerie’s empty desk.

Soon, his heavy footsteps filled the air outside, making the murmurs resume.

“Ah, so manly... He looks way more handsome in person.”

“Goodness, you don't say.”

“I can look at him all day without being bored.”

But Lucas kept walking, his mind somewhere else.

His tall and burly bodyguard who'd been waiting for him in the hallway appeared behind him. “Uhm, sir. There's still no news on the body,” he whispered.

Lucas's brows furrowed even more. “And what about him?”

“He must be pretty good at covering his tracks, because we've not found anyth-”

Lucas gritted his teeth and interrupted him.

“Keep looking,” he ordered, his voice fierce as usual.

Then he paused in his tracks and looked back at the empty secretary's office through its transparent glass walls.

“She reminds me of her,” he murmured underneath his breath.

But his overly observant bodyguard didn't miss that. “She reminds you of who? The married woman?”