AFTER PACING AROUND the living room for what seemed like hours, Leyla stood in front of the large windows that overlooked the vast night skyline. The buildings lit up beautifully, each light sizing up to the ever-glowing stars in the night sky.

She pulled the ring back and forth her finger, over and over as she racked her brain for answers, realistic ones.

Yusef's words buzzed around, irking her as they poked her every now and then. Could he be right after all?

She couldn't take it anymore and stared at the large wall clock from the corner of her eye, it was ten-thirty.

Exchanging the slippers on her feet for light grey slip-ons, she tugged a latte brown sweater on and slipped the keys into the large pocket. She clipped her hair away with a small silver hair accessory that her mother had gifted, her while she locked the door.

Leyla walked past the shiny, silver doors of the elevator as they dinged and rushed down the stairs, skipping steps to reach the garage quicker.

Slamming the car door shut after herself, Leyla rolled her lips in, contemplating her decision but shook all doubts away as she began to reverse out of the parking lot. The neighborhoods and trees slowly faded into large buildings and skyscrapers that varied in design, width and height.

"Incoming Call: Matt F." The robotic voice from the Bluetooth system alerted Leyla as she pressed the accept button on her steering wheel.

"Hey Leyla! I hope you're not busy with work," his voice floated around her. She felt a light wave of guilt ebb over her because she hadn't called him over the past two days, owing to all the chaos that had encased her.

"Hi, I'm sorry I didn't call. I was quite busy and no, not really I was just stopping by dad's office."

"That's great, so... there's this place right by my house, actually and I was wondering if you'd want to maybe go there for breakfast tomorrow? I can pick you up if you want?"

Cars slowed down and tires crunched over the gravel as Leyla glanced around at the traffic, grimacing.

"I would love that, Matt." She answered with a slight smile.

A few sweet and soft words were exchanged along with the occasional sarcasm before they were bidding each other goodbye.

━━━━ ☆ ━━━━

Leyla patted herself on the back for not wearing her heels as she padded across the polished marble floors.

Feeling oddly paranoid, she turned around and surveyed the empty lobby where the lights were dimmed down like an ex-vigilante. A few security guards were scattered in various areas, each stationed strategically to not let unwanted visitors in.

One of them smiled at her as she nodded in acknowledgment and turned back. Slowly shutting her eyes, Leyla exhaled before opening them back again.

With her back straight and a determined shine in her eyes, Leyla picked up her pace; which was somewhere between a run and a walk. Grasping her phone, she put it on silent and switched off the vibration as well.

A focused Leyla reached the elevator doors but frowned at her distorted reflection and after much contemplation and ran towards the stairs, rushing each step.

Surprising her own-self at the speed and large number of steps, she stood very anxiously at the entrance of the hallway.

'You can do this, if you've done this much and come so far you can do more. Hadi Leyla, haydi.' She thought to herself whilst biting her lips and praying a silent prayer.

She stood in front of Blake's office and hurriedly swiped the master keycard. Locking the door behind herself, she let out a breath she did not know she was holding in and pushed the little nagging voice away.

Shutting the blinds and the single lamp in the corner, she situated herself in the comfortable office chair and smiled at the picture of Ayşe and Blake sitting on his table. Oh how it would feel to have a love that sincere and deep.

The computer turned on and she sifted through the drawers, one by one.

Strategically, pulling things out and then placing them back in the same exact order, she reached out for the last one and pulled at it, only to find it locked.

She pushed the pieces that fell out of the silver clip behind her ear, tugging at it once more. She glanced around before sitting back on the chair. Her attention relocated to the screen as she pulled up the financial model of last year and the current one, gasping at the stark difference.

Maybe Yusef was right after all, in desperate need of answers she clicked on the YoY growth rates folder while rubbing her temple but instantly stilled after hearing a man's deep voice on the other side of the door.

Quickly canceling everything out, she shut the system down and pulled the plug out. Staring at the locked drawer, she looked up, frightened. Running to the door stealthily, she kept an ear close to hear an incoherent and muffled conversation.

Only being able to hear a few words she chewed her lips, attempting to make out a sentence. "You idiot! How incompetent... can you be? Keep an eye out and make ... sure if that asshole moves, you... tell me."

Narrowing her eyes, she shuffled even closer to the door but backed away scared out of her soul when the steps grew closer than ever, now right out the door.

"Where's the key? My God, Idiots!" The voice bellowed, not helping Leyla's predicament.

She pulled out her phone as quickly as she could and typed a short but very vague SOS text to Yusef.

The man's phone rang which pulled the him away from the door for a bit, "What? What is he up to again, fine I'm coming!"

Grumbling, the man began to walk off, cursing and mumbling about how incompetent people were.

Leyla stood still for a few moments before calming herself and moving out to the hallway, taking the elevator this time around.

With a swipe of the keycard, the lift began to move down, the overhead lights made her panicky, pale face look worse. Reassuring herself again, she focused on her breathing before turning around just as the doors dinged opened.

A grey-haired man stood on the other side of the floor almost out the door but turned as the metal doors pulled away from each other, revealing the brunette.

Leyla couldn't let herself look weak or scared so she stood tall, looking into the man's eyes equally fierce as she prayed silently, 'lütfen tanrım.'

The anonymous man smirked to himself before speaking up, his voice the same as the one Leyla heard above moments ago, "A guest! How wonderful. Who are you, little miss?"

With a neutral expression, a quirked eyebrow and an aura of 'don't mess with me right now', she scanned him top to down. "Leyla Aydın. And who might you be?"

Instantly taken aback, the man widened his juniper green eyes before offering her his rough, calloused hand with a crooked smile that put his straight, white teeth on display, "Hudson Jones, darling."

'The wolves are out, indeed.' She thought to herself whilst shaking his large hand.

first off, thank you so much for over 600 reads and over a 100 votes!! that is so crazy and surreal!!

i am so grateful and cannot thank you guys enough 😭😭

but yes a little adrenaline-filled chapter and a very sweet one coming up, stay tuned and stay safe x

love you guys <3