Sweet Hatred
Chapter 182: Important Guest 2

Chapter 182: Important Guest 2

Clicking heels. Crimson ginger hair straight and sleek like polished fire. Blue eyes sharp enough to cut glass. She was dressed head-to-toe in high fashion, some exclusive European label, no doubt. Fitted cream suit that hugged her like a second skin, heels tall enough to be a weapon, and a purse that probably cost someone’s yearly salary.

She spotted Kael and smiled.

Not the polite kind.

The I know you intimately and I’m going to rub it in everyone’s face kind.

"Darling," she cooed as she sauntered over, ignoring me like I was just another piece of furniture. "You have no idea how excited I’ve been to meet you again."

Again?

My stomach twisted. My feet stayed planted.

Kael was stone-still beside me, his expression unreadable. "Who are you?" he asked, his voice cool, laced with warning.

But before the silence could deepen,

She jumped.

Literally threw herself into his arms like we were in some melodramatic daytime soap. Her arms wrapped around his neck, her lips tilted up—

Kael caught her mid-jump, just barely stopping her from crashing into him. One hand flew to her shoulder, the other clamping her jaw, keeping her lips from reaching him.

He let her feet drop back to the ground without ever pulling her in, holding her at arm’s length like she was contagious.

"No," he said coldly.

She pouted. "Oh come on, it’s just a little kiss. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten me already? I’m sorry I took so long to come see you."

I stood there, stunned. My mind a blank screen of red warning lights and sirens.

Kael, still holding her at arm’s length. "You have five seconds to explain who the hell you are before security drags you out."

She just laughed, laughed, like this was cute. Like this was a game.

Meanwhile, my heart was clawing its way up my throat.

Because I wasn’t sure if I wanted to slap her... or him.

Ash’s laughter finally stopped, her wide grin slowly melting into a smirk. "You hurt me Kael," she said, arms slowly folding. "I’m your lovely fiancée"

Fiancée.

The word cracked across the floor like a bullet.

I didn’t even hear the rest of her sentence. My brain latched onto that single syllable as it echoed like a scream inside my skull.

Ash Stanley.

That name wasn’t just a name. It was a revelation. The Stanleys were the biggest investors in XE Mega-corp and owned other businesses themselves.

My eyes snapped to Kael, waiting for him to deny it, to laugh, to call security, anything. But he stood there, visibly caught off guard for the first time since I’d known him. Not shocked in a subtle way either, like what the actual fuck just slapped him in the face.

Ash smiled like she’d just dropped the winning card.

"I’m sorry," Kael finally said, voice so calm it scared me. "Did I take a hit to the head recently?" He tilted his head slightly, a dangerous smirk twitching at his lips. "Because I don’t remember dragging a publicity-seeking gremlin into my future plans."

The air froze.

Even Rose shrank back.

Ash blinked, caught off-guard, but she recovered quickly. "Oh. That’s quite harsh. Weren’t you informed?" she said, still with that infuriating composure. "You and I are to be married this autumn. Our fathers finalized everything—wasn’t that cute of them?"

I wanted to throw up.

No, I wanted to laugh.

No, actually, I wanted to walk out of the building and never come back, because why the hell was I standing in the middle of a damn soap opera?

I cleared my throat and took a quiet step back.

This wasn’t my scene. This wasn’t my circus, and that definitely wasn’t my monkey.

"I’ll... leave you two to figure out your arranged-marriage-lifetime-drama," I muttered, already turning to go.

But I barely made it three steps before I heard it.

"Aria Thorne."

My spine snapped straight.

"You’re my darling’s exec assistant, aren’t you?"

I turned slowly, every instinct telling me this woman was trouble. And there she was, Ash Stanley, approaching me with that same perfectly fake smile she’d worn since the moment she slithered out of Kael’s office like an expensive snake.

"I’ve heard a lot about you," she said, extending her hand like we were meeting at a charity gala and not the battleground of a potential love war.

I stared at her hand like it was poisoned.

But I took it. Because I’m not one to back down.

Our handshake was the opposite of gentle. Her grip tightened, I squeezed harder. Her nails pressed into my skin, I didn’t flinch.

"Oh?" I asked sweetly. "I hope it was all flattering."

Ash tilted her head, eyes glinting. "It was memorable. Always there for Kael when he needs it.."

I smiled back. "I do tend to leave an impression."

Our hands dropped, but the tension didn’t.

Kael’s voice sliced through the moment like a razor. "Enough."

His tone was so cold, even I shivered.

He took a slow step toward us, his expression lethal now. "Ash, leave. Before I call security. Or better yet, the police."

Ash looked mildly amused. "Is that any way to treat your bride to be?"

"I don’t remember signing any contract that said I’d marry a pathological liar in designer heels," Kael replied, voice still terrifyingly calm. "If I wanted to ruin my life, I’d do it with a bullet, not a Stanley."

Ash’s smile faltered. Just a crack. But enough.

She glanced at me again, this time with something darker brewing beneath the surface. She knew she’d lost this round, but the war?

Oh, she was definitely just getting started.

Ash finally, finally, decided to take her leave, like she was doing us a favor.

"I have to go pick up my brother from the airport," she said airily, brushing invisible lint off her designer sleeve like she hadn’t just thrown a damn grenade in the middle of where we all stood. "But I’ll visit again soon, Kael. Be nice to me next time, hmm? I’ve got such a fragile heart."

She blew him a kiss.

I nearly choked on my own sanity.

The moment she disappeared in the elevator, the air didn’t clear. It twisted. Stayed thick, heavy, and suffocating like smoke after a fire.

Rose, who had been frozen behind Kael, caught my eyes for a second, her expression an awkward cocktail of guilt, apology, and holy shit, before she quickly skidded back to her desk.

"I’m so sorry, Mr. Roman, I—she wouldn’t listen—she just barged—" she mumbled as she practically ran away after bowing multiple times.

Kael didn’t reply. He turned toward me instead. Took a step. Like he wanted to say something. And I, backed away. Instinctively.

Like my body had made the decision before my brain could even catch up.

I hadn’t realized I was holding my breath until my lungs burned. The hallway swam for a second and all the sound around me blurred.

God. What kind of face was I even making right now?

I turned without a word. Walked fast. Too fast. Not running, but definitely fleeing.

The hallway had never felt so damn long. As soon as I got to my office, I stepped inside and shut the door.

Slammed the door.

Not on purpose. Okay, maybe a little.

I stood there, back pressed against the cold surface, staring at nothing.

What the fuck just happened?

Everything replayed in my head on a cursed, glitching loop, Ash’s sharp blue eyes, the fake smile, fiancée, Kael’s face when she said it, that kiss attempt, the laughable insanity of it all...

I realized I was trembling.

My hands planted flat on my desk as I leaned forward, trying to catch my breath, heart pounding like I’d just escaped a damn car crash.

And then, I laughed. Quiet at first. Then bitter. Like a joke only I could hear.

God, I felt so unreal. So pathetic. And just as I closed my eyes...

Click.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.