Chapter 165
No.1
The corridor leading to the main server room was a stark contrast to the bright lobby. It was narrow, lined with cold gray marble, and illuminated only by harsh,flickering fluorescent tubes.
It was completely empty.
Elisa walked slowly, dragging her right foot slightly.With every step, the heavy carbon-fiber brace dug into her ribs, restricting her lung capacity. The anti-inflammatory pills hadn't kicked in yet. The pain in her L4 disc was a hot, jagged knife twisting with every shift of her weight.
Cold sweat beaded on her forehead, stinging her eyes. She pressed her left hand against the cold marble wall to steady herself, leaving a trail of damp palm prints.
She was ten feet away from the heavy metal door of the server room.
Suddenly, a violent muscle spasm ripped through her
lower back. It was a brutal, involuntary contraction that completely bypassed her pain tolerance.
No.2
Her right leg gave out instantly.
Her,high heel skidded violently on the polished marble with a loud, sharp screech. The tablet slipped from under her arm, crashing onto the floor. The glass screen shattered into a spiderweb of cracks.
Elisa pitched forward. She had no way to catch herself. The sharp, metal edge of the server room doorframe rushed up to meet her face.
From the intersecting hallway on her left, a tall figure stepped out.
It was August. He had left the lobby to take a private phone call, away from the noise of Allena's film crew.
He turned the corner just in time to see Elisa falling.
He didn't think. The rational part of his brain, the part that hated her, the part that had declared war on her,didn't have time to engage.
No.3
His body reacted on pure, ingrained instinct.
August lunged forward like a coiled spring. His long
legs covered the distance in two massive strides.He threw his arms out just as Elisa's face was inches from the metal frame.①
He caught her.
His left arm wrapped tightly around her waist, pulling her hard against his chest. His right hand shot up,cupping the back of her head, burying his fingers in her short hair to protect her skull from whiplash.
The momentum carried them both forward. August's back slammed against the opposite wall with a heavy grunt, but he absorbed the entire impact.
For two seconds, they were frozen in the dim hallway.
No.4
Elisa's face was pressed against the crisp cotton of his shirt. The familiar scent of his expensive cologne,mixed with a faint trace of tobacco, flooded her senses. It was a smell that belonged to a different lifetime. Her brain short-circuited, unable to process the sudden, overwhelming physical proximity.
August held her tight. His heart hammered against his ribs. Through the thick wool of her oversized sweater, his arm felt something strange.
It wasn't the soft curve of her waist. It was hard.Rigid. Like a shell of armor.
He frowned, his protective instinct warring with sudden confusion. He squeezed his arm slightly,feeling the unyielding carbon fiber beneath the wool.
"What is this?" August demanded, his voice a low,rough whisper near her ear. "What are you wearing under here?"
The sound of his voice broke the spell.
Panic and revulsion exploded inside Elisa. The memory of him grabbing her bruised wrist, of him carrying Allena away and leaving her in the dirt,rushed back with sickening clarity.
No.5
She pushed against his chest with both hands, using all her remaining strength.
"Don't touch me!" she hissed, her voice shaking with pain and absolute disgust.
She shoved him hard enough to break his grip. She stumbled back, her spine screaming in protest, and hit the opposite wall. She stayed there, breathing heavily, glaring at him like he was a venomous snake.
August's hands dropped to his sides. He looked at his empty palms, a flash of genuine hurt crossing his eyes before the cold, arrogant mask slammed back into place.
Before either of them could speak, a red light blinked in the shadows of the intersecting hallway.
A cameraman from the documentary crew stepped around the corner. He had the heavy Steadicam rig strapped to his chest, the red recording light glowing steadily in the dim corridor. Just moments ago in the lobby, Allena had specifically instructed him to follow her fiancé. "Find August," she had whispered,pointing down the corridor. "And teIl the crew to get some candid shots of him interacting with the space.We need more of his powerful presence on camera."The cameraman had dutifully followed the billionaire's path.
He had captured the entire sequence. The desperate, protective lunge. The tight, intimate embrace. The hand cradling the back of her head.
No.6
Right behind the cameraman, the sharp clicking of heels echoed on the marble.
Allena rounded the corner, a bright smile on her face,expecting to see her fiancé looking stoic and authoritative.
Her eyes landed on August, standing close to Elisa in the isolated hallway. She saw the tension in his shoulders, the lingering look in his eyes.
The smile fell off Allena's face, replaced by a mask of pure, unadulterated jealousy.
"August!" Allena shrieked. The sound was shrill and ugly, echoing off the marble walls.
August flinched as if he had been shot. He spun around to face Allena, his posture instantly changing.The protective alpha male vanished, replaced by a man caught in a trap.
He took a large, deliberate step away from Elisa,putting as much physical distance between them as the narrow hallway allowed.
No.7
"She tripped," August said quickly, his voice loud and defensive. "I was just stopping her fromhitting her head."
He didn't look back at Elisa. He walked quickly
toward Allena, reaching his hands out to soothe her.
Elisa leaned against the cold wall, her breathing ragged. She watched the red light on the camera finally blink off.
The physical pain in her back was nothing compared to the absolute absurdity of the situation. He had saved her on instinct, and then discarded her out of fear.
And now, the entire disaster was recorded in high definition.