Chapter 11

"Is the hairpin yours?" He asked.

"What hairpin?" She asked too.

"The one in your hair, Is it yours?" He said.

"No, I stole it," she smirked.

"From whom, where and when?" He asked and for the first time she sensed nervousness in him. Then she shook her head at how he was easily deceived by her.

"Knucklehead, I didn't steal it. It's mine," she replied.

"How did you get it?" He pressed on and she raised a brow at him, wondering why he's so interested in her hairpin.

"And why should I tell you that?" She scoffed.

"Because I need to know," he replied.

"I won't," she smirked.

He clenched his fists, trying to calm himself from his rising anger. "Fine," he gritted his teeth. "Last room on the left on the second floor, no one is allowed to enter, especially you. Last room on the right on the second floor is my study. Except I call you, you're not allowed to enter. Asides these, you can do anything in this house and go anywhere in this house, I won't judge. And above all, you cannot leave this house," he said.

"And why is that?" She asked.

"I won't tell you," he smirked and left, leaving her scoffing. "That's how you wanna play it, right? We'll play it that way."

Steven left the bedroom into his car, but he couldn't drive. His mind wasn't settled after seeing that very familiar hairpin.

Shane entered his car, humming. "Were you about to go without me?" He said but Steven didn't pay attention to him.

"You seem distracted, what's wrong?" Shane asked.

"She has the hairpin." Steven replied.

"Okay," Shane was surprised to get that as an answer. "But what hairpin?" He asked.

"Come on, you know the hairpin I'm talking about." Steven replied.

"If it's the hairpin I think you're talking about, then you're wrong. That hairpin was a long time ago, it's been lost." Shane said.

"It's not, she really has it." Steven insisted.

"And how do you know it's the hairpin, did you touch it? It might just be something identical to it." Shane tried to make him understand.

"You're right... I'll know when I touch it." Steven said and opened the car door to step out but Shane stopped him. "Do you think she'll let you touch it after what happened between you two at the table?" Shane knew what he was up to. But if only he knew that they've had another clash he wasn't aware of.

"Give her time, be nice to her, then nicely ask for her permission to touch it." Shane continued.

"You know I'll never do that." Steven scoffed. "You know I can get that stuff without her even noticing."

"Don't, follow the normal and right process." Shane said. And though Steven was frustrated, he listened to Shane and instead drove to his company.

About half an hour later he arrived at his company, Universe Technologies. His bodyguards were already waiting for him, and as he parked his car, one opened the door for him to step out. "Good morning, sir." The guard greeted and he simply nodded.

Walking into the company, all his employees he passed by paused whatever they were doing and stood up, paying respect to him as he passed. He took the elevator to the 82nd floor where his office was. He walked into his office and his secretary, Lana followed him immediately. "Good morning, sir," she greeted him and he gave a nod.

"The staff are waiting for you in the meeting room, sir," she said.

"What's the meeting about?" Steven finally spoke.

"It's all here," she handed him a file which he collected and skimmed through within seconds.

"Let's go," he returned the file to her and they left the office together.

As he walked and Lana followed behind, her eyes trailed on his backview admirably. She's always had a crush on him and though he noticed it, he ignored it. She loved everything about him, especially his kingly aura.

Steven entered the meeting room, his presence commanding attention. The staff all stood up in respect of him and they sat back after he had settled in his seat. "Begin," he ordered and they began the meeting.

During the meeting, Shane noticed he was distracted and sent him a note on a piece of paper. "Take your mind off whatever you're thinking of."

After reading the note, Steven sent a reply, "what do you think I'm thinking of?"

What Shane didn't know was that a new tech idea had just popped into his head and that's what he was designing and calculating in his head. He tapped Lana and when she looked at him, he requested for a pencil.

Lana was prepared since it wasn't the first time he'd randomly ask for a pencil. Her eyes sparkled with a mix of admiration and familiarity as she handed Steven the pencil and he turned the meeting plan paper he was given into a sketch note. She had grown accustomed to his quirks, and the way he'd sometimes get lost in thought, only to emerge with a brilliant idea. It was moments like these that reminded her why she was drawn to him, despite the unbridgeable gap between their positions, and the truth that now hurts her. She looked at the ring on his fourth finger, the truth that he's now married.

"What do you say about this, sir?" The current speaker in the meeting asked Steven but he was too concentrated with his sketching.

"Sir?" Lana called him and he gave a hand gesture for them to continue the meeting and they continued the meeting while Shane shook his head.

After about forty-five minutes, he was done with his work. "Done," he stood up and they all looked at him.

"We'll continue from here he in our next meeting," he brought the meeting to an abrupt end.

"Yes, sir." They had no choice but to obey.

As he left the meeting room, they all stood up again until he was out. Having left the room, he went to a section of the company they called the "Brain Unit." It was where his best engineers work, construct, invent and experiment.

Steven stepped into the 'Brain Unit', the hum of machinery and the faint scent of soldering filling his senses. The engineers looked up from their workstations, their eyes locking onto his as he approached. They all stopped their activities and came together, standing in a straight line. He unveiled his sketch, and a chorus of bewildered gasps filled the room. The engineers' faces contorted in confusion, their eyes scanning the design as if searching for a hidden clue. "Bring this to life with the same exact results before the end of work today." Steven ordered.

"T...t...today?" One of them stuttered.

"Yes," he gave them a cold look and they all swallowed.

"Yes, sir." They chorused.

There was no way they could complete that job before the end of the day, but he's the cold and ruthless CEO, no one wants to get on his bad side.