Chapter 32

Hope was in the office. She sat on a leather chair, easing her self into it. She picked up a cup of coffee and started seeping in slowly, the burn in her throat cooling her nerves.

She dropped the cup of coffee and picked up the file her P.A dropped on the table. She was just about to turn the pages of the file when her door banged open revealing Noah in his fine suit.

Her Jaw dropped as their gaze locked. She stood up like she was trying to stop him right away.

But Noah noticed her actions and paced to her with a cool voice. “ Hear me out, Hope. I'm just here to tell you I love you.”

She froze. Her eyes lit up like fireflies, brows flanking. She couldn't believe Noah. It was like he was out of her senses. She smiled and nodded abruptly.

“ No, it's not possible, Noah. You're my step brother. It's forbidden,” Her voice was coaxed as nostalgic feelings turbulent through her veins.

How could he tell her he loves her when Collette and his mother, Georgiana, hates her like a dirt?

But Noah didn't step back. Instead, he remained silent and walked closer to her as if he already knew that being closer to her affect her someway in his favor.

Their gazes locked and she could stop looking at his fine lips, his seductively amber eyes. She groaned as she felt the same way as usual— Horny, wet.

“ I really want to be inside of you,” He gulped the saliva that had gathered in his throat and said. Meanwhile, this was both irritating and seducing to her.

She bit her lips, and slid her hand past her breast lace, sending a jolt through her veins. She grasped his waist and pulled him closer. They locked lips and he didn't hesitate to grab her boobs and suck it.

“ Fuck!” She moaned, grabbing his dick. Then she dropped down on her knees and was about to suck his meant when the door creaked.

The door slammed behind the retreating stakeholder, the echo rattling through the glass walls of Hope’s office like a warning bell. Noah stood there, unfazed, his chest rising and falling steadily as if threatening a man in a corporate suit was as casual as ordering coffee.

Hope, however, was anything but calm.

Her palm stung.

Noah’s cheek had turned a faint red where she had slapped him, and her hand trembled slightly as it lowered to her side.

“What the hell was that?” she seethed, her eyes wide with disbelief.

Noah’s brows knitted together, not with guilt, but with frustration. “He was out of line—barging in and shouting like that.”

“You threatened to jail him!” Her voice rose. “Do you realize how dangerous that sounded? You used power—my office—for your personal tantrum!”

He stepped closer, but she raised a hand to stop him.

“Don’t,” she warned. “Don’t take one more step.”

He halted, jaw tightening. “You think I enjoyed that? Watching him look at you like you were doing something shameful? Like we—”

“We were doing something shameful!” Hope cut him off, her voice sharp. “We’re in my office, Noah. A workplace. A business I’ve spent years trying to build on ethics and professionalism, and you—” she pointed at him with a trembling finger “—you just shattered all that with your arrogance!”

A silence stretched between them.

Noah’s nostrils flared. “I didn’t mean to put you in that position,” he finally said, quieter now. “But I won’t apologize for protecting you.”

Hope turned away, pacing behind her desk. Her heels clicked with each step, echoing her inner storm.

“I didn’t ask you to protect me,” she muttered. “I asked you to leave.”

Noah didn’t move. He watched her from the center of the room, her silhouette framed by floor-to-ceiling windows and the city skyline behind her.

“You’re overreacting,” he said calmly, folding his arms.

Hope stopped pacing and looked at him. Her voice was low, steady. “You walked into my world like a bulldozer, Noah. You think passion gives you a free pass to trample boundaries? You think just because there’s chemistry between us, you can do and say whatever you like?”

He winced at her words but held her gaze. “What do you want me to do, Hope? Walk out and pretend there’s nothing between us? That you don’t want me too?”

She blinked.

There it was—the line she was terrified of. The truth hanging between them like a blade.

“I want you to respect what I built,” she said, voice breaking. “And right now, I don’t think you do.”

Silence settled again. The kind that was heavier than words.

Noah finally turned, walked toward the door, and paused with his hand on the handle.

“Don’t confuse passion with disrespect,” he said. “But if you want space, I’ll give it to you.”

And then he walked out.

The door closed behind him with a soft thud, but it might as well have been thunder.

Hope sat alone in the boardroom.

She’d asked her assistant to cancel the remaining meetings and send out a statement about maintaining workplace conduct. Her fingers toyed with her pen, her thoughts racing, replaying the scene over and over.

Why did she let that happen? Why did she let him happen?

The door creaked open again.

“Ms. Edwards,” her assistan poked her head in nervously. “Mr. Rawlins—Mr. Peter Rawlins—wants a word. Should I let him in?”

Hope stiffened. Peter Rawlins—the stakeholder who walked in earlier.

“Yes,” she said after a pause.

He walked in with the caution of a man who’d seen something he shouldn't have, but whose curiosity outweighed his fear.

He didn’t sit.

“Ma’am, I came to apologize for barging in,” he started, clutching his tablet. “I didn’t mean to cause a scene. I was... surprised.”

Hope gave him a steady look. “And you shouted.”

He nodded, sheepishly. “Yes. I shouldn’t have done that. But it’s not my fault I found your—your moment inappropriate. There are rules, ma’am.”

Hope inhaled deeply. “There are. And I’ve already reprimanded Mr. Wyatt for that.”

Peter blinked. “Reprimanded? That’s it?”

Hope’s eyes narrowed.

“Mr. Rawlins, you are a stakeholder, not the moral police. I’ve already addressed the issue internally. If you have professional concerns, bring them forward through the appropriate channels.”

He hesitated. “I just don’t want this company’s image to be tarnished.”

Hope stood.

Her voice was colder now. “Then don’t tarnish it with gossip. Dismissed.”

He opened his mouth, thought better of it, and left.