Chapter 58 Chapter 58
Chapter 58
She was already at her desk.
Ethan stopped at the entrance for a second, taking in the sight that made no sense to him. He remembered clearly telling her yesterday to take a day off. Not advising. Not suggesting. He told her. But there she was, typing, sorting files, focused like her life depended on it.
She turned as soon as she heard his footsteps. Her posture straightened a little, and that small polite smile she always tried to hide pulled at the corner of her lips.
“Good morning, Mr. Castellan,” she said softly.
He didn’t miss the tiny crack in her voice. She was tired. Anyone with functioning eyes could see that. Her bun was loose, a few strands falling out, her eyes slightly dull like she hadn’t slept well.
Ethan felt something tug in his chest—annoyance, mostly. Why did she come in when he told her not to? Why was she always pushing herself like she owed the company her blood?
He shut the feeling down immediately.
She was a staff. A random staff. A hardworking one, yes, but not someone he should be thinking twice about.
“Morning,” he replied flatly and walked to his desk, dropping into his chair.
He tried to focus on his laptop, but his brain wasn’t cooperating. His eyes kept shifting to her without permission. She was moving too fast. Arranging files, typing, standing to reach something, sitting back, then repeating. Like her body was on autopilot.
After hours of working, he realized something else.
She hadn’t gone downstairs to get lunch like she usually did. Not for him. Not even for herself.
She always went to the Castellan kitchen around noon. It was part of her routine a habit she’d had since her first week. She was the type who needed a routine to feel safe, he had noticed, though he didn’t understand why he noticed something like that.
Today she hadn’t moved.
Not even once.
Ethan frowned slightly. He watched her without letting it show. Her shoulders were tighter than normal. Her fingers shook a little when she typed too fast. She paused several times and pressed her palm against her forehead like she was trying to steady herself.
He clenched his jaw.
Why was she doing this to herself?
Why was he even thinking so much about it?
He tried to ignore it. Tried to stay in his work. But his attention kept drifting back to her like some annoying magnet he didn’t ask for.
Finally, with an irritated breath, he pushed his chair back and stood.
He didn’t say anything. Didn’t even look at her. He just walked out of the office.
He didn’t even realize what he was doing until he was already halfway down the stairs to the kitchen.
The cooks paused when they saw him. They weren’t used to seeing him there unless there was a special reason.
“Good afternoon, sir,” the head cook greeted him.
Ethan gave a single nod. “Coffee. Her favorite. And something for lunch. Anything she normally gets.”
The cook blinked, surprised but quick to respond. “Right away, sir.”
Ethan stood there, suddenly realizing what he was doing.
Why was he getting her lunch? Her coffee?
Why did he even know she had a favorite coffee here?
He rubbed the back of his neck, annoyed with himself. He didn’t plan this. He didn’t think this through. His legs just carried him down here on their own, and now he was waiting like some assistant who had nothing better to do.
The cook handed him two bags—one with her coffee, one with a simple lunch she always ordered. He didn’t even bother checking what it was.
He took the bags and walked back upstairs.
Halfway up, he felt stupid.
Why was he doing this?
He wasn’t her friend.
He wasn’t her babysitter.
He was her boss.
But he still climbed the last stairs anyway.
When he walked into the office, she didn’t notice him at first. She was bent over her desk, writing something on a document, her pen almost slipping out of her hand.
He stood beside her desk, holding the bags.
She finally sensed someone near her and looked up.
Her eyes widened slowly when she saw him.
For a moment, she didn’t move. Her gaze went from his face… to the bags in his hand… then back to his face.
Their eyes met properly this time.
Something quiet passed between them something simple, not loud, not dramatic. Just a soft pause neither of them expected.
“Lunch,” he said, the word coming out short, almost uncomfortable.
She blinked again, as if she couldn’t believe it. “F–for me?”
Her voice was small, unsure, almost like she was scared it wasn’t meant for her.
“Yes.” The word left before he could rethink it.
He placed the bag on her desk. She reached for it slowly, almost carefully, as if she thought the bag might vanish if she moved too fast.
“Thank you,” she mumbled, her cheeks turning slightly warm. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and lowered her eyes, staring at the bag like it was something precious.
He felt something tug inside his chest again, and he hated it.
He straightened. Cleared his throat. “Eat.”
She nodded once, quietly.
Ethan turned away quickly, pretending to check something on his desk. He dropped into his chair and pulled his laptop closer even though he didn’t open it.
He didn’t want to think about what he just did.
He didn’t want to think about her reaction—how genuinely surprised she looked. Like nobody had done something that simple for her in a long time.
He rubbed his forehead with his fingers.
Why did that bother him?
He wasn’t supposed to care.
He typed something on his laptop, then stopped again. He could hear the soft rustle of her opening the food wrapping. He could hear the gentle clink of her spoon. He could even hear the tiny breath she took before tasting the food.
He shouldn’t notice any of that. But somehow, he did.
A few minutes passed.
“Did you… get anything for yourself, sir?” she asked suddenly.
Her voice was quiet, but the question surprised him.
He lifted his head. She was looking at him with this small, timid expression, her lunch halfway finished. She looked almost guilty, like she felt bad eating while he wasn’t.
Ethan blinked at her.
He didn’t get anything for himself.
He hadn’t even thought about it.
“No,” he said simply.
She hesitated. “You… should eat too. You’ve been working since morning.”
He stared at her for a moment. She wasn’t saying it as a staff. She was saying it like a person speaking to another person. No title. No distance. Just genuine concern.
It threw him off balance in a way he didn’t like.
He looked away. “I’ll eat later.”
She nodded softly and didn’t push further.
He got up a moment later, unable to sit still. He went to the window and stood there, looking out at nothing while his thoughts spun in all directions he didn’t ask for.
He didn’t know what was happening to him.
But he knew one thing—
This girl was becoming too distracting.
Too present.
Too noticeable.
And he wasn’t sure when that happened.
He stayed by the window for a while before going back to his seat. But even then, his gaze kept going to her. The quiet way she ate. The way she tried to keep her movements small so she wouldn’t disturb him. The way she packed the bag neatly after finishing.
When she finally looked up again, their eyes accidentally met for the second time.
She looked away quickly, almost shyly.
And for some strange reason, that tiny reaction stayed with him.
Ethan exhaled and shut his laptop, unable to focus anymore.
Today was supposed to be a normal workday.
But nothing about today felt normal.
Not with her sitting just a few steps away.
Not with him noticing things he shouldn’t notice.
Not with him doing things he didn’t even realize he was doing.
He leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling for a second.
This was becoming a problem.
A quiet one.
A slow one.
But a problem all the same.
He didn’t know how to name it.
He didn’t know what to do with it.
But he knew it was there.
Growing.
Even if he didn’t want it to.
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