Chapter 33

Chapter 33


OLIVIA

“Oh, why does little miss sassy have a long face?” Rachel whispered in my ear.

I turned to glare at her but before I could say anything, Ryan made a sound to get everyone's attention, so I forced myself to stay calm.

“Is everyone present?” he asked. The room answered with a loud “yes.”

“Good.” He looked down at the tablet in his hands and then lifted his eyes… straight to me. His gaze was so sharp it felt like he was looking through me. I immediately looked away.

What the actual heck, man?

“Lateness…” he said slowly, rolling the pen between his fingers, “is not acceptable. Not from anyone. I will not address this again.”

Of course, I felt eyes on me. Like heat on my skin.

Wow. So he does have to scold me in front of everyone. Great.

The meeting hadn’t even started, but I already wanted it to be over. Honestly, I wanted to disappear.

Ryan cleared his throat and started talking about schedules and rotations, but I barely heard anything after that. My mind kept replaying the way he stared at me. Why was he so dramatic about it? It was just ten minutes. Okay, maybe fifteen. But still.

Ryan didn’t waste time after the lateness speech. He clicked the remote in his hand and the big screen behind him lit up with charts, numbers, graphs, and lines everywhere. Typical tech-company madness.

“Alright,” he said with a calm yet sharp voice “let’s begin. The new update rollout has a problem. We traced a drop in user engagement after the last patch. We need solutions before Friday.”

Everyone straightened. This is my first meeting in Ryan's company and I couldn't help but wonder why everyone was so uptight.

Aside from Rachel who sat like she owns the damn building.

He tapped his pen on the table. “So… why did this drop happen? Anyone?”

The room instantly went quiet.

You could hear someone breathing. I didn’t move a muscle. I wasn’t about to embarrass myself in front of the whole room. And I wasn’t about to give Rachel any reason to smirk.

One guy tried. “Uhm… maybe users haven’t fully adapted—”

“No.” Ryan cut him off without even looking up.

Another person spoke. “It could be the servers—”

“No.” His tone was sharper and angrier this time.

And this kept repeating. People tried. Ryan rejected everything. He didn’t even explain why their answers were wrong, he just shut it down.

I started getting confused. I wasn’t sure if I should even try. The more he said “no,” the more I sank into my seat.

I mean, how was I supposed to know the right thing if he kept dismissing everyone like he was allergic to answers?

Then his eyes lifted. He scanned the room slowly. He wasn’t just searching for anyone.

He was searching for trouble.

“Rachel,” he said finally.

Of course. The witch beside me sat up like she was the queen of England. I swear she even flipped her hair.

“Yes, sir,” she said sweetly.

Fake. Fake. Fake. She's so fake.

“So?” he asked. “Your opinion.”

She smiled like she already won. “Obviously, the drop happened because the interface was adjusted too much. Users don’t like sudden change.”

Ryan stared at her like she grew horns suddenly.

Then he dropped the pen on the table. “Wrong.”

Her smile twitched. “But—”

“No,” he said again, in fact, “That’s the wrong angle.”

Rachel’s jaw tightened. I could practically feel the smoke coming out of her ears. She hated being wrong, especially in front of him. Especially in front of me.

Ryan continued, annoyed now. “You speak with confidence but didn’t even review last week’s analytic report. You should know better.”

The whole room went quiet. Even I blinked.

Damn.

That one cut deep.

Rachel looked like she wanted to crawl under the table. She shot me a dark look, like it was somehow my fault. Girl, pleaseeee.

Before I could even look away, Ryan said something that made my stomach drop.

“Anyone else?”

His eyes landed on me.

Full-on eye contact.

I froze. Should I? Should I not? What if I said something dumb and he embarrassed me too? Worse, what if I actually got it right and Rachel killed me later?

But his stare didn’t move.

It was like he was waiting.

My heart started beating too fast. My palms got sweaty. It was that exact feeling I hated…the one where it seemed like he was talking to everyone, but only looking at me.

Before I could stop myself, my hand went up.

Dear God, why?

Ryan raised one brow. “Yes, Olivia.”

My voice almost cracked. “Uhm… I think the drop happened because users weren’t reacting to the interface changes, but… because the new update slowed down load time for certain devices.” I swallowed. “Mostly older Android versions.”

Heads turned to look at me. Some eyebrows went up while looking down.

I felt heat crawl up my neck.

Please be right. PLEASE be right. If I embarrass myself right now, I’m quitting this job and joining a monastery.

Ryan didn’t say anything.

He just stared at me.

Not in an angry way. Not even annoyed.

He looked… shocked.

Like genuinely shocked.

His eyes softened for a second, and I swear he breathed out in this weird, quiet “wow” expression he didn’t realize he made. It was the kind of look that said more than words.

But he still didn’t SAY anything.

My stomach dropped even harder.

Why wasn’t he saying anything?

Was I wrong? Was I half-right? Was I stupid? Was I smart? What was happening?!

But instead of responding, he just blinked and looked away quickly, like he had to reset himself.

Then he turned back to the big screen and clicked to the next slide.

Just like that.

No confirmation.

No explanation.

No “good job” or “you’re wrong.”

Nothing.

He continued the meeting like I didn’t nearly stop breathing.

Everyone looked confused. Even Rachel had paused her glaring for a second.

I sat there stiff as a board.

Did I get it right?

Did I sound stupid?

Why didn’t he say anything?

Ryan kept talking about tasks, deadlines, projections but I didn’t hear a single thing. My brain was stuck on the way he looked at me. That quick flash of surprise. Admiration. Something warm.

And the fact he refused to comment after.

Was he trying to hide something?

Was he nervous?

No. Impossible. Ryan didn’t get nervous. Ryan made other people nervous.

But that look…

God.

I hated how it made my chest tighten.

I hated how I kept thinking about it.

The meeting dragged on for another ten minutes. When it finally ended, everyone started packing up.

Ryan closed his tablet, cleared his throat, and said, “Meeting dismissed.”

Rachel walked past me, muttering, “Don’t think you’re special,” under her breath.

I rolled my eyes. Whatever.

I gathered my notes, trying to calm down, when I felt someone watching me.

I looked up and it's Ryan.

He was still sitting, everyone else leaving, but his eyes were locked on me. Again.

Burning into me like he wanted to say something but couldn’t. His jaw tightened slightly, and his fingers tapped against the table.

I swallowed.

Why was he still staring?

Why did he look… bothered?

I thought he was going to call me over, maybe finally comment on my answer, or straight up scold me like he alw
ays did privately.

But instead…

He stood up, grabbed his tablet, walked right past me—

And whispered only four words under his breath.

Four words that made my entire body freeze.

“We need to talk.”