Chapter 87 The Message That Wouldn’t Die
I didn’t sleep well that night.
Every time I closed my eyes, fragments of the dream crept back in not whole scenes, just impressions. A look. A voice. A feeling of being watched, judged, wanted, ruined.
By morning, I was exhausted again.
Which felt cruelly ironic, considering the dream had supposedly been caused by exhaustion in the first place.
As I stood in front of my bathroom mirror, tying my hair into a neat low bun, my eyes drifted to my phone on the counter.
I hadn’t checked it since last night.
Slowly, like I was bracing for impact, I picked it up.
No notifications.
No messages.
No reply from Adrian Cole.
Relief washed through me, followed immediately by a sharp spike of panic.
Because the message was still there.
Unsent. Undeleted.
Waiting.
I stared at it, my thumb hovering uselessly above the screen.
Why hadn’t I deleted it immediately?
Because some part of me the same reckless, curious part that had dreamed an entire alternate life had frozen instead.
I locked my phone and shoved it into my bag, heart pounding.
I couldn’t handle this alone.
By the time I reached the office, my decision was made.
Mia was already at her desk, sipping coffee and scrolling through her tablet when I approached.
“Mia,” I said quietly. “Can we talk?”
She glanced up at my face and immediately frowned. “Okay, you look like someone who either committed a crime or witnessed one.”
“Conference room,” I said. “Now.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “That bad?”
“Yes.”
Five minutes later, we were seated in the small glass-walled conference room near the break area. I waited until the door closed before exhaling shakily.
“Mia,” I began, lowering my voice, “I need you to promise not to laugh.”
She leaned back in her chair. “Lila, I once helped you cry over a salad because the office printer jammed. I’m past laughing.”
I swallowed. “I sent… a message.”
Her eyes narrowed. “A message?”
“To the wrong person.”
Recognition flickered. “Oh.”
“I mean really wrong.”
Her lips parted. “Define really.”
I reached into my bag, pulled out my phone, and slid it across the table to her screen facing down.
“Before you look,” I said quickly, “I need you to understand something. I was tired. Overwhelmed. I fell asleep at work yesterday and had the most insane dream”
“Lila,” Mia interrupted gently, flipping the phone over, “focus.”
She read the message.
Once.
Then twice.
Then she slowly looked up at me.
“…You sent this to Mr. Cole?”
“Yes.”
Her mouth opened.
Closed.
Opened again.
“You are either the bravest woman alive,” she said finally, “or you are about to be unemployed.”
“I know,” I whispered. “But he didn’t reply. He hasn’t even seen it.”
Mia blinked. “He hasn’t?”
I shook my head. “Not yet.”
She exhaled. “Okay. That’s good. That’s very good.”
“But it’s still there,” I said. “And if he opens it if he reads it ”
She raised a hand. “We don’t panic yet.”
“Mia.”
“We panic strategically.”
I stared at her.
She leaned forward, lowering her voice. “Can you delete it?”
“No,” I said miserably. “It’s already delivered. If he opens it, it’ll show as read even if I delete it now.”
She tapped her fingers on the table, thinking. “Okay. Then we delete it from his phone.”
I blinked. “What?”
She shrugged. “You heard me.”
“Mia, that’s impossible.”
She grinned slowly. “Not if we get into his office.”
My heart skipped. “You’re joking.”
“Do I look like I’m joking?”
“Yes,” I said weakly. “Actually, yes.”
She leaned back, crossing her arms. “Listen. Mr. Cole is in meetings all morning. His office will be empty for at least forty minutes.”
“And his phone will just be lying around?” I asked incredulously.
“His tablet,” she corrected. “He leaves it on his desk when he goes into long board meetings. I’ve seen it.”
My pulse roared in my ears.
“You want us to sneak into the CEO’s office,” I said slowly, “and delete a message from his device.”
“When you say it like that, it sounds dramatic,” she said.
“It is dramatic!”
She smiled. “But doable.”
I shook my head. “This is insane.”
“Lila,” Mia said gently, “you either do this, or you spend the next six months wondering when he’s going to read that message and what it will cost you.”
My stomach tightened.
She wasn’t wrong.
“What if we get caught?” I asked.
“Then we improvise,” she said cheerfully. “I’m excellent at improvising.”
I stared at her for a long moment, then nodded once.
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s do it.”
Ten minutes later, we were standing outside Adrian Cole’s office.
The hallway was quiet. Too quiet.
My palms were slick with sweat.
Mia checked her watch. “Meeting started five minutes ago. We have maybe twenty before someone comes looking.”
She swiped her access card.
The lock beeped softly.
The door opened.
I froze.
“This is a terrible idea,” I whispered.
“You already agreed,” she whispered back, tugging me inside.
The office was exactly as I remembered sleek, minimalist, intimidating. Floor-to-ceiling windows. Dark wood desk. The faint scent of his cologne lingering in the air.
My heart pounded painfully.
“There,” Mia said, pointing. “Tablet.”
It lay face-down on the desk.
I approached it like it might explode.
“Okay,” Mia murmured, “you delete the message, we leave, we never speak of this again.”
I reached for the device.
My fingers hovered.
Images from the dream flashed through my mind his eyes, his voice, the way everything had spiraled out of control.
This was my chance to stop it before it ever began.
I flipped the tablet over.
The screen lit up.
Inbox open.
Unread message at the top.
My message.
I swallowed hard and tapped it.
The words stared back at me, bold and damning.
“This is your last chance,” Mia whispered.
I hesitated.
Then
Footsteps.
Both of us froze.
The sound came closer.
A shadow passed beneath the door.
My heart stopped.
“Delete it,” Mia hissed.
I didn’t think.
I swiped.
The message vanished.
The inbox refreshed.
Empty.
My knees nearly buckled.
“Done,” I breathed.
Mia grabbed my arm. “Let’s go.”
The door handle turned.
We slipped out just as the door opened fully.
Mr. Cole stepped inside.
He stopped when he saw us.
The air snapped tight between us.
“Miss James,” he said calmly. “Miss Carter.”
My heart hammered against my ribs.
“What are you doing in my office?”
Mia smiled brightly. “Oh! Hi, sir. We were just—”
I cut in, my voice steady despite everything.
“Delivering the Henderson files you requested earlier,” I said, holding up the folder I hadn’t realized I was gripping. “We didn’t want to leave them unattended.”
He studied me for a long moment.
Then nodded once. “Leave them on the desk.”
I did.
We turned to leave.
“Miss James,” he added.
I paused.
“Yes, sir?”
His gaze held mine searching, unreadable.
“Get some rest,” he said. “You look like you’ve been carrying too much lately.”
I nodded. “I will.”
As we walked out, my legs felt like jelly.
Mia didn’t speak until we were safely back at our desks.
Then she leaned over and whispered, “Well. That was terrifying.”
I exhaled shakily.
“But it’s done,” I said.
The message was gone.
The dream was just a dream.
Right?
I sat down, trying to convince myself that some things, once erased, stayed erased.
But deep down, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d only delayed something inevitable.
And that whatever line I’d nearly crossed…
I was still standing dangerously close to it.