Chapter 112 Chapter 112
Chapter 112
Celine arrived at Castellan Enterprise earlier than usual.
The lobby was still quiet, the kind of quiet that made footsteps sound louder than they should. She adjusted her bag on her shoulder as she walked toward the elevators, telling herself she only came early because she had slept poorly. Nothing more. Nothing deeper.
When she stepped into the fourth-floor office, she saw him immediately.
Ethan was already there.
He stood by his desk, jacket off, sleeves rolled neatly, scanning through documents on his tablet. For a second, she hesitated, surprised. He rarely arrived before her.
“Good morning, sir,” she said, keeping her voice steady.
He looked up briefly and gave a short nod. No smile. No reply. His eyes dropped back to his screen like the moment hadn’t mattered.
Celine froze for half a second before moving toward her desk.
So yesterday wasn’t in her head.
She sat down, opened her laptop, and stared at the screen without really seeing it. That small nod had said more than words ever could. It wasn’t anger. It wasn’t irritation. It was distance—clear, deliberate distance.
And it stung.
She pushed the feeling down and started working.
Minutes passed. Then more. Ethan moved around the office, making calls, signing documents, answering emails. Every instruction he gave her was short and clean.
“Send this to finance.”
“Reschedule that meeting.”
“Print the revised files.”
Sometimes he sent instructions through email even though she was seated only a few feet away from him.
Celine noticed. Of course she did.
She responded the same way she always did—efficient, polite, quiet. But something inside her kept shrinking with every ignored glance, every missed pause where there used to be ease.
At one point, she stood up and walked toward his desk with a file.
“These are the numbers you asked for,” she said.
“Put them there,” he replied without lifting his head.
She placed the file down and lingered for a second, unsure why she was waiting. Maybe for a thank you. Maybe for eye contact. Maybe for anything that would tell her she hadn’t imagined the closeness they once shared.
Nothing came.
She turned back to her desk.
As she sat, her thoughts refused to stay quiet.
Why does this bother me so much?
She typed, erased, retyped. Her focus slipped in and out.
Why do I care?
She leaned back slightly in her chair and stared at her screen, pretending to read an email.
He’s your boss.
That was the truth. A simple one. She had no reason to expect warmth, or attention, or softness. Whatever she thought she had felt between them—maybe that was just her misreading things. Maybe it had always been one-sided.
Still, the ache stayed.
Across the room, Ethan was very aware of her silence.
He noticed the way she spoke less. The way she kept her eyes on her screen longer than usual. The way she didn’t ask questions she would normally ask.
It took effort not to look at her.
Every time his attention drifted in her direction, he pulled it back sharply. He reminded himself of the gate incident. The visitor. The questions. The lie about Canada.
Amelia was already circling.
He couldn’t afford mistakes.
His phone buzzed softly on his desk. He glanced at the screen and stood.
“I’ll be back,” he said shortly.
Celine nodded without looking up.
Ethan walked out of the office and headed straight for the security wing.
The head of security was already waiting.
“He came back this morning,” the man said quietly. “Same person. Same story. Castellan Enterprise, Canada branch.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened. “What did he ask this time?”
“Work schedules. Shift rotations. He wanted to know which departments had new staff.”
“And you told him?”
“Nothing,” the man replied. “We refused again.”
Good.
Ethan exhaled slowly. “From now on, no visitor gets past the gate without written approval. Not verbal. Not emails forwarded from unknown sources. Written approval from me.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And flag any communication coming from the Canada branch. I want everything reviewed.”
The head of security nodded. “Understood.”
Ethan turned to leave, his face calm, controlled. Anyone watching would think this was just routine business.
Inside, it wasn’t.
Amelia wasn’t backing off. She was testing limits. Seeing how far she could push without exposing herself.
And Celine was too close to the line.
When Ethan returned to the office, Celine was on a call, her voice low and professional. She didn’t look at him when he walked in. Somehow, that hurt more than her staring would have.
He went back to his desk and buried himself in work.
Hours passed that way.
By late afternoon, the office felt strained. Not tense in a loud way. In a quiet, uncomfortable way where words sat unsaid and glances were avoided.
Celine packed her things earlier than usual.
She stood up, slung her bag over her shoulder, and hesitated. For a moment, she considered saying goodbye. It would have been polite. Normal.
She didn’t.
She walked out without a word.
Ethan noticed her empty desk minutes later.
Something twisted in his chest, sharp and unwanted. He stared at the space she had occupied all day, then forced himself to look away.
This is safer, he told himself.
Even if it feels cruel.
At home that night, Celine dropped her bag on the chair and sat on the edge of her bed. She kicked off her shoes and pulled her phone from her pocket.
No notifications.
She refreshed her screen once. Then again.
Nothing.
She leaned back and stared at the ceiling, phone resting loosely in her hand.
“Why am I hurt?” she whispered to herself, her voice barely steady.
The question stayed there, hanging in her mind, refusing to leave. She shifted on the bed, pulling her knees closer, phone still resting in her hand. The screen was dark. No messages. No missed calls. Nothing.
“What’s wrong with me?” she muttered, a small frown forming as frustration crept in. “Why do I even care?”
She let out a quiet laugh that didn’t sound like laughter at all. This wasn’t supposed to matter. He was her boss. A man she worked for. Nothing more. That was the rule she had set for herself from the beginning.
So why did it feel like something had been taken from her without warning?
“But this is hurtful,” she added softly, almost as if admitting it out loud made it real. Her fingers tightened around the phone. “I thought he wanted to be my friend.”
That word echoed in her head. Friend.
She replayed the little moments she had brushed off before. The way he used to ask if she had eaten. How he noticed when she stayed late. The calm way he spoke to her when things got stressful. She hadn’t imagined those things. They had happened. She was sure of it.
So what changed?
Her thoughts drifted back to the meeting the other day.
The Venezuelan woman. Confident. Close to him. Too close. The way she smiled at Ethan like she already knew she belonged there.
A sharp thought cut through her mind.
Does it mean he started a relationship with her?
Celine sat up straighter, her heart reacting before her logic could catch up. She shook her head immediately. No. That was ridiculous. She had no proof. No right to assume anything.
Still, the thought refused to leave.
“So he cut me off because of her?” she whispered, her voice edged with disbelief. “Just like that?”
The idea made her stomach twist. Not because of jealousy at least that’s what she told herself but because it made everything feel disposable. Like whatever connection she thought they had wasn’t worth protecting. Like she had been easy to set aside.
She pressed her lips together, blinking fast.
“I didn’t even do anything wrong,” she said quietly.
That was the part that hurt the most. She had followed every rule. Stayed professional. Never crossed a line. Never asked for more than she was given.
And yet, here she was, sitting alone, questioning herself over a man who hadn’t even explained his distance.
Celine lay back slowly, staring at the ceiling, her thoughts tangled and restless.
“I shouldn’t care,” she told herself again, firmer this time.
But deep down, she knew the truth.
She already did.