Richard hadn't meant to walk in at the wrong moment. He'd only come to deliver the quarterly files Roman requested, but as he pushed open the office door, he froze. Misty stood near Roman's desk, her fingers brushing the edge of a document Roman held. They weren't touching, not really, but something in the air was too warm, too close-like a breath too deep, a second too long. Roman looked at her with an intensity that made Richard's stomach twist.
Misty stepped backward as if startled by the sudden disruption. "Richard? You needed something?
Richard forced a polite smile, though the scene hit him harder than he wanted to admit. "Just dropping off the reports." His voice was steady, but his eyes avoided hers. It wasn't like he had any right to feel that way, as Misty wasn't his. Still, the shift inside him stung more than he expected.
Roman accepted the documents without looking away from Richard, silently studying the shift in the man's posture. Richard wasn't a tense man. He wasn't a standoffish man. Roman picked up on it in an instant-and hated the reason behind it.
Misty noticed it, too. She always noticed things like that.
The rest of the afternoon was suffocating in a way Misty couldn't explain: Roman walking closer than usual, speaking sharper than usual, his eyes following her every time someone else came near, his intensity magnetic and mysterious, becoming now a shadow across her day, demanding, possessive, heavier than she could manage.
But she wasn't prepared for Charles Wayne to suddenly appear.
He sauntered into the company with his carefree confidence, hands in his pockets, a tinge of a smile playing on his lips, charisma oozing from every pore as people always stared at him. "Just checking up on my favorite employee," he said lightly, though his eyes were fixed only on Misty.
Misty stiffened. Roman, for his part, didn't move a single muscle, but suddenly the whole air was different around him. Richard stepped into the office a second later with a folder in his hand, only to stop once more at the sight of Charles leaning casually close to Misty.
Roman's jaw flexed. "Wayne. You don't have business here."
"Relax," Charles said smoothly. "I'm not here to steal her away." He paused. "Yet."
For one endless second, the space froze.
Misty's pulse jumped. Richard swallowed. And Roman—Roman's eyes hardened, the kind of hardness that didn't require yelling to be threatening.
Roman said in a low tone, "This isn't a playground. Watch your words.
He grinned. "Or what? You'll throw your title around? Or your money? Or your temper?"
Misty stepped between them before things could get any worse. "Enough. Both of you."
Charles raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Fine. I'll call later," he whispered to Misty and turned to leave.
Roman watched him leave, his stare capable of breaking glass.
Finally, Richard handed Misty the file and quickly retreated from the room, not trusting himself to stay. Misty exhaled shakily. She was being stretched between three different worlds: Richard's gentleness, Roman's pull, and Charles's chaotic familiarity. And the worst was not the attention, it was the truth she hated to admit to herself-
Her heart kept leaning towards the one who had hurt her the most.
The day dragged into evening and Misty's mind just wouldn't shut off. Sitting at her desk, her fingers were shaking with frustration. Roman hadn't spoken to her since the incident that afternoon, but his mood hung in the air across the building-heavy, tense, brewing.
X was just about to clock out when he appeared.
"We need to talk," he said, his voice clipped.
She followed him into his office. Roman closed the door with more force than necessary and turned to her abruptly. "You should've told him not to show up. You know how it looks."
Misty blinked. "I can't control who shows up here."
"You could have told him to leave."
"I did," she said, her voice rising in volume. "Right after you started acting like you wanted to fight him in the middle of your own office.
Roman's eyes flashed, but not in anger at her-in frustration he couldn't articulate. "You don't understand."
"No," she said softly, "I do. You're jealous. Again."
Roman turned his back, grasping the back of his chair until his knuckles were white. "It's not just jealousy."
"Then what is it?" she whispered.
He didn't answer. He didn't know how.
The silence stretched until he finally snapped-not loudly, but sharply, the words cutting the air. "Just stay away from him. And from Richard. I don't want them near you."
Misty recoiled. "You don't get to control my life."
Roman closed his eyes as if the words stung him. He did not apologize but just grumbled something under his breath and abruptly left the office.
Misty stood there for a very long moment, her throat tight, her heart aching with confusion and anger. She did not realize she was shaking until Richard appeared beside her after she had stepped out.
"You okay?" he repeated softly.
There was something in his voice-soft and steady and safe-that broke what little strength she had left. She didn't collapse, didn't cry, but she pressed a hand against her forehead and exhaled shakily. "Just a long day."
Richard led her to a bench by the lobby. "You don't have to explain," he said. "Just breathe."
That was all he did, just sat beside her, grounding her in calm silence. And for the first time all day, she felt like she had space to think.
Roman saw them before they noticed him.
He'd come back to apologize. He didn't get the chance.
He sat too close, and Misty, exhausted and vulnerable, leaned slightly towards him. Richard wasn't touching her, but something dark curled inside Roman nonetheless.
Not just jealous. Possibility. Losing her is a possibility. His expression changed-quietly, dangerously. The kind of danger that wasn't about hurting anyone, but about the fact that Roman wouldn't stand by while someone else took the one thing he was only now realizing he couldn't bear to lose. And for the first time, Richard looked up and met Roman's eyes. Something was understood by both men in that silent, heavy moment. The love triangle had begun.