Two days later, the building felt different.
Not louder. Not quieter.
Sharper.
Neo noticed it in the way conversations stopped when he passed, in the way Rita avoided his eyes, in the way Lucas's schedule had suddenly gained meetings that weren't on any calendar. The kind that swallowed hours and spat men out looking older.
Valerie Shale had arrived.
And she hadn't even stepped into the office yet.
Neo clocked out late that evening, the sky already bruised purple and black. His head ached not from work, but from the tension of holding himself together all day, of pretending he didn't feel it crawling under his skin.
He took the back exit.He always did.
The parking lot was almost empty, lights buzzing overhead, shadows stretching long and thin. Neo adjusted his bag on his shoulder and kept walking, sneakers crunching softly against gravel.
Then.... "Neo."
His name landed clean. Precise.Like it had been practiced.
He stopped.Didn't turn immediately.
"Walking home alone?" the woman continued, heels clicking as she approached. "That's brave. Or careless. I haven't decided yet."
Neo turned slowly. Valerie Shale stood a few feet away, perfectly put together in a dark coat that looked too expensive for a parking lot like this. Her hair was sleek, her makeup minimal but intentional. Her eyes sharp, assessing, amused.
She smiled.Not warmly.
"So," she said, gaze sweeping over him, lingering just a second too long. "You're the assistant."
Neo straightened. "If you're looking for Mr. Luther, he's not here."
Valerie laughed softly. "Oh, I know where Lucas is."
Her eyes snapped back to his. "I was looking for you."A chill slid down Neo's spine. He didn't step back.
"That's unfortunate," he replied calmly. "I'm off the clock."
Valerie tilted her head, studying him like a specimen. "You're younger than I expected."
There it was.
Neo's jaw tightened. "And you're older than I imagined. Guess we're both disappointed."
For the first time, something flickered across her face.
Interest.She stepped closer. Neo didn't move. The distance between them shrank until her perfume dark, expensive, dangerous filled his lungs.
"You have nerve," Valerie said quietly. "Lucas always did have a talent for collecting… interesting things."
"I'm not a thing," Neo replied. "And I don't belong to him."
Valerie smiled wider. "Oh, sweetheart. You're standing exactly where I used to stand. Don't insult us both by pretending you don't feel it."
Her voice dropped."You think you're special because he lets you close? Because he looks at you like you're not disposable?"
She leaned in, close enough that only Neo could hear her next words.
"He looked at me like that first."
Neo's pulse spiked but his expression didn't change.
"Did he?" he asked softly. "Funny. He's never mentioned you."
That one landed painfully.
Valerie's smile sharpened into something cruel. "Careful. You're very young to be playing games with people like us."
"Funny you keep bringing up my age," Neo shot back. "Is that supposed to scare me? Or turn you on?"
Silence.
Then Valerie laughed low, dangerous.
"I like you," she said. "That's a shame."
She circled him slowly, predator's grace, eyes never leaving his face.
"Lucas doesn't keep people like you for long. He breaks them. Or worse he outgrows them." She stopped in front of him again. "And when that happens, there's nothing left for you. No protection. No power."
Neo leaned in just enough to reclaim the space she'd taken.
"Then you should worry about yourself," he said, voice calm, eyes cold. "Because if you're here to reclaim something, you're already late."
Valerie's eyes darkened. "You think you can replace me?"
"I think," Neo said evenly, "that if Lucas owed you anything… you wouldn't be threatening his assistant in a parking lot."
That one shattered something.
Valerie stepped back, composure snapping back into place like armor.
"This isn't over," she said coolly. "And when this ends, you'll wish you'd stayed a boy instead of pretending to be a man."
Neo watched her walk away, heels echoing into the night.
Only when she disappeared did he exhale.
His hands were steady.His heart was not.
He pulled out his phone.
One unread message.
Lucas:
Where are you.
Neo stared at the screen, then typed back.
On my way home.
He didn't add anything else.
But as he walked away from the building, one thing was clear. Valerie Shale hadn't come back for closure.She'd come back for war.
Neo had gotten home tired than he expected definitely because of that snake that disturbed his peace but something else came up.
The text came in the night night.
No number.
No name.
Unknown: Old Ember Café. 9:40 p.m. Come alone.
Neo stared at the screen longer than he should have.
His thumb hovered. His instincts screamed no.
But his memory whispered yes.
Old Ember sat halfway down a forgotten street brick walls stained with time, a flickering sign that never quite worked. It was the kind of place people went when they didn't want to be seen. The kind of place Neo had learned very early to survive in.
He grabbed his jacket and left without telling anyone.
Including Lucas.
He already prepared his mind he would go no one else knew that place except him and some close people.
The bell above the café door chimed weakly when he stepped inside. Warm light. Dusty shelves. The smell of burnt coffee and secrets. Nothing had changed and that unsettled him more than if everything had.
One table sat in the back, half-hidden by a wooden divider.
Reserved.For him.
Neo sat.
Minutes dragged. The ticking clock on the wall felt louder than it should. His fingers rested flat on the table still, controlled. Anyone watching would think he was calm.
He wasn't.
Then the chair across from him shifted.
"Hello, Neo."
Neo didn't flinch.
He looked up slowly, eyes locking onto the face he hadn't seen in years.
"I knew it," Neo said quietly. "I knew it was you ever since I sa..."
"I know you knew," the man interrupted, voice smooth, almost amused. "So why didn't you tell Lucas? Or anyone, really."
Neo's gaze hardened. "Which one is it? You don't trust him… or you don't trust me?"
A slow smile curved the man's lips.
"I don't trust any of you," he replied. "Especially you."
Neo leaned back slightly. "Then why are you here? What exactly do you want?"
"Oh, nothing dramatic," the man said lightly, stirring his untouched coffee. "I just want someone you're close to."
Neo didn't blink.
His voice dropped.
"Lucas."
"Yes." The smile widened. "So you'll stay away from him."
Neo laughed short, sharp, humorless.
"I think you've forgotten something," he said. "You don't have a place in my life anymore. You don't get to give orders about what I do."
The man studied him then. Really studied him.
"You've grown," he said slowly. "In front of him, you play this role this quiet, harmless little assistant. A child who looks like he could be snapped in half."
Neo's eyes darkened.
"But behind that?" the man continued. "You're a man ready to kill anyone who stands in your way."
Silence stretched.
"That's none of your business," Neo said coldly. "And don't text me again. You hear me? Stay away like you've been doing."
He stood.
"Darian's death should have taught you something," Neo added, voice deadly calm. "Lucas doesn't play."
The man chuckled softly.
"Darian's death," he said, finally looking up, eyes glinting, "was just the beginning."
That was it.
Neo leaned forward, hands braced on the table, face inches away.
"Do not harm him," he said quietly, each word deliberate, dangerous. "Because if you do...."
His smile was gone now.
"I will kill you myself. Do you get that?"
The man didn't answer.
Neo straightened, turned, and walked out of the café without looking back.
The bell chimed again.
Outside, the night air hit him hard. His chest rose and fell once. Twice.
His phone buzzed.
Lucas: You disappeared.
Neo stared at the message, jaw tight.
For the first time, doubt crept in not about Lucas...but about who was watching him.
And how long they'd been there.
Neo didn't sleep.
By the time morning bled into the city, his mind was already back in the office sterile halls, glass walls, power humming beneath everything. He arrived earlier than usual. Too early.
The building was quiet. Dangerous quiet.
He sat at his desk outside Lucas's office, jaw tight, fingers moving automatically as he sorted files, answered emails, scheduled meetings. On the surface? Perfect assistant. Efficient. Polite.
Inside?
The café replayed itself like a broken reel.
Darian's death was just the beginning.
Neo's hand clenched around his pen until it snapped clean in half.
"Neo?"
Lucas's voice.
Neo looked up too fast. Lucas stood in the doorway, jacket already off, sleeves rolled like he was bracing for war which, honestly, he probably was.
"You're early," Lucas said, eyes narrowing just slightly. Not suspicious. Observant.
"Couldn't sleep," Neo replied smoothly, already standing. "Your nine a.m. meeting got moved to ten. Underground briefing confirmed for tonight."
Lucas studied him for a beat too long.
"You okay?"
Neo smiled. That was the problem.
The smile didn't reach his eyes.
"I'm fine."
Lucas didn't push. He never did. That restraint that trust made something twist painfully in Neo's chest.
Lucas stepped past him into the office.
The door closed.
Neo exhaled slowly, then froze when voices filtered through the glass wall.
Valerie.
Her heels clicked like gunshots as she entered without knocking.
"Lucas," she said, voice silk-wrapped steel. "We need to talk."
Neo's spine went rigid.
Through the glass, he saw Lucas turn, jaw tightening just slightly. "You don't get to walk in like this."
Valerie smiled. "I always have."
Neo's vision tunneled.
He watched her move closer. Too close. Watched her fingers brush Lucas's desk... his space. Watched Lucas stiffen, not afraid, but annoyed.
Possessive heat flooded Neo's veins.
Then Valerie said it.
"You should really watch your assistant," she murmured. "He's young. Impressionable. People like that get hurt easily."
Something inside Neo snapped.
He didn't remember deciding to move.
One second he was outside.
The next, the office door slammed open.
Valerie turned, startled for once.
Lucas spun. "Neo-"
Neo didn't look at him.
His eyes were locked on Valerie, dark, sharp, nothing soft left in them.
"Say it again," Neo said quietly.
Valerie arched a brow. "Excuse me?"
"You implied I'm a weakness," Neo continued, stepping inside, closing the distance with controlled, dangerous calm. "Say it again."
Lucas moved. "Neo, that's enough."
Neo stopped instantly.
That...that...was the line.
But Valerie laughed softly. "See? So obedient. You really did train him well."
Neo turned back to her slowly.
"Careful," he said, voice low. "You're speaking about things you don't understand."
Valerie's smile faded just a little. "Is that a threat?"
Neo leaned in, close enough that only she could hear.
"No," he whispered. "It's a promise."
Lucas's voice cut sharp. "Neo. Step back."
Neo straightened immediately.
The room felt charged, like a held breath.
Valerie recovered first, smoothing her expression. "Relax. I'm just… concerned."
"Don't be," Neo replied, back to his calm tone, the mask sliding back on seamlessly. "Concern like yours tends to end badly."
Lucas stared at him now. Really stared.
Valerie picked up her bag. "We'll talk later, Lucas."
She glanced at Neo one last time-
calculating, unsettled.
"I see you," she said.
Neo met her gaze without blinking.
"I know."
She left.
Silence crashed down.
Lucas turned to Neo slowly. "What was that?"
Neo finally felt it the adrenaline, the near-loss of control, the truth he'd almost exposed.
He swallowed."She crossed a line," he said simply.Lucas searched his face, something unreadable flickering behind his eyes.
"You almost did too," Lucas said quietly.
Neo met his gaze.
"I won't," he said. "Not unless someone forces me to."
Another pause.Lucas exhaled. "Next time… tell me."
Neo nodded. "Yes, sir."
But as he turned back toward the door, his reflection in the glass caught his eye.
For a split second, he didn't recognize himself.
And that scared him more than Valerie ever could.
Neo didn't leave the office after the Valerie incident.
He couldn't.
The air still felt wrong too sharp, too aware. People moved like usual outside the glass walls, keyboards clicking, phones ringing, but underneath it all there was a tremor. Valerie's name had weight. And now his did too.Neo returned to his desk like nothing happened.
That was the most dangerous part.
His hands were steady as he updated files. His voice was calm when he answered calls. He even smiled once brief, polite at a passing executive. Anyone watching would think he'd shaken it off.
But Lucas was watching.
From inside his office, Lucas didn't resume work right away. He stood by the window, jacket still off, sleeves still rolled, staring down at the city like it might give him answers.
Neo had stepped in without hesitation.
Had challenged Valerie without fear.
Had stopped the moment Lucas told him to.
That wasn't normal.
Lucas finally turned back to his desk. He didn't call Neo in. Didn't confront him. Didn't ask questions he wasn't ready to hear answers to.
Instead, he picked up his phone.
"Kellan," he said when the call connected. "Clear my schedule for an hour."
A pause.
"No," Lucas added calmly. "Don't tell anyone."
He hung up and opened a secure drawer. Inside were devices most people didn't know existed. He selected one, powered it on, and logged in.
Neo Demi Xavier uther background review. Full sweep.
The system blinked.
Searching…
Downstairs, Neo finally exhaled.
Aiden appeared beside him like a ghost. "You look like you just stared death in the face."
Neo snorted softly. "I might've."
Aiden leaned against the desk. "Valerie?"
Neo nodded once.
Aiden's jaw tightened. "She's dangerous."
"So am I," Neo replied without thinking.
Aiden looked at him then really looked.
"…Since when remember don't show it?"
Neo didn't answer.
Back upstairs, Lucas's screen filled slowly.
Basic information first. Too clean. Too neat.
Age. Education. Employment history.
No scandals. No flags.
Lucas frowned.
He leaned back, fingers steepled. People like Neo didn't move the way he moved without learning how first.
Lucas typed a new command.
Expand search. Non-public records. Affiliations. Incident cross-check.
The system hesitated.
Then.....
Warning: Restricted data encountered.
Lucas smiled faintly.
"There you are," he murmured.
That same evening, Neo gathered his things to leave.
His phone buzzed.
Unknown number:You handled yourself well today.
But you're still playing a dangerous game.
Neo stopped walking.
He typed back.
So are you.
Three dots appeared. Then vanished.
No reply.
Neo slipped his phone into his pocket and continued out of the building, shoulders squared, face calm.
He didn't know Lucas was watching from above.
Didn't know his name was already being pulled apart thread by thread.
Didn't know that by stepping into that office earlier, he'd crossed an invisible line.
Not just for Valerie.
For Lucas too.
And once Lucas Luther started digging?
He never stopped until he owned the truth.