Rian had always been observant. It was part of who he was—an instinct sharpened by years of reading people, noticing what they tried to hide. And lately, something about Mimi had been… off.
Not obvious. Not dramatic. Just small, fleeting signs that set off alarms in his mind. The way she hesitated before answering, the occasional pale flush on her cheeks, the way she seemed more tired than she should be for someone on a short office trip.
During the afternoon briefing, he watched her from across the room. Mimi laughed at a joke he hadn't heard, but her smile didn't reach her eyes. She kept glancing down, hands subtly resting near her stomach, as if trying to anchor herself.
Rian's pulse quickened—not with desire this time, but with a quiet, gnawing worry. Something had happened. Something she wasn't telling him.
Later, as they walked back from a team activity by the lake, he fell into step beside her. "Mimi… are you feeling okay?" he asked, casually, but there was tension in his jaw and sharpness in his tone.
She froze, his question cutting too close to the truth. "I'm… fine," she said softly, forcing herself to meet his gaze.
But Rian didn't let it go. "You've been saying that for days. And yet…" His eyes narrowed, catching her hesitation. "Something's different. Tell me what it is."
Her stomach lurched. This was the moment she had feared—the moment when he might see past her lies, past her careful mask. She wanted to run, to disappear into the shadows where no one could find her.
"I… I'm just tired," she whispered, almost to herself. But Rian wasn't convinced.
"Is it the trip?" he pressed, gentle now, softer, but there was an intensity in his gaze that made her chest tighten. "Or… is it something else?"
Mimi's hands trembled at her sides. She couldn't tell him—not yet. The words would ruin everything. The contract, their lives, the fragile balance between them. And yet, the thought of keeping it from him felt like poison.
She looked at him, and for a brief moment, the world shrank to just the two of them. The lake behind them, the lights of the city, the soft hum of distant laughter—all of it faded.
"I… I'm fine," she said again, weaker this time. Her voice cracked, betraying the storm inside her.
Rian studied her silently, golden eyes piercing, sensing the truth but not yet ready to confront it. He reached out, lightly brushing a strand of hair from her face—a small gesture, intimate, yet restrained.
Mimi's heart skipped, her body responding in ways she hated. She wanted to recoil, wanted to push him away. But she couldn't.
And as the night deepened around them, both of them knew that the unspoken truth between them was growing stronger, more impossible to ignore.
Soon… everything would change.