Vanishing Point
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The fallout from the storage room incident spread fast. By the next morning, it seemed the entire office knew. There were stares, whispers, a few high-fives Lex pretended not to notice.
Muri, usually composed, looked like a storm cloud in heels. By noon, she was gone. No goodbyes. No explanations. Just an empty desk and a text to Lex that read:
"I need to disappear for a while. Don't come after me."
And he didn't.
Not because he didn't want to, but because everything changed overnight.
Lex's father had a heart attack that week. Sudden. Massive. The man survived—but barely. And when he stepped down from the family's hotel empire, Lex was handed the keys to the kingdom.
CEO.
Just like that.
Lex threw himself into the work, expanding aggressively, ruthlessly. He bought out competitors, revamped crumbling properties, and turned the family name into something global. The only thing he didn't rebuild? Himself.
He didn't talk about Muri. Didn't let her name pass his lips.
Not once in six months.
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Chapter Fifteen: Back in the Game
It was just another Monday—boardroom, coffee, dealmaking—when the door opened and Lex looked up from a financial report to find a ghost.
Muri.
Hair longer. Expression sharper. Dressed like power incarnate.
Walking in behind a grinning, tanned man in an expensive suit.
"Lex," the man said. "Meet my daughter. Muri Winters. She'll be heading up the design team for our joint project."
Lex stood too fast.
Their eyes locked.
Shock. Fire. Something dangerous and unsaid.
"Pleasure," she said smoothly, holding out her hand.
He took it, grip tight. "Didn't see that coming."
She smiled with zero warmth. "Let's just say I've been busy."
Lex forced a smile, but inside? He was reeling.
Because Muri Winters wasn't just back in his life.
She was here to play on his field—and maybe, just maybe, to burn it down.