Theo doesn’t flinch. “We’re exactly where we need to be, sir. The team has been incredibly efficient. We’re still projected to come in under budget.”
“See that it stays that way,” Harris snaps. “Ms. Minami, walk with me.”
He’s already turning toward the door, not waiting for an answer. It’s not an invitation. It’s a command. Theo’s brow furrows as he looks at me, his eyes searching mine. The silent question is clear: “Are you okay? Do you want me to step in?”
I give him a small, firm nod and a reassuring smile.I can handle him,I think, praying I’m right.
I follow Mr. Harris into the hallway. His cologne is so thick, I’m tempted to hold my breath. We stop under the harsh recessed lights near the far end of the hall. He turns to me with an unreadable expression.
“Have you given any more thought to what I mentioned the last time we spoke?” he demands.
“I’m not sure I follow, sir.” And that’s the truth. Last time he said I could be useful or use my influence.Does he mean he wants me to speak to Mr. Tanaka? Or have Papa speak to him?
“For someone with your credentials, Ms. Minami, you’re playing remarkably dull.” He steps closer. “The Tanaka Group. We need their chairman to ink a partnership agreement with us.Youhave the specific lineage required to convince him. Can I count on your assistance?”
My jaw tightens. “I’m just an engineer, Mr. Harris. Not a lobbyist.”
“So that’s the game you want to play.”
“It’s not a game sir.”
“I tried to do this the easy way, but you really leave me no choice.” He lets out a dry, humorless laugh. “I know about you and Theodore.” He pauses, letting the implication hang in the air like a threat. “Ironically, it’s the first time in his life he’s done something right.”
Panic flares in my chest. How does he know? It’s been less than a week.
He leans in, dropping his voice to a conspiratorial, oily silk. “If you help me, all of this can be brushed under the rug. You and my son can do as you please, and I can guarantee HR will look the other way.”
“And if I refuse?”
From inside his jacket, he produces a file folder and flashes its content at me. There’s copies of my hiring paperwork, the Excelsior NDA, and a clause stampedConfidential.
“It would be unfortunate if the press were to find out we have a princess in our midst—one involved in a scandalous affair with her boss. Excelsior cannot afford to have its reputation tarnished. I’d have no choice but to fire you both. And I’ll ensure Theodore is blacklisted from every major firm in thisindustry.”
The blood drains from my face. “That’s private information. And an outright lie. You have no right?—”
“I have every right to protect my company and its interests,” he snaps.
He tucks the folder away with a slow, deliberate click of his tongue. “All I’m asking for is for a phone call and a royal nudge to get Tanaka to the table. Think of it as an investment in Theodore’s future. Because if you fail me, neither of you has one. You have twenty-four hours to reconsider.”
He turns and walks away.
I melt against the wall, taking a few ragged breaths as the cold weight of his words settles in my gut. My brain scrambles through a thousand possibilities, and none of them are good. If he leaks my name, the life I’ve fought so hard to build—the job, the anonymity, the quiet moments with Theo—will vanish overnight.
I can already see the flashing lights outside my hotel. The shouting in English and Japanese, the microphones thrust in my face, and the Imperial Household Agency swooping in under the guise of security concerns. I see Theo trying to reach me as a security detail pulls me away. And his father, watching from the shadows, satisfied that he’s won.
I close my eyes, but the images don’t stop. It’s not just about me. There’s Theo to consider too. If Mr. Harris follows through with his threats, he won’t just be firing his son—he’ll stripping him of his identity.
Engineering isn’t just a job for Theo—it’s his life. I think of the way his face lit up when he solved the launch-buffer glitch, and the quiet, fierce promise he made to his grandmother to protect his grandfather’s legacy. To be blacklisted would be a death sentence for his dreams. He’dbe an exile in his own city, barred from the very world he’s sacrificed everything to build.
The cruelty of it makes my stomach turn. His father is asking me to choose—save Theo’s career and protect my privacy by betraying my own principles, or watch our lives go up in flames. I’m caught in a vice, and Mr. Harris is the one turning the handle, perfectly aware that he’s using my heart to break my will. A cold shiver shoots up my spine. “What am I going to do?” I whisper.
“Kaori?” Theo’s voice cuts through my internal fog. “What did my father do? What did he say to you?”
I take a sharp breath and, like a seasoned kabuki actor, I slide my “princess” mask into place. “Nothing,” I lie, the word tasting like ash. “He was just checking in to see how I was settling in.”
Theo stops in front of me, his eyes narrowed. “I’m fluent in reading BS, Kaori,” he says, his voice low. Concern knots the lines around his eyes. “I know that man. That wasn’t a check-in.”
The truth is right there, resting on the tip of my tongue. I could tell him everything—the folder, the blackmail, the threat to his career. It would be so easy to let him share the weight that’s on my shoulders. But the image of Theo confronting his father, and of the nuclear explosion that would follow, freezes me. I need time to think. I need a strategy.
