He stared down at his desk, suddenly feeling more nervous than he had during any negotiation, acquisition, or billion-dollar deal in his entire life.
Then Juliet laughed.
The sound burst through the phone bright and joyful, followed by a stream of delighted giggles that made his chest tighten in a way no amount of stress or pressure ever could.
Slowly, he lowered his head and smiled.
It wasn't the controlled smile he wore in boardrooms or the faint smirk people occasionally caught during meetings. This smile was warm, helpless, and filled with a tenderness that belonged to one person and one person only.
"Alrightt now. I will be waiting for you at home. Come back soon."
Juliet's soft giggle lingered in Cassian's ears long after the words themselves had faded. A faint smile curved his lips almost involuntarily, the warmth in her voice settling deep inside his chest and softening something that had been tense all day.
"Mm."
The low hum escaped him before he even realized it.
Them. he finally ended the call.
Even then, Cassian remained standing where he was, the phone still loosely held in his hand as his gaze rested on the darkened screen. Her laughter seemed to linger in his mind, replaying itself again and again until he found himself staring blankly ahead. The warmth she left behind was still there, spreading through him in a way that felt unfamiliar yet strangely addictive.
When he finally lifted his head, the entire conference room came into view.
Everyone around the table was staring at him.
The atmosphere was so quiet that even the faint hum of the air conditioner seemed unusually loud.
After all, they had just witnessed something they never thought possible.
Their boss, whose expression rarely changed no matter what happened, had been smiling at his phone like an ordinary man hopelessly in love.
Not only that, but he had spoken softly, patiently, and with a tenderness none of them had ever heard before.
Most shocking of all, he had confessed his love.
The realization seemed to have collectively broken everyone's brains.
Cassian held their gazes for exactly one second.
Then the smile disappeared.
It vanished so completely that it was as though it had never existed at all.
The warmth in his eyes receded, replaced by the familiar calm indifference that had built his reputation. Without the slightest trace of embarrassment, he set his phone down on the conference table, adjusted the cuff of his sleeve, and turned his attention back to the presentation screen.
"Continue."
His deep voice echoed through the room.
The executives jolted as though waking from a dream.
Several people immediately lowered their heads.
Others scrambled to look through their reports and laptops, pretending they had been paying attention the entire time.
One unfortunate manager flipped through the wrong document twice before finally finding the correct page.
The meeting resumed.
