Chapter 2 Twin brother?

~ZOEY

The next morning at work, I found it hard to concentrate as I kept glaring at Leo.

As if staring at him this hard would make the mole appear on him and fix the way he was suddenly treating me.

He was acting strange. Almost as if nothing happened between us yesterday. Like it was just a random one time fling and it was already over.

"Did you follow up on the collaboration we signed with the new gold supplier?" Leo asked as he twirled his pen around his fingers.

I swallowed hard. "Y— yes, I did. They are already working on the new designs."

He nodded and waved his fingers at me like he was trying to drive away flies. "Alright, you can go back to work now."

He relaxed in his chair and started twirling it from side to side. Then he started scrolling on his phone.

"Oh, that's some nice curves. . . I wonder how fast I can get her." He giggled to himself.

I widened my eyes at him. Did he just talk about another woman sexually in front of me?

As if he heard my thoughts, he looked up from his phone and saw the shocked expression on my face.

He corked his brows at me. "What's that look for?"

I gasped in shock. "W— we had sex last night!"

"So?" He shrugged. "You wanted it and I gave you what you wanted."

I blinked at him in surprise.

"I hope you don't think that there will be more of what happened last night. . ." He paused and sat upright. "Zoey, I don't need you for that type of work anymore."

My heart sank at his choice of words. I didn't know what to say. I didn't know how to react.

I clearly gave away my virginity to this man last night and he didn't even care! There was also the fact that he might be the wrong guy!

Why the fuck was he treating me like this?

"I expected you to be smarter than this, Zoey. It was a one time thing and it's never going to happen again," then he pointed at the door. "Go see if the documents I requested from the design team are ready."

And that was it.

The end of the most sensitive conversation. I felt played. I felt stupid and there was no one to blame but myself.

My body began to tremble as I suddenly felt cold but I told myself not to cry. I turned around instantly and walked out of his office.

I was too lost in my thoughts to see that I was walking myself into a den of hyenas.

"What do we have here?" A feminine voice asked, mockery heavy in her tone.

I looked up to see that it was the same three women from the accounting team— Janet, Mary and Linda— whom I knew too well.

Why? Because they had made it their mission to bully me since I showed up here.

"It's the slimy rat who sneaked her way to the top. I wonder why she keeps trying so hard to deceive everyone. . ." Mary backed her up.

"We know who you really are, Zoey. You're nothing but a dirty slut sleeping her way around to keep her job," Linda added.

"I wonder how many times she's had to fuck Leo to keep him interested in her and not fire her!"Janet exclaimed and they broke into laughter like the hyenas that they were.

This actually struck a chord in me as it reminded me of last night and the fact that Leo didn't care about me anymore.

I swallowed hard and decided to ignore them as I realised entertaining them would only prolong the matter.

So I made to go around them but they spread out, deliberately blocking my path.

"Where do you think you're going? We're not done with you yet, rat!" Mary spat.

I gritted my teeth and stared up at them. I was not in the mood for this. My emotions were barely holding in and the slightest thing could make me have a major melt down.

"Look, I don't want any trouble. I have work to do so let me through," I stated firmly.

But they broke into laughter instead.

"She said she has work to do," Linda cried. "But we all know exactly what she's up to."

"She obviously wants to go fuck the next manager to keep her job!" Mary announced and they resumed laughing.

"Rats like her have nothing to offer but their nudity on a low life platter," Janet added.

I wanted to scream at them. I wanted to give them a piece of my mind but I realised it was not worth it. Neither of these women were worth my time. They were obviously just portraying the hatred they had for themselves on me and I would not fall for it.

I balled my hands into fists and turned around instead. I would just use the stairs since they were blocking the path to the elevator.

Or so I thought until someone suddenly yanked my hair back so hard that I screamed and lost balance. My body was propelled backwards toward them and they swiftly made way so that I would land hard on the floor in disgrace.

There was no saving me now.

I shut my eyes and braced myself for the pain that would come when my body hit the cold hard tiled floors.

But to my greatest surprise, I landed into arms.

Strong warm arms.

My eyes flew open and a breath caught in my throat as the world seemed to stop.

There was a face looming above mine, that looked exactly like Leo's yet so different at the same time.

His eyes were blue. Deeper than Leo's could ever be. A dark blue like the deepest part of the ocean. They were sharp and commanding, unlike Leo's lazy and careless gaze.

His dark hair was neatly combed in place such that not even the wind could dare to disturb him. His three piece suit was pressed to precision to eliminate even the slightest wrinkles. And unlike Leo whose shirts were always half-buttoned, his shirt was decently buttoned to the top, underneath his black tie.

And his smell, it was clean yet dark. A mixture of coffee and something milder, earthy; kind of like cedarwood. It was not loud like Leo's cologne that clung to everything he touched. No, it was quieter, heavier and far more dangerous. It was the kind of scent that stayed with you long after the man was gone, making you crave more even if it felt dangerous.

To top it up, it felt familiar.

And for that reason, goosebumps scattered across my skin. An instant feeling of deja vu hit me as I gazed upon him.

And strangely, he also widened his eyes at me as if a fleeting moment of recognition had come by.

He gently pushed me upright and asked the question that I could almost ready in his eyes.

"Do I know you?"

I parted my lips to speak but no sound left them. Severe confusion had made me dumb.

What was going on?

Who was this man? Were there two Leo's now? Or was I losing my mind?

"Welcome back, Executive Director Thorne. We hope you had a nice trip." The hyenas chorused, snapping me out of my thoughts.

The man frowned as he finally looked away from me before shooting the deadliest glare at them.

The temperature seemed to drop within seconds. He didn't have to say a word for the message to be passed. The smile on their faces slowly wittered away and they started trembling visibly.

"W— we'll get back to work now."

With that, they turned and scrambled away because their lives actually depended on it.

That was when I caught sight of Leo coming out of his office. His facial expression switched to amusement when he saw this new man whose existence I was still trying to understand.

"I wondered why Zoey was late and now I see the reason why. . ." He began in a playful yet dangerous tone. "My twin brother is back."

And my heart sank as all the missing pieces of the puzzle began to come together.

Leo had a twin brother?

I turned wide eyes to this new brother in question and my heart instantly began to race. It raced faster than it ever has in my entire life.

Could this be him? Could he be my crush? The man who saved me that day?

"Since when does the Joker come to work?" He asked with a hint of amusement.

I heard the elevator ding open at that moment.

"Because I ordered him to, Ethan!"

I looked in that direction to see President Thorne himself, the founder of House of Thorne— step out of the elevator.

His presence demanded authority and I could swear a shiver ran down my spine.

"It's how Father always has the knack to show up at the right time," Leo stated, the amusement still evident in his tone.

"Why do you want him here?" Ethan calmly asked, his expression unreadable.

At this point, everyone seemed to have forgotten about my existence yet just walking away felt rude so I remained rooted to the spot with all of my inner confusion and turmoil.

Today was slowly turning into my least favorite day.

President Thorne's expression turned dark and dangerous.

"I have had enough of your neverending drama. I am done waiting for you two to work out your beef and end it. Because something bigger is at stake here and I will not let your pride cost me my company!"

Silence befell us. Not even Leo dared to breathe a word.

"So starting today, Ethan, you are going to work with your brother. You are going to learn to share and tolerate each other because in the end, you both are going to inherit this company whether you like it or not.”