Chapter 5 CLOSE TO FALLING
The office smelled like fresh paint, printer ink, and anxiety, I sat at my desk staring at the screen, but the words on the document in front of my eyes looked like they were floating in water. The letters did not look like they were still.
My fingers tried to move over the keyboard, but failed, and my stomach churned slowly, i had barely slept last night.
The nausea had woken me up twice before daybreak, making me rush to the bathroom of my tiny apartment, kneeling on cold tiles with tears in my eyes and nothing in my stomach to throw up. By the time my alarm rang, I still felt weak but I came to work.
There were bills to pay and they didn’t care if I was pregnant. I could not afford to be weak at this point.
I swallowed hard and reached for the bottle of water on my desk, my hand trembled slightly as I lifted it. The water felt heavy and bitter in my mouth.
Across the open office, keyboards clicked, phones rang, low conversations blended into background noise, and then the elevator dinged.
A quiet shift passed through the atmosphere, not loud but noticeable.
Everyone became serious, postures straightened and conversations died down. I didn’t need to look up to know it was him.
Adrian Vale.
I had learned quickly in my two days here that his presence moved through the building like electricity. People didn’t say his name loudly. They lowered their voices when they mentioned him. Women adjusted their hair and men adjusted their ties.
I kept my eyes on my screen, I refused to be one of them, but my body betrayed me. My stomach flipped violently, and a wave of heat washed over me so fast.
I inhaled sharply.
"No".
"Not now".
My vision blurred, and the air around me felt thin, like I was breathing through a cloth. I tried to steady myself by gripping the edge of my desk, but my fingers felt numb.
My heart started pounding, loud and wild.
I stood up too quickly and that was a bad mistake.
The room felt like it tilted, chairs, desks, people everything slanted sideways. The floor felt like it was moving under my feet.
Someone laughed somewhere in the office, a phone rang, a printer whirred.
These were normal sounds, but for me, they sounded distant, like I was underwater.
I took one step and my knees buckled.
The last thing I saw was the floor close to my face but I never hit it.
A pair of strong arms caught me mid-fall.
My cheek pressed against a solid chest that smelled faintly of expensive cologne and something distinctly male. It was familiar in a way that made my stomach turn for a different reason.
Voices erupted around me.
“Oh my God!”
“Is she okay?!”
“Water! Get water!”
My eyes opened weakly, and the first thing I saw was the sharp line of a jaw above me. It was Adrian, and he was holding me.
He had one arm around my back, the other under my knees, lifting me off the ground like I weighed nothing.
The entire office had gone silent.
No one breathed.
No one moved.
Because Adrian Vale did not touch employees.
He only observed and commanded and he stayed distant. But right now, he was holding me as if I mattered.
His eyes were locked on my face,
“Nina,” he said quietly.
Not Miss Cole.
Not as his employee but my name.
“I—I’m fine…”
“You’re not,” he replied, voice low and firm.
He sounded like he was concerned, he shifted slightly, adjusting his hold on me, and I felt the strength in his arms, the steadiness of him.
I became painfully aware of how small I felt, cradled against him in front of everyone.
Embarrassment burned my cheeks.
“I can stand,” I whispered.
He didn’t put me down.
Instead, he turned toward the corridor that led to the private offices.
“Clear the way.”
People moved instantly, like the sea parting.
My coworkers stared, wide-eyed, whispering as he carried me past them.
I wanted to disappear or better still, let the floor open up and swallow me.
My head rested against his chest, and I could hear his heartbeat.
He kicked open the door to the executive lounge and laid me gently on the leather couch. He knelt in front of me, one hand still lightly holding my arm as if he was afraid I might fall again.
“Look at me,” he said.
I did.
His eyes scanned my face carefully, observing every detail.
“Did you eat this morning?”
I hesitated.
“No.”
“Have you been feeling like this since you started work?”
I didn’t answer.
That silence told him enough.
A staff member rushed in with water. Adrian took the glass from her without looking away from me.
“Drink this.”
I obeyed him, but my hands shook so badly that he had to steady the glass for me. His fingers brushed mine, and a strange current shot through my body.
He noticed.
I noticed that he noticed.
He sat down, slightly studying me in a way that made my skin prickle, as if he was remembering something.
“You should see a doctor,” he said quietly.
“I’m fine. It’s just stress.”
His gaze didn’t move.
“No. It’s not.”
The certainty in his voice unsettled me.
He stood up again, the softness gone as quickly as it had appeared.
“I’m sending you home.”
My eyes widened. “No, please, I can work...”
“That wasn’t a suggestion.”
His tone had returned to CEO, controlled and commanding.
I swallowed and nodded. He called his assistant and gave calm instructions, like he did this every day.
But the entire building was buzzing outside the door, and we both knew it.
When I stood up to leave, I swayed slightly and his hand was there instantly at my waist, steadying me.
The contact lasted only a second, but something unspoken passed between us, recognition.
He walked me to the elevator himself.
Staff stared openly now and whispers followed them.
I kept my eyes down, mortified.
At the elevator, he pressed the button and waited beside me in silence.
When the doors opened, I stepped inside, then turned back slightly.
“Thank you… Sir.”
He looked at me for a long moment, and a faint, almost invisible smile touched his lips.
“Take care of yourself, Nina.”
The doors slid shut.
I exhaled shakily as the elevator descended.
My hand moved slowly to my stomach.
It's just morning sickness.
But I couldn’t shake the way he had looked at me like he already knew.
