Rejected: A love story Chapter 62: A new beginning

Nathan sat back in his chair, hid jacket draped over the armrest, his tie were loose but still hanging around his neck. Alex stood across from him, with tablet in hand, reading through numbers and projections like his life depended on it.

"...and the third-quarter adjustnts would require approval from—"

"Mhm."

Alex paused for half a second, then continued. "—from the board, especially regarding the offshore accounts—"

Nathan’s eyes were on the glass wall, but he wasn’t seeing the city beyond it. His mind wasn’t in the office at all, It was on Fiona.

Her lips. The way she’d leaned in and the brief second where she froze before kissing him back. He rembered that night when he tasted her ice cream, sweet and cold, mixed with her. The surprised look on her face after, like she hadn’t expected it even though she’d wanted it.

"...Mr. Keith?"

Alex called but Nathan didn’t respond.

Alex cleared his throat and tried again. "Sir?"

Nathan sighed slightly as the mory replayed again, slower this ti. The way she’d stared at him like he’d just knocked the air out of her lungs.

Alex shifted on his feet, this wasn’t the first ti this week.

"Mr. Keith," Alex said louder.

Nathan blinked and finally looked at him. "What?"

Alex swallowed. "I was explaining the revised schedule."

Nathan nodded once. "Send it to my email."

Alex hesitated. "I... I already did."

Nathan waved a hand. "Continue."

Alex took a breath and resud, but barely a minute later, Nathan’s expression changed.

"Alex."

"Yes, sir?"

Nathan leaned forward slightly. "The anonymous text..."

Alex stiffened.

Nathan noticed but still continued "The one I told you to look into."

"Yes," Alex said carefully.

"Well?" Nathan asked. "What did you find?"

Alex glanced down at his tablet, then back up. "We’re still working on it."

Nathan’s eyes narrowed. "That’s not an answer."

Alex adjusted his grip. "The number was masked, sir. Routed through multiple servers. We tried tracing the IP, but it keeps bouncing."

Nathan leaned back slowly, his fingers tapping once on the desk. "You’re telling soone texts my girlfriend from an unknown number, claims to know private details, and you can’t find anything?"

Alex’s voice dropped. "Not yet."

Nathan’s jaw tightened.

"How long," he asked quietly, "has it been?"

"A few days," Alex replied. "We brought in an external team—"

"A few days?" Nathan repeated, his voice calm in a way that made Alex uneasy.

"Yes, sir."

Nathan stood up abruptly. The chair slid back slightly, the sound sharp in the room.

Alex straightened instinctively

"A few days," Nathan said again, walking around the desk, "and whoever it is still thinks they can hide."

"We’re making progress," Alex said quickly. "They’re careful sir, this isn’t random."

"I know it’s not random," Nathan snapped.

His calm was gone now, he stopped in front of the window, his back to Alex. "No one does things like that for fun."

Alex nodded. "We believe it’s soone close. Or at least soone with access."

Nathan turned around slowly, his expression hard. "Then why the hell haven’t you figured it out?"

Alex swallowed. "Because whoever it is knows what they’re doing."

"I don’t care how many teams you need," Nathan said. "I don’t care how much it costs. I want a na."

"Yes, sir."

"And until then," Nathan continued, "increase security around Fiona. Quietly.... she shouldn’t know."

Alex hesitated. "Sir, she might notice—"

"Are you saying you’re incompetent?," Nathan cut in. "Just make sure she’s never alone."

Alex nodded imdiately. "Understood."

Nathan walked back to his desk, picked up the phone, then set it down again without dialing any number.

His fingers curled into a fist, soone had crossed a line.And whoever they were, they were stupid enough to think he wouldn’t find them.

Nathan looked at Alex. "Get out."

Alex didn’t argue. He turned and left the office quickly, closing the door behind him.

Nathan sat back down slowly, running a hand over his face.

The image of Fiona’s smile ca back, softer this ti.

"I’ve got you," he muttered to himself. "Whether you know it or not."

Fiona leaned back against the low wall near the school gate, with her bag hanging off one shoulder. The campus was loud in that end-of-sester way—people laughing too much, shouting nas, talking about freedom like exams had been a prison.

"So," she said, turning to Ella, "what are we doing to celebrate?"

Ella raised an eyebrow. "Celebrate what exactly?"

"Surviving freshman year," Fiona replied. "And not failing anything. That deserves at least food and so drinks."

Ella laughed. "Food I agree with."

"Good. So where?" Fiona pressed. "We can go sowhere nice. Just us."

Ella hesitated, chewing on her lower lip.

"My brother offered to take out," she said slowly. "He said we should celebrate properly."

Fiona’s face brightened. "Julian? That could be fun."

Ella shook her head imdiately. "No."

"No?" Fiona frowned. "Why?"

Ella sighed. "Because your boyfriend is... you know, intense."

"That’s one way to put it," Fiona muttered.

"Fiona," Ella said seriously, "Nathan is jealous. Like, jealous jealous. If he even slls another man around you, he’ll start imagining nonsense."

Fiona crossed her arms. "Julian is your brother."

"I know," Ella said. "But Nathan doesn’t care about logic when it cos to you."

Fiona opened her mouth to argue, then paused. "Okay... fair."

"And," Ella added quietly, "we still don’t know who took those pictures last ti."

That wiped the smile off Fiona’s face. She nodded slowly. "Yeah. That part still freaks out."

"Exactly," Ella said. "So no unnecessary drama."

"But I can’t just go ho," Fiona protested. "It’s our last day as freshn. That feels wrong."

Ella was about to respond when a familiar car pulled up close to the gate.Ella’s face changed instantly. "Speak of the devil."

The driver’s door opened and Julian stepped out, grinning like he’d just won sothing. He scanned the area until he spotted them.

"There she is!" he shouted, walking toward them. "Whose got the coolest sister ever? ! Obviously ."

Ella rolled her eyes but smiled as he pulled her into a hug. "You’re embarrassing."

"Never," Julian replied proudly. "I exist to hype you."

Fiona watched them, a soft smile on her face. For a mont, she forgot everything else. This was what siblings were supposed to look like.

Julian turned to her. "Congrats, Fiona. You made it through."

She laughed. "Results aren’t out yet."

"They don’t need to be," he said easily. "You’re brilliant. You’ll ace it."

"See?" Ella said. "I told you."

Julian nodded. "Exactly. Trust the professionals."

Fiona chuckled. "I’ll take that confidence."

Julian glanced between them. "So, what’s the plan? Food? I’m starving."

Ella shot Fiona a look.

"We were just talking about that," Fiona said carefully.

"And?" Julian prompted.

"And she’s not coming," Ella cut in quickly. "Just ."

Julian frowned. "Why?"

Ella stepped closer to him. "I’ll explain in the car."

She turned back to Fiona and hugged her. "Text when you get ho."

"I will," Fiona said softly.

Ella pulled away. "And don’t overthink anything."

"Too late," Fiona replied with a small smile.

She waved as Ella and Julian walked back to the car.

Inside, Julian started the engine and pulled away from the school building.

"So," he said, glancing at Ella, "why isn’t Fiona coming?"

Ella looked straight ahead. "Drop it."

Julian sighed. "It’s that guy again, isn’t it?"

Ella didn’t answer.

"Nathan," Julian continued. "I never liked him."

"That’s obvious."

"He warned to stay away from her," Julian said, irritation creeping into his voice. "Like she’s property."

Ella crossed her arms. "He’s... protective."

Julian scoffed. "Wealthy people always are. They think they own the world. And everyone in it."

Ella looked out the window. "They kind of do."

Julian glanced at her. "You don’t really believe that."

"I believe they move differently," she replied. "Rules don’t apply to them the sa way."

There was a brief silence, Julian cleared his throat.

"Did you tell Fiona about Caleb?"

Ella stiffened. "No," she said flatly.

"Why not?"

Ella exhaled. "What’s the point?"

Julian frowned. "You like him."

She shrugged. "So what?"

"And he said to things to you, you should tell her."

"And then what?" Ella snapped. "So she can start overthinking? So things can get awkward between her and Caleb?"

Julian didn’t respond imdiately.

"I don’t want to be the reason she has issues," Ella continued. "She already has enough going on."

"And you?" Julian asked quietly.

Ella laughed without humor. "I’m fine."

"That didn’t sound convincing."

She leaned her head against the window. "Sotis I feel like that character in movies. The best friend who exists to support the main girl while she gets everything."

Julian tightened his grip on the steering wheel. "That’s bullshit."

"Is it?" Ella asked. "Fiona gets the guy, the rich one. The obsessed one. The bright future."

"I get to cheer," she said softly. "And step back."

Julian glanced at her again, this ti with concern. "You deserve more than that."

Ella smiled faintly. "Maybe. Or maybe this is just my role."

Julian didn’t like that answer, but he drove on, not wanting to upset her more.