Chapter 61\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cedar\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
I froze when Ridley commanded me to stop, his voice carrying that unmistakable note of authority that brooked no argument. The room suddenly felt narrower, the air between us charged with tension.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI won\u2019t comment on your innocence,\u201d he said coldly, \u201cbut giving attitude to your superior\u2013do you still think you\u2019re in the right?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
When he stepped forward, effectively blocking my path and confining me to the cramped space between him and the wall, I felt my heart\u2018\u00a0<\/p>\n
rate accelerate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My mind immediately flashed back to last night under the oak tree. This wasn\u2019t the first time Ridley had invaded my personal space, creating these uncomfortable moments between us. I needed to establish clear boundaries with him\u2013I couldn\u2019t risk getting entangled in another workplace scandal, especially not with the CEO himself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Sterling, I need to work now. Please move aside,\u201d I said, trying to maintain my composure despite my growing irritation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When he made no move to let me pass, I made a split\u2013second decision, bending down to dart past him. It was childish, perhaps, but I was desperate to escape this claustrophobic standoff.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when it happened. His hand shot out reflexively to stop me, but instead of grabbing my arm as he\u2019d likely intended, his palm connected firmly with my breast.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The shock of his touch sent electricity through my system. \u201cAhhh!\u201d I screamed, instinctively shoving him away from me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before I could process what I was doing, my hand was already in motion, swinging toward his face with surprising force. \u201cYou pervert!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
In broad daylight, in our workplace\u2013did he really think he could touch me like that? Did he think I was someone he could take advantage of without consequences?\u00a0<\/p>\n
He tilted his head, avoiding the full impact of my slap, but my nails caught his jaw, leaving thin scratches with traces of blood.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Reality crashed down on me immediately. My hand stung, and my eyes widened in horror at what I\u2019d done. I had just physically assaulted Ridley Sterling\u2013the CEO of Sterling Design Group, one of Chicago\u2019s most influential businessmen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Oh God, What had I done? Had I completely lost my mind? Did I no longer want this job? Did I no longer want to live in Chicago at all?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2026I\u2019m so sorry, Mr. Sterling!\u201d I stammered, a fresh wave of shame washing over me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His expression remained unreadable as he touched his jaw, examining the small amount of blood on his fingertips. \u201cSeriously? It was just a little touch. You\u2019re totally overreacting.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
His dismissive tone ignited something in me. The indignation burned through my embarrassment, replacing it with righteous anger.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
9:44 Thu, Nov 6 B\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 61\u00a0<\/p>\n
96\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cJust a little touch?\u201d My voice rose sharply. Your hand was right on my I couldn\u2019t even bring myself to say it out loud in the office. \u201cThat\u2019s sexual harassment! Workplace assault! I barely grazed you when I defended myself, so don\u2019t even think about coming after me for\u00a0<\/p>\n
it!\u00a0<\/p>\n
I squared my shoulders and forced myself to meet his gaze. But when I noticed the small scratch on his jaw\u2013evidence of my momentary\u00a0<\/p>\n
loss of control\u2013my confidence wavered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
No matter the circumstances, physical violence was never acceptable, especially against someone with as much power in this city as\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ridley Sterling.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Was this it for me? Had I just destroyed my career with one impulsive action?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before I could spiral further, he moved with the fluid grace of a predator, grabbing my wrist and pressing me against the wall. The cool\u00a0<\/p>\n
plaster against my back contrasted sharply with the heat radiating from his body as he leaned in.\u00a0<\/p>\n
*Since I\u2019ve already been struck, I might as well do something to fix it,\u201d he said, his voice dropping to a dangerous timbre as he bent\u00a0<\/p>\n
slightly to look directly into my eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The intensity of his gaze was magnetic, pulling me in despite my better judgment. I struggled to maintain my composure. \u201cMr. Sterling,\u00a0<\/p>\n
whatever this is about, we can discuss it calmly. Would you please let me go first?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLetting go would make it difficult to proceed,\u201d he replied, his words hanging in the air between us.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My face burned hot._\u00a0<\/p>\n
Proceed? Proceed with what?\u00a0<\/p>\n
He couldn\u2019t possibly mean what I thought he meant, could he?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2026 what do you want?\u201d I managed to ask, my voice barely audible even to my own ears.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMy jaw got scratched\u2013shouldn\u2019t you tend to it?\u201d he said suddenly, releasing me and stepping back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So that\u2019s what he meant by \u201cproceed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mortification washed over me anew. What had I been thinking? What kind of unprofessional thoughts had been running through my\u00a0<\/p>\n
mind?\u00a0<\/p>\n
He pulled a wet wipe from his pocket and held it out to me. \u201cYou do it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stared at the offered wipe, reluctance written across my features. \u201cMr. Sterling, you should probably do it yourself. I\u2019m not very gentle,\u00a0<\/p>\n
and I might hurt you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWho caused the injury?\u201d he asked pointedly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 61\u00a0<\/p>\n
I had no defense against that simple logic. With a sigh of resignation, I accepted the wet wipe and stepped closer to him. Rising on my tiptoes he was still frustratingly tall even with my heels\u2013I carefully cleaned the blood from his jaw.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Truthfully, the scratch was minor\u2013barely a paper cut. He was being utterly dramatic about the whole thing!\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was acutely aware of our proximity, less than two inches separating us. The subtle notes of his cologne\u2013sandalwood and something distinctly masculine\u2013enveloped me. I kept my eyes firmly fixed on the task at hand, refusing to look directly at him, though I could feel\u00a0<\/p>\n
the weight of his gaze on me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When I finished, I stepped back immediately, creating distance between us. \u201cMr. Sterling, you should probably put a small bandage on that\u00a0<\/p>\n
to prevent infection.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My tone was respectful, but inside I was rolling my eyes. Such a tiny scratch hardly warranted this level of attention.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The absurdity of the situation wasn\u2019t lost on me. Somehow, he had touched me inappropriately\u2013whether intentional or not\u2013and yet I was the one apologizing and caring for his minor injury. How was that fair?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIs there anything else you need, Mr. Sterling?\u201d I asked, my voice carefully neutral, though my patience was wearing thin. \u201cI really should\u00a0<\/p>\n
get back to my work.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ridley regarded me silently for a beat, then nodded with apparent satisfaction.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFine. I won\u2019t disturb your work then,\u201d he said curtly, already turning toward the door.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Sky Remembered the Touch of Our Unfinished Goodbyes by Lysa Orion Rehn 61 Chapter 61\u00a0 Cedar\u2019s POV\u00a0 I froze […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-zero-stars-for-daddy-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30460\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}