#Chapter 11: Boundaries Broken

Lauren's POV The office was suffocating, the air thick with unspoken words and tension I couldn’t bring myself to confront. I wanted to leave, to vanish from the shadow of his penetrating gaze, but time had other plans. The director excused himself without a second thought, leaving me alone with Alexander. The man I had run from for 5 years was just a few steps away, a whirlwind of emotions all trying to push to the surface at once, leaving me frozen. “Lauren,” he breathed my name like a reverent prayer, his voice carrying an ache that pierced through the fragile shield I’d built around myself. His eyes—those deep, stormy eyes—shone with something raw and unrestrained, a mixture of joy and disbelief that made me flinch. “I thought you were dead… This is… unbelievable.” He moved toward me as if afraid I might vanish, like a ghost he couldn’t bear to lose again. The sheer intensity of his gaze sent an involuntary shiver coursing through me. I straightened my spine, willing my