Familiar Eyes

There’s something cruel about being looked at like a stranger by the only man who ever knew the real you.

Damien’s voice still echoed in my head long after he disappeared down the hallway. “Have we met before?”

I’ve replayed that line a hundred times in my head, wondering if it was curiosity… or instinct. Because I didn’t just haunt this building.

I haunted him.

Five years ago, he used to whisper my name like it was sacred. Nia. Now he calls me Elise. Says it like it fits me. Like it belongs.

I’m wearing a ghost’s skin, and it fits too well.

“Everything okay?” Talia asked, leaning over my desk with a curious brow. “You looked like you saw a ghost.”

I gave her the fakest smile I could find. “Just tired.”

She laughed. “Welcome to corporate.”

She walked off, and I leaned back in my chair, trying to unclench my jaw. I didn’t expect Damien to speak to me this soon. Didn’t expect him to stare that long, either.

And I definitely didn’t expect my chest to tighten when he did.

Get it together, Nia. You're not here to fall into memories. You’re here to burn them.

I opened my inbox and saw a message from IT with a subject line that stopped my heart cold:

Access Flagged: Unauthorized Download Detected

Shit.

My fingers hovered over the keyboard. What exactly did they see? How much did they track? It was just a copy of that one folder from earlier—how fast did they respond?

A second email came in immediately after.

Subject: “Meeting Request: Internal Review”

From Roxanne Ford Head of Internal Security.

Perfect.

At exactly 5:00 PM, I found myself in a quiet glass office near the back of the floor, sitting across from Roxanne, a woman with zero smile lines and eyes like a sniper.

She stared at me like she’d already decided I was guilty of something.

“Miss Ward,” she said, folding her hands on the desk. “Mind explaining why your credentials were used to download private board data?”

I swallowed hard. Not panic. Just playing the part.

“I was assigned onboarding documents by Talia. She told me to get familiar with some of the older accounts and reports.”

Roxanne didn’t blink. “And you thought ‘Board Access Only’ folders were part of that?”

Lie. Clean. Controlled.

“I assumed it was a mistake in labeling. I’m still learning the directory structure.”

She tapped her pen against her notepad. “Your file says you’ve worked at Phoenix Capital. They used a similar system. Shouldn’t you know better?”

She was digging.

I met her stare without blinking. “At Phoenix, I worked with marketing reports, not internal files. I wasn’t high-level.”

Her lips twisted slightly, but she didn’t push. Instead, she stood and opened the door.

“You’re fine. Just a warning. But next time? Ask.”

I nodded. “Understood.”

As I stepped into the hallway, Damien was standing there.

Of course he was.

He looked down at me, unreadable as always. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” I lied again. “Roxanne just wanted to go over onboarding protocol.”

He nodded slowly. “She’s thorough.”

His eyes dragged across my face again like he was trying to read something that wasn’t there. “You really don’t remember me?”

I froze.

“What?”

He tilted his head. “Your eyes. There’s something about them. Like I’ve seen them before.”

“Maybe in another life,” I said quietly.

He chuckled under his breath, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Maybe.”

And then he walked away.

That night, my apartment felt colder than usual. Or maybe it was me. The lights were off, but I didn’t turn them on. I sat on the floor, laptop in front of me, phone on speaker.

Rina’s voice came through with static. “What the hell, Nia? That folder you pulled? It’s not just money laundering.”

I leaned closer. “What is it?”

“It’s contracts. Signed by offshore shell corps. Payments tied to private security firms black-badge types. One of them? CrossPoint Industries. Know who runs it?”

“Gideon Cross.”

“Exactly. The same ghost who saved your ass five years ago.”

My jaw clenched. Gideon had gone off-grid years ago. I didn’t even know if he was still alive.

“So Julius is using him again?”

“Looks like it. But it gets messier. Some of these contracts are recent. Like… last month.”

I swallowed hard. “You think he’s cleaning house again?”

Rina didn’t respond for a few seconds. Then: “Yeah. And that means you're on the list.”

I closed the laptop and leaned my head back against the wall.

“Thanks, Rina.”

“Just don’t get dead again. That was hard enough the first time.”

I smiled weakly. “No promises.”

The next morning, the air in the building was different.

Tighter.

Like everyone felt the tension but didn’t know where it was coming from.

I got to my desk, logged in, and saw an unread message in my inbox titled: “Westwood Global Charity Gala – RSVP”

Of course. The annual event where the richest people in the city pretend they care about orphans while sipping ten-thousand-dollar whiskey. And I was expected to attend.

Which meant Julius Westwood would be there.

And maybe… so would Gideon.

I clicked “Accept.”

It was time to stop watching from the sidelines. If I wanted the truth, I had to go where the monsters danced.

By lunchtime, Damien called for me again.

Except this time it wasn’t in the hallway. It was his office. Just me and him.

The moment I stepped in, I felt the air shift. He was sitting behind his desk, blazer off, sleeves rolled, top button undone. He didn’t say a word at first. Just looked at me.

Then finally: “Elise, do you believe in second chances?”

My throat tightened. “I believe in surviving the first one.”

His lips curved slightly. “That’s a good answer.”

He gestured for me to sit. “I have a feeling about you. Like you’re supposed to be here.”

“I am.”

“Funny. I don’t remember hiring you.”

I swallowed. “Talia did. I went through the usual process.”

He nodded slowly, but his eyes never left mine.

“Still. There’s something about you that feels… unfinished.”

He stood up and walked around the desk, standing in front of me.

“Tell me something,” he said, voice lower now. “If you could go back and change one moment in your life… would you?”

I blinked.

“No,” I said. “But I’d make sure someone else didn’t get away with it.”

His stare sharpened.

And for a split second — just one — I swear he saw me.

Not Elise.

Me.

Nia.

But then his phone buzzed. He looked down, curse under his breath, and stepped away to answer it.

I stood.

Because if I stayed a second longer, I’d break character.

And I can’t afford that.

Not when the lies are just starting to crack.