The office was too quiet when Allison walked in. Not the kind of respectful quiet she used to get but a watching kind. Measured in glances and unsent messages. She could feel them the side-eyes. The people leaning in to whisper behind glass panels. The soft snorts of laughter that immediately died when she passed.
Alexa had warned her. "Once Aaron opened his mouth, it was over," she had said flatly, sipping coffee. "He didn't even say anything explicit. The rest wrote the story for him." And they did.
Apparently, Allison was "that woman." The one who had stolen the CEO. The "second lead" to Li Anya, who was always poised and perfect, the one people loved to idolize. Now they said Allison used her body to climb ranks
" It's not surprising if she said she was pregnant to get Lucian to be with her." A young lady said while she passed by.
"She moaned loud enough to make Aaron drop his tablet." Someone laughed.
None of it was true. But the truth didn't matter in offices like this. She kept her chin high anyway until she saw the post.
A private group chat screenshot floating around. "No wonder she was glowing. Heard she's expecting, haha."
"She probably jumped him right at the boardroom table next."
"If I were President Lucian, I would go back to Li Anya. She was all class."
"The redhead's just a cheap phase."
Allison stared at the screen of her form at the restroom, one hand instinctively curling around her stomach. Her baby was barely the size of a plum. She should be thinking about prenatal vitamins, about names, about baby clothes. Not this. She blinked away the sudden sting in her eyes and flushed the toilet just to mask the quiet sniff she couldn't hold in.
Lucian had been watching everything. He saw the stiff way she moved when she entered his office. Saw the tightness in her smile. He didn't ask immediately. Instead, he stood, walked over. Took her hand without a word and pulled her to the couch by the wide windows.
"You saw it" she said before he could ask.
"Yes." Her fingers tightened around his.
"Maybe they're right."
"Stop."
"I mean, I was on your lap at you office, Lucian."
He turned her face to his with a single hand under her jaw. "We're engaged. You carry my child. What happens between us is not their business."
"But they're saying I seduced you—"
"Did you?"
She looked at him. "Maybe." A beat passed. And then, he smiled a little. "Good." That startled a laugh out of her, shaky and half-drowned in leftover pain.
"I'll fire Aaron" he said quietly.
She shook her head. "They'll say you're proving them right."
"Let them." His voice sharpened. "He opened the door without knocking. He broke protocol. He disrespected you. That alone is enough."
She hesitated. "Lucian... I don't want to be the reason you bring the company down."
His hand moved over her stomach again, his new favorite place. "You're the reason I built it in the first place, remember I built it to hold power and find you back then." he whispered.
Lucian decided to hold an emergency meeting. When the executive team gathered at 8 p.m., most thought it was a budget call. Lucian sat at the head of the table, cold and composed, Allison was absent from his side for once. Aaron sat two seats down, looking uneasy.
Lucian's voice was razor-sharp. "Let me be very clear." He looked each one of them. "I don't care if it was whispers in the hallway, screenshots shared privately, or snide comments dressed up as jokes. If I so much as hear one more word about my fiancée, you're gone." He let that sit. Let it chill the room. Aaron opened his mouth.
Lucian raised a hand. "Aaron Li, you're dismissed from all duties effective immediately. HR has your severance package. Leave your badge at the door."
Aaron stood up, too fast, face red with shock. "You're doing this because—?"
"I'm doing this because you're the reason half this office forgot how to behave like professionals."
"And she—"
"Get out." There was silence as Aaron left.
Lu Quing looked back at the room. "Next time you knock and wait for an answer or better still call the telecom."
Allison was curled up on the couch in the villa in one of his shirts, scrolling through baby articles. Her face was puffy from crying, but when he walked in, she tucked her phone away and tried to smile.
Lucian walked to her, knelt in front of the couch, and pressed his forehead to her stomach. She ran her fingers through his hair. "Rough day?"
"They won't speak your name again," he said against her belly. "Not unless it's with respect."
Allison smiled, small and real. "You're intense."
"I'm in love."
She blinked, "That was... sudden."
"I should've said it earlier."
She brushed her thumbs along his cheeks. "Say it again."
He looked up at her, eyes dark and steady. "I'm in love with you, Allison."
He pulled her into his lap, wrapping her up like she was made of silk, she let herself believe it, that maybe they were going to be okay. Two days after Aaron's dismissal, the Lu Corporation was still recovering. The gossip died fast, not because people suddenly developed a conscience, but because they were terrified. Terrified of the man in the corner office, terrified of the quiet woman who didn't cry in public, didn't snap or scream, just walked like the floor belonged to her and looked people in the eye without blinking.
But that morning, the tension in the air twisted into something worse. Yevana had entered the building. With heels, pearls, and two of the Lu family's oldest shareholders flanking her like puppets. The kind of men who could make or break careers with a phone call. And she wasn't smiling this time.
Allison hadn't been called to the meeting. Not officially. But someone had sent her a text.
"Mom is here. And she asked for you. Come. Now."
So Allison stood by the door, hand on the handle, heart drumming like it wanted out of her chest. She didn't know what to expect, a confrontation? A public shaming?
Yevana has acknowledged her but she didn't know of that was going to last. Especially now, with whispers that Lucian was letting his personal life interfere with the board.
She opened the door to see her mother in-law, Lucian and the board members and some members of the company.
Yevana stood up. "Good" the older woman said, voice neutral but authoritative. "You're here. Come."
Allison walked forward slowly, shoulders tense. Yevana didn't ask her to sit. Instead, she faced the room like a queen giving a final verdict. "I've heard enough" she said. "Enough rumors, enough speculation. Enough of this Li Anya nostalgia fantasy some of you can't let go of." Several men shifted in their chairs, glancing at each other.
Yevana continued. "Allison is carrying my grandchild. She is the woman Lucian chose. And unless one of you can present a financial reason why her presence damages this company, I suggest you keep your mouths shut moving forward."
One of the older members, Director Evan, spoke up. "We merely raised concerns about appearances—"
"You raised nothing" Yevana snapped. "You nodded along while others mocked a pregnant woman. Have you no shame?"
Evan recoiled like he had been slapped. Yevana turned to Allison then and this time, her voice softened. "You've handled more cruelty in five months than most people survive in a decade" she said. "And you didn't run. You didn't beg. You held your head high, even when things tried to tear you apart." Allison blinked fast. But Yevana wasn't done. "To anyone still too blinded by the past, wake up. Li Anya was never going to marry my son. She never saw this family as hers. Allison does. She loves without calculation. She's loyal in silence. She's exactly the kind of steel this family needs."
And then Yevana walked up to her. Took her hand. So the entire board could see. "This is my daughter-in-law," she said. "Officially. Anyone who disrespects her disrespects me." A stunned silence.
Then Lucian stood too. Moved beside them both. Allison tried to say something — anything — but her voice failed. So instead, she just looked up at him. He nodded. I told you, his eyes said. You're not alone.
At home, Allison sat under the stars, wrapped in a cardigan, her phone screen glowing. Messages were flooding in, apologies, PR drafts, even florists from the company sending her gift baskets. She hadn't replied to any of them.
Lucian came out with two mugs. She took one. "I don't know what to say to her." He tilted his head. "Your mother. She's... terrifying. And kind. But terrifying."
He smirked. "You should've seen her when I failed an assignment." She giggled. He tucked her hair behind her ear, fingers grazing her cheek.
"You okay?" he asked.
"I think so" she whispered. "I just… I didn't think she would defend me like that. Not in front of everyone."
His voice was soft but sure. "She claimed you."
Allison swallowed the lump in her throat. Then suddenly, she turned in her chair and pressed her forehead to his. "Do you think I'll be a good mother?" Lucian looked at her like she was the only answer that ever mattered.
"I know" he said slowly, "our child is going to be the luckiest little soul in the world." Her smile broke not wide, not showy. Just quiet and full of light. She leaned in, kissed him soft. Then whispered, "I love you too."