Anya’s POV
Orion’s voice cut clean through the air, deeper this time.
I froze mid-step. My heart jumped.
Kaia blinked, eyebrows lifting. “Orion?” she said like she couldn’t believe he stopped me over something so unimportant. Her laugh was too sweet. “She’ll be fine. She’s just the help.”
He looked at her — cold, unreadable — then said clearly, “Don’t talk to my employees like that.”
The room went silent — heavy, awkward, humiliating for her and somehow for me too. Kaia’s mouth parted, shocked. No one talked back to her. Especially not in front of someone like me. Her cheeks flushed, but not from embarrassment — from anger.
She shot me a glare sharp enough to peel skin. Like she blamed me for Orion defending me. Like I had stolen her spotlight.
My legs almost buckled.
Kaia smoothed
