"...I don’t remember any of this," Grayson said slowly.

"There’s... several surveillance footage in the assembly hall. Perhaps it would be better if you saw it yourself." Bryan Stewart’s expression became a little embarrassed for not thinking of this idea earlier.

He pulled up the video on Grayson’s quantum computer and set every single surveillance angle in a holographic display between them.

Grayson watched in silence as the recording played. He saw himself sitting amongst the directors and looked no different from usual. He saw Neville standing at the podium, his presence somehow transformed into something magnetic and dangerous.

And then he saw himself tolerating Neville’s behavior in every way, with a very questionable reason. To be fair, it seemed to be all according to plan, but something was odd with his own reactions. He watched himself express an expression and mood that was completely foreign to him.

"Pause it," Grayson commanded, his voice strangely hoarse.

Bryan Stewart complied.

The image froze on a frame that showed Grayson being poked by Neville on the cheek to calm down.

"Did I do anything else," Grayson asked carefully, "aside from what’s in this footage?"

The silence that followed was a little awkward for Bryan Stewart.

"Not... much, in my opinion." Bryan Stewart said, in the tone of someone who was very carefully selecting which truths to share. "You’re just... somewhat attentive towards Hope during the meeting... and thereafter."

"Attentive?"

Bryan Stewart nodded slowly.

"You approached him from behind, maybe whispered a couple of times in his ear? You..." he coughed delicately. "I think you also probably glared at anyone who looked at him for too long."

Grayson’s jaw tightened. "Why would I do that?" This was worse than he thought.

Bryan Stewart seemed to consider his answer very carefully before speaking.

"Perhaps because Keaton Hewitt?" he answered with a speculative tone. "He has been making rather obvious—no, blatant attempts to poach Hope from our company? The Hewitt heir—oh, the current CEO, has been quite... persistent in showing his interest and admiration towards Hope throughout that day."

A flicker of something dark passed through Grayson’s eyes. He seemed to understand why his reaction was like that. Although he didn’t remember it, his body seemed to remember its enemy, Keaton Hewitt.

"Seems reasonable," he said aloud, while nodding absentmindedly.

Although something inside him whispered that it wasn’t the whole truth. That there was another reason. But every time he tried to grasp it, he couldn’t.

He rose from his chair and walked to the window facing the secretarial department. He needed the distance to think clearly. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Then something caught his attention.

Two figures were walking out of the secretarial department. One tall and broad-shouldered, the other smaller, with hazel-brown hair.

Grayson’s eyes narrowed.

Neville was walking beside Liam Rivera, whom he recognized as from HR. They appeared to be having a pleasant conversation.

Liam Rivera animatedly, while Neville nodded along, his expression polite, but he seemed not to understand what the other was saying. Then Liam Rivera leaned slightly towards Neville to whisper something. After hearing that, Neville bloomed a smile that created a little blush on his pale face.

Grayson’s fingers tightened against the window frame before he even realized what he was doing. Then he watched as Liam Rivera continued to say something to Neville lightheartedly. Then Neville’s curve into the faintest suggestion of a smile.

Seeing that small but restrained smile on Neville’s face, ticked every nerve on Grayson’s body.

When was the last time Neville had smiled at him like that? Had he ever smiled at him like that?

A muscle in Grayson’s jaw ticked.

The rational part of his mind understood that he was being unreasonable and that it was an unusual reaction.

Neville had the freedom to talk to anyone he wanted, no matter what gender they were. He could also smile at whomever he wanted. Grayson had absolutely no reason or right to feel this way while watching him interact with other people.

And he couldn’t help but feel these dark, irrational, and utterly abominable feelings.

"Bryan," he said a little too sharply than he intended.

"Sir?"

"The materials inspection trip for the starship project. When is it scheduled?"

"Three days from now, sir. The preliminary itinerary has already been drafted. We’ll be visiting the mining facilities on—"

"Notify Hope that he will come with us."

Bryan Stewart paused, his tablet stylus hovering mid-notation. "Technical Assistant Neville Hope, sir?"

"Is there another Hope in this company that I should be aware of?" Grayson’s tone was dry, but his gaze remained fixed on the entrance of the secretarial department, where the subject of their discussion had just disappeared.

"No, sir. I just..." Bryan Stewart hesitated, choosing his next words with care. "May I ask why? It’s not typical for assistants to accompany us on such high-level inspections."

Grayson turned from the window, his expression the very picture of calm rationality.

"The Black Ocean Project was his proposal. He should see it through to the end—be a part of every single aspect of its development." He tilted his head slightly, as if the logic were so obvious that it barely warranted explanation. "Isn’t that reasonable?"

It was perfectly reasonable. So reasonable that Bryan Stewart couldn’t find a valid reason for objection, even though he felt that something about this instruction was shady. Grayson’s words were unusually...loaded after all.

"Of course, sir," Bryan Stewart said, making a note on his light brain. "I’ll inform Secretary Hope of the arrangements."

"See that you do."

Grayson returned to his desk, but his mind was elsewhere. He stared back at Neville’s frozen image in the surveillance. He clenched his fist beneath the desk, where Bryan Stewart couldn’t see.

It’s just because he’s a valuable employee, he told himself. It’s natural to want to keep talented staff close. It has nothing to do with anything else.

But even as he formed the thought, some deeper part of him knew that he was just lying to himself.