Chapter 2 - The Man Who Told Her to Play Along
The silence lasted only three seconds.
But to Khloe, it felt like an hour.
Jared stared at their joined hands.
Then slowly looked at the man sitting beside her.
“Who are you?”
The stranger didn’t answer immediately.
He simply took a sip of bourbon.
Calm.
Unbothered.
Like Jared wasn’t standing there.
Like Khloe wasn’t trembling beside him.
Finally, he spoke.
“Someone you don’t need to know.”
Jared laughed.
A fake laugh.
The kind Khloe knew too well.
“Oh, I see.”
His eyes moved toward Khloe.
“You found someone else already?”
Khloe felt her stomach tighten.
“No.”
Alexander’s fingers moved slightly.
A silent warning.
Stay with the act.
So she forced herself to speak.
“Yes.”
Jared’s expression changed.
Just slightly.
But she noticed.
He hated losing control.
“You’re lying.”
Alexander looked at him.
“No.”
One word.
Jared looked irritated.
“You don’t know her.”
Alexander leaned back.
“Neither did you.”
The sentence hit harder than a shout.
Khloe looked at him.
Because somehow, this stranger had said exactly what she had spent years trying to explain.
Jared stepped closer.
“You have no idea what kind of person she is.”
Alexander’s eyes became colder.
“And you do?”
The restaurant suddenly felt smaller.
Several employees had stopped pretending not to watch.
Jared lowered his voice.
“She’s unstable.”
Khloe’s fingers tightened.
There it was.
The same accusation.
The same weapon.
Alexander noticed.
“You say that often?”
Jared frowned.
“What?”
“That she’s unstable.”
Silence.
Alexander continued.
“People who need control usually convince others that the person resisting them is the problem.”
Jared’s face hardened.
“You should be careful.”
Khloe felt the atmosphere change.
Not because Alexander became angry.
Because he didn’t.
That was what scared her.
He remained completely calm.
The kind of calm that made powerful people nervous.
Jared noticed too.
For the first time, uncertainty appeared in his eyes.
The waiter approached quickly.
“Mr. Varga, your security team is waiting.”
Jared froze.
Security team.
Mr. Varga.
The name suddenly meant something.
Everyone in Seattle’s business world knew Alexander Varga.
The billionaire behind Varga International.
The man newspapers called ruthless.
The man competitors called impossible to defeat.
The man who owned shipping companies, technology firms, and private investment groups.
But rumors followed him.
Rumors about the people who worked for him.
The enemies he had.
The influence he carried.
Khloe looked at him differently.
The stranger she had accidentally chosen...
was not just a stranger.
Jared took a step back.
“This isn’t over.”
Alexander finally looked directly at him.
“Yes, it is.”
Jared stared.
Alexander’s voice remained quiet.
“You are leaving.”
Something about the way he said it made Jared actually listen.
After a few seconds, Jared walked away.
But before leaving, he looked at Khloe.
A warning.
A promise.
A threat.
Then he disappeared into the rain.
Khloe didn’t move.
She didn’t realize she had been holding her breath until Alexander released her hand.
“You can breathe now.”
She looked at him.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For dragging you into this.”
Alexander looked at her torn coat.
Her shaking hands.
Her exhausted eyes.
Then he asked:
“How long has he been following you?”
Khloe hesitated.
“Three months.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
She looked down.
Alexander waited.
Finally she whispered:
“Two years.”
Something changed in his expression.
Not anger.
Something quieter.
Recognition.
“Two years.”
Khloe nodded.
“He always said he loved me.”
Alexander looked toward the restaurant entrance where Jared had disappeared.
“And now?”
Khloe swallowed.
“Now I think he loved owning me.”
For the first time that night, Alexander Varga looked genuinely interested.
“Your name?”
“Khloe Bennett.”
He repeated it quietly.
“Khloe Bennett.”
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
A man’s voice spoke from the other side.
“Mr. Varga, we found the issue with tonight’s shipment.”
Alexander’s expression changed instantly.
Professional.
Cold.
“What issue?”
A pause.
Then:
“Your company records show an employee named Khloe Bennett authorized the shipment.”
Khloe froze.
“What?”
Alexander looked at her.
The woman hiding beneath his table minutes ago.
The woman who claimed she had never seen him before tonight.
The woman whose name had just appeared inside his most sensitive investigation.
The voice continued.
“Sir, the shipment was connected to a private account under investigation.”
Alexander slowly lowered the phone.
His eyes stayed on Khloe.
And for the first time...
she saw something dangerous.
Not anger.
Suspicion.
Because three minutes after saving her from her ex...
Alexander Varga had a new question.
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Who was Khloe Bennett?
And why was someone using her name?
