Page 71 of Surrendering to the Obsession

“Mrs. Graves?”

Mia glanced up, startled out of her thoughts.

Anita’s eyes searched hers, soft but questioning. “Did you have a fight with Mr. Graves?”

Mia shook her head, forcing a small, tight-lipped smile. “No… why do you ask?”

Anita’s gaze lingered, concern deepening. “I noticed Mr. Graves hasn’t spoken to you for the past two days… I was wondering if something happened between you two.”

Mia’s lips pressed together. She said nothing at first, but as Anita’s words settled, a cold realization crept over her. It wasn’t just her imagination—Alexander really wasn’t talking to her.

At that moment, the sound of footsteps made both women look up. Alexander was descending the stairs, impeccably dressed for the office.

Mia’s hands froze, the bread in her fingers forgotten. She quickly straightened and called out with a smile, her voice light but hopeful. “Mr. Graves, let’s have breakfast together. Anita made a really tasty soup today. It’s your favorite one.”

Alexander’s hand paused on the railing. His eyes, framed by the rectangular lenses of his glasses, met hers—but the softness, the affection she had grown so used to, was gone. In its place was a cold, distant intensity that made her stomach tighten.

“I’m not hungry,” he said simply, his voice calm but edged with a cold detachment. His gaze swept past her to Anita, then back to the stairs, and without another word, he turned and walked out the front door, his figure disappearing with a sense of finality that made the room feel emptier than before.

Anita’s gaze lingered on him, worry etched deep across her features, before she reluctantly turned back to Mia.

Mia’s fingers curled into tight fists on the table, knuckles white as her hands clenched around the edge. Her whole body stiffened, tense from head to toe. She watched Alexander’s indifferent back vanish through the door, and a sharp ache twisted in her chest.

‘Why is Mr. Graves behaving this way?’ she thought, the question echoing in her mind. Her heart thumped in her chest, and a flicker of fear burned inside her. ‘Does he… not like me anymore?’

Mia’s face fell, an upset shadow settling over her features as she watched Alexander disappear from her view. All she could do was watch his back vanish, her heart sinking with every step. She remained frozen for a moment, staring at the space he had just occupied, before sighing softly and forcing herself to get ready. After dressing and gathering her things, she left the house and made her way to the office, though her steps felt heavy, weighed down by the ache in her chest.

As she entered the office, she immediately sensed a commotion. Voices were raised, people were moving quickly in all directions, and a tangible tension hung in the air. Her eyes darted around, searching for the source of the chaos.

Before she could even take a step further, Poppy rushed up beside her, her expression a mixture of excitement and disbelief.

“Why are you late?” Poppy asked, glancing sharply at her.

Mia forced a casual shrug. “Traffic… got stuck,” she lied, hiding the fact that tears had threatened to fall on her way to work—the memory of Alexander’s cold, distant behavior still stinging painfully.

“Oh, you wouldn’t believe what happened while you were not here!” Poppy leaned closer, her voice dropping to a whisper, as though sharing a juicy secret. “There was such a huge fight today. You weren’t here to see it, but it was absolutely wild. I’ve never seen a company erupt like this before—it was chaos!”

Mia’s brow furrowed with interest, her previous sorrow momentarily forgotten. “A fight? What do you mean? What happened?”

Poppy’s eyes widened, as if she were reliving the chaos. “People from Sinclair Corporation came to our office today. They caused such a ruckus—shouting, demanding to see Mr. Graves. And do you know what? He flat out refused to see any of them. They’ve been trying to reach him for days, but he wouldn’t respond. So they got angrier… and the whole lobby practically turned into a battlefield!”

Mia’s body tensed instantly. “Sinclair Corporation?” she repeated, her voice a mix of shock and disbelief.

“Yeah,” Poppy continued, lowering her voice slightly, “Graves Corporation has apparently been giving them a lot of trouble over the past few weeks. All that tension built up, and the shareholders decided to confront Mr. Graves in person. At first, they tried talking over the phone, but when no one answered, they came straight down. And when Mr. Graves refused to meet them, things escalated fast… it got really loud and chaotic downstairs.”

Savannah stepped in, holding a tablet. “It’s even on the TV,” she said, pointing toward the screen across the room. Mia’s eyes slid over, watching the footage. Though there was no sound, the video clearly showed people shouting and jostling loudly at the company’s entrance.

Mia watched, stomach twisting. She leaned closer, frowning. “They’re not from some small company… how can a fight like this even happen?” Her lips pressed tight, a sour feeling curling in her chest. “If there was a real issue, they could have handled it calmly—meetings, discussions… something professional. What’s the point of all this chaos?”

She shook her head, lips forming a thin line. “This… this is madness,” she muttered under her breath, distaste clear in every glance as she observed the scene.

“Yeah,” Savannah muttered under her breath, glancing at the screen, “but the thing is… this has been going on for weeks. And in the last couple of days, it’s gotten so bad that they had to come down themselves. I wonder what’s Empire Group doing to them.”

Mia nodded slightly, her attention glued to the video as chaos unfolded on the screen.

Meanwhile, in his office, Alexander’s eyes were locked on the security monitors, every muscle in his body taut. His fingers twitched against the polished surface of the desk, leaving deep, angry red impressions in his palms as he gripped it tightly. His jaw clenched, and the veins along his temples throbbed as his gaze never wavered from Mia on the screen.

When she began speaking about James and his company, his chest stiffened, yet he didn’t move his gaze. Instead, he folded his arms across his chest, leaning forward slightly, eyes burning as he observed her.