LAUREN'S POV

I sat there, completely frozen, my mouth hanging wide open as my eyes locked onto someone I never imagined I would see again. My heart gave a startled thump, my breath catching in my throat. For a moment, I thought I was hallucinating.

It was him.

The man from last night.

Every detail of him stood out as if my memory had sharpened under a spotlight — the sharp line of his jaw, the confident arch of his brow, and that infuriatingly smug expression he carried like a second skin. He was walking calmly, purposefully, heading straight toward the desk in front of me as if the entire...