Chapter 68

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 entire thing belonged to him.

But how?

How in the world had he found me here? I hadn’t told him where I would be this morning. And even if by some strange coincidence this wasn’t about me, then what was he doing here of all places? Why was he dressed in a suit, looking like he’d just stepped out of some high-profile business magazine?

My t