Three Years Forgotten, Why Go Crazy When I Say Goodbye? novel Chapter 109

"Mr. Thorne, please, sit here."

Willow heard Arthur's voice guiding the man to the head of the table. His tone was deeply deferential, bordering on reverence.

Willow frowned. Wasn't Arthur the CEO of Merit? Who on earth did he need to bow down to?

As she tried to make sense of it, the man finally spoke. "Apologies for the delay."

The deep, magnetic resonance of his voice hit Willow like a physical blow. She instantly recognized it—it was the exact same voice from the accidental phone call! There was no way she was mistaken. A voice that distinct, that intoxicatingly deep, was impossible to forget.

Drawn by some invisible gravity, Willow's eyes locked onto him. The moment their gazes met, she sucked in a sharp breath.

He was devastatingly handsome.

He eclipsed every male celebrity she had ever seen on screen.

He carried a lethal, untouchable elegance. Broad shoulders, impossibly long legs—she guessed he was easily six-foot-two or six-foot-three.

But it was his face that demanded absolute submission. His jawline looked like it could cut glass, his features were aggressively sharp, and his nose was a perfect, aristocratic slope. He wore gold-rimmed glasses, but rather than softening him, they only amplified his cold, predatory intellect. He radiated power and ruthless indifference.

Willow was utterly stunned. He was flawless, but utterly terrifying.

In a flash, she finally understood what the girls in the office and her mother had been raving about. They hadn't been exaggerating. She was just as paralyzed as they were.

Actually, she was worse. At least they had managed to gossip about it; she was just standing there staring like an idiot.

Arthur leaned in and quietly introduced him. "Ms. Horgan, this is Mr. Thorne."

Mr. Thorne? The name meant nothing to her. She had never heard it before.

Willow turned to stone. So, she had been dead wrong this entire time.

Arthur Vance was never the boss. The man sitting at the head of the table was.

It was mind-bending, but suddenly, all the puzzle pieces snapped into place.

No wonder her mother and the girls in the office were losing their minds over his looks!

No wonder the industry rumors called the Merit CEO a ruthless, cold-blooded tyrant!

None of those descriptions fit Arthur, but looking at the man in the gold-rimmed glasses, they made perfect sense.

Willow wanted the floor to open up and swallow her whole. Thinking about all the assumptions she had made, she felt her face burn with humiliation.