PhyllisPhilips

She only wanted to disappear.
He was never supposed to notice her.

Lyra Elmont has built her life on invisibility—an unbonded Omega hiding in the corridors of the powerful Virelux Corporation. But a single misstep at the company gala ends in heat, instinct, and a night in the arms of the Alpha she fears most: CEO Cassian Dorne.

She flees before dawn. Leaves no name. No trace.

Except for a broken heirloom earring... and the bond neither of them expected.

Now, as Lyra battles rising instincts and a pregnancy she can’t explain away, Cassian is drawn to a scent he can’t forget—haunted by a ghost he never knew he touched. Secrets unravel, tensions rise, and instinct threatens to destroy the careful world they’ve built.

In a society where bonds define status and secrecy is survival, some claims are impossible to erase.

Unspoken Claim

The news hit the internal communications feed at exactly 9:03 AM.

"In light of ongoing speculation, I wish to formally confirm the end of my engagement to Ms. Celeste Deveraux. This decision was made amicably, with mutual respect. Please direct any external inquiries to PR. — C. Dorne"

Just a few sentences. No names beyond the obvious. No reasons. No apologies.

Lyra stared at the screen like it might change. It didn't.

She read it again. Then a third time.

Across the room, no one said anything. But she could feel it. The heat of attention on the back of her neck.

Watchful. The way people watched a fuse burning too close.

The elevator ride up had already been off-kilter. She'd been summoned to finish her last strategy task before being reassigned. Her badge wouldn't scan past Friday.

By the time she got to her desk, the quiet buzz of gossip had solidified into something tighter. Smarter. Quieter.

At noon, Michael cornered her near the print station.

She looked at him, blinking hard. "I don't know."

He didn't press. Just nodded and handed her a data report, the old-fashioned kind. Printed. Folded. As if words carried differently when held in hand.

Admin Floor – Later

Ms. Hensley barely greeted her. Dara looked at her like she was an infection that might be spreading.

Lyra kept her head down, found her old chair, and opened the same admin system she'd learned to navigate two years ago.

Her inbox had already been filtered. Her authority had already been revoked.

She existed now in the space between former and dangerous. Like a rumor that had almost become a fact.

He read the reassignment log on his tablet, jaw tight.

It had gone through another channel. Quiet. Efficient. Under the guise of workflow rebalancing.

He could override it. He should.

But strategy was too hot now. Too many eyes. Too many board members circling like sharks with legal degrees and press connections.

He stared at the file for a long time. Lyra's ID, her reassigned unit, her now-muted access.

He'd chosen not to mention her in the announcement.

Not to drag her name into the center of the storm. Not yet.

But now, with her name off the executive floor and back on the lower admin rolls, he wasn't sure if silence had protected her.

Or just made it easier for others to erase her.

> Letizia Dorne: "You still think staying quiet is noble? Cassian, you're either writing the narrative or watching someone else rewrite her out of it."

The Announcement