Dumped My Cheating Ex. Now I'm Sleeping Next to a Billionaire CEO novel Chapter 1683

Logically speaking, Steve should have left the moment his onboarding paperwork was finished. As an external legal counsel, he wasn't required to clock in and sit at a desk like a regular employee. His presence was only needed when the company encountered legal issues. Yet, not only did he stick around, but he also headed straight for the archive room outside the executive suite, digging through all the crucial contracts Agri-Tech Ventures had previously signed. He stayed all the way until the evening, long after the rest of the staff had trickled out for the day.

Working overtime had become a habit for Sylvia, and as usual, she was the last one remaining in the office. By the time she finally finished processing the documents on her desk and stepped out, the floor was entirely pitch black. She naturally assumed the company was completely empty. Rubbing her stiff shoulders, she casually flicked off the hallway sensor lights and the main breaker, then turned toward the elevators. But the very second she turned around, a tall, imposing shadow unexpectedly stepped out of the archive room she had just plunged into darkness.

"Ah!" Sylvia shrieked, her scalp prickling with sheer terror as her body instinctively recoiled several steps. When the faint glow of the streetlights filtering through the windows finally illuminated the man's face, her heart was still hammering wildly against her throat. "Steve? What are you still doing here?"

Standing half-concealed in the shadows, Steve leisurely waved the stack of contracts in his hand. "Since I have officially joined the company, I figured I should find something to do." He arched an eyebrow, his tone carrying a lazy sense of entitlement. "I haven't even complained about you turning off my lights, and here you are accusing me first?"

Sylvia knitted her brows and glanced down at her wristwatch. "It is seven thirty!" She suppressed the flare of annoyance in her chest and reminded him coldly. "It has been two hours since the workday ended. Why haven't you left?"

Sliding one hand into his dress pants pocket, Steve took a step forward, his deep eyes locking onto hers. "Oh, so you know it has been two hours since we closed. Why haven't you left?"

The retort caught Sylvia off guard. Her immediate instinct was to blurt out that they were nothing alike, that she was the boss while he was merely a consultant. But the words died on her tongue before they could escape. She knew Steve's sharp tongue far too well. Even if she said it, he would undoubtedly have a hundred comebacks waiting to shut her down. She was genuinely exhausted today and had absolutely no spare energy to engage in a verbal sparring match with him. Averting her gaze from his face, she turned around in silence and flipped the archive room lights back on.

Steve took in her evasive movements, his jaw clenching tight. As the elevator began its slow descent, the sensation of weightlessness only made the silence more unbearable.

"Want to grab dinner together?" Steve was the first to break the heavy silence, his voice pitched low.

Sylvia looked at him as if she had just heard the most ridiculous joke in the world.