The Heiress Spoiled by Four Brothers and One Devilish CEO-Chapter 146 I Was Terrified of Losing You
The pain she braced for never came—instead, all she heard was a bullet striking metal.
By then, Tristan and Megan had already rushed into the building, taking cover behind a large pillar. Megan’s hands were shaking as she turned him over, checking frantically for any signs he’d been shot.
"What the hell were you thinking, throwing yourself in front of me? You could’ve been killed!" she yelled, eyes blazing.
Tristan’s gaze was intense. Even though he was staring at the face of a stranger—this wasn’t the familiar face he longed for—he could tell she was genuinely panicked.
He wrapped his arms around her tightly. "I was terrified of losing you."
Megan’s body stiffened. She looked up, eyes wide. "You knew it was me all along, didn’t you?"
"I figured it out back in the storage room when I saved you," he nodded.
"Tristan..." her voice trembled, eyes welling up. "You stayed up all night designing that mini bullet interceptor, didn’t you? Because you were scared something like this would happen."
"I wasn’t going to let anything happen to you. I won’t risk losing you," Tristan said as he called Cameron. "Lock down the entire Reid building. No one gets in or out until security checks are complete."
Right then, Megan remembered the metallic thud of the bullet earlier. She looked out past the edge of the pillar—Nova Tech lay there alone on the ground, trampled by the panicked crowd as people rushed into the building.
Her nose stung with emotion. She tried to rush out and grab it, but Tristan tightened his hold on her. "Stop. It’s not safe!"
Her eyes were red. "If I don’t go, it’ll be completely destroyed!"
Tristan kept her firmly in his arms. "It’s just a machine..."
"But it has a mind of its own! It’s not just some tool!"
He gently pressed her head against his chest. "It’s too dangerous out there. Stay here, okay? I promise I’ll get it fixed."
She stopped resisting, wrapping her arms around his waist, burying her face into his chest.
They hugged like they’d done a hundred times before, but now, to everyone in the lobby, it looked like something that could burn your eyes out—it was that dazzling. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺
The receptionist who once tried to flirt with Megan mumbled, "Told y’all. Total bottom."
"Can’t believe Mr. Landon actually swings that way."
"But isn’t Mr. Reid married to a woman?"
"You don’t get it. Rich folks live life at another level. Anything goes."
"Bi for the win, huh? I just wanna know when they started hooking up."
...
"Tristan!"
Megan whipped her head around to see Oliver storming toward them in a rage, pulling off his jacket.
Tristan frowned and pulled Megan behind him just in time to block Oliver’s incoming punch.
"What’s going on, Oliver?" he asked, blocking another swing.
"You’ve seriously fallen for a short dude? That’s low, even for you!"
"You’re getting it all wrong!" Tristan shoved him aside.
Megan was mortified. She looked around at the crowd—all of them staring at her like she was some outrageous scandal.
"What’s there to misunderstand? Everyone can see it! How could you do this to Megan?"
As Oliver raised his fist again, Megan stepped in between them.
"I am Megan Shaw!"
His punch froze in the air. The entire lobby went dead silent, like the sound had been sucked right out of the room.
People began to wonder if they had just imagined what they heard."Well, there’s nothing left to hide now." Megan pulled off the headgear and peeled away the hyper-realistic mask underneath. She ran a hand through her flattened hair. "Megan is Landon Haynes, and Landon Haynes is me! Starting today, the CEO of NexusStar will officially go by Megan!"
Oliver slowly withdrew his hand, still seemingly stunned by the revelation.
Megan gave a faint smile. "Alright, everyone go back to work. The shooting incident will be handled by the police."
The employees shuffled towards the elevators in a daze. Out of nowhere, someone reached for a concealed automatic pistol at their waist, aimed it briefly at Megan—
Before they could pull the trigger, a voice chimed through their earpiece, halting them.
Without a word, they put the gun away and blended back into the crowd.
Oliver let out a quiet chuckle. "Never would’ve guessed the real boss of NexusStar was just a girl. So, you were the one negotiating with me all along?"
"Sorry about that, Mr. Lewis. I didn’t mean to mislead you—just that the timing wasn’t right."
"And when exactly is the ’right’ time?"
Megan arched a brow. "Probably when I can match Tristan’s wealth."
Tristan shot Oliver a frosty look. "Satisfied now? Her identity’s out in the open."
Oliver scoffed. "You think I did all this for myself? It was for Megan’s sake."
"Megan? Don’t get too familiar." Tristan pulled her close with one arm, gently fixing her hair with the other. His voice dropped a couple degrees colder. "And don’t forget what Mrs. Lewis said yesterday—we’re not stepping foot in your house ever again."
Oliver sighed, his voice softening. "Come on, Tristan, let’s not make this worse. My mother was clearly misled. Besides, Megan’s my mom’s goddaughter, not hers. I’m here today to apologize. Right after you left last night, she fainted from the stress."
Tristan’s expression darkened, but before he could speak, Megan stopped him. "We all know the truth. Is your mom alright?"
"Doctor came by last night—said it was emotional stress," Oliver took a step closer. "I figured you’d both be upset, so I didn’t call. I actually planned to track you down after the ribbon-cutting to say sorry."
"It’s fine. I’ll visit her another day, just the two of us."
Hearing her change from "godmother" to "Mrs. Lewis," Oliver felt a pang in his chest, but he kept his smile in place. "If you go see her, I bet she’ll recover instantly."
Just then, Ryan barged in with a few officers. "We got a report of gunfire. Where’s Landon Haynes?"
Megan raised her hand, calm as ever. "That would be me."
Ryan stared at her, clearly skeptical. "Are you messing with me, Mrs. Reid?"
She tossed him the wig and synthetic mask. "There’s no such person as Landon Haynes. He was just a role I played."
Right then, Arthur ran over holding a pile of broken machine parts. "Megan, is this what you were looking for?"
The remnants of Nova Tech were beyond saving. Megan took them from him, expression falling. Quiet, she turned toward the executive elevator, Tristan following close behind.
As the doors closed, Megan suddenly looked at Ryan. "If you’re gonna take my statement, come up to the office."
The group exited on the 88th floor.
As Megan stepped out, she caught sight of Marissa, who had just tried to flirt with "Landon" that morning. The moment their eyes met, Marissa’s face turned red as a beet. She lowered her head and hustled out of sight, mortified that she’d hit on her female boss.
She could only pray this wouldn’t cost her her job.
