I'd only been back twelve hours, and already my inbox looked like a war zone.
One week. One summit in Vienna. A few brutal layovers.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpuEzPv3Y4o
And I came back to find the entire rhythm of my org chart quietly rearranged.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfJKa4ob1Dg
Not by me. Not by anyone who reports to me.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPhIcTiQfgc
But by the man at the top.
Husine Begović didn't ask for opinions. He gave orders.
Still, when I saw Ayub's name missing from my leadership circle, I had to reread it three times.
Transferred. Reassigned.
To Lamija's division.
I sat back in my chair, jaw tight.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtsiODogfKG
He didn't even consult me. Not a message. Not a call.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwRojNB36yX
Just a quiet move that pulled one of my sharpest weapons off the board.
Ayub wasn't just good.
He was my stabilizer.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgEKxXvOyy9
The one I trusted when everything was on fire.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL0q3jfJO7V
Precise, unshakable, loyal to the bone.
I didn't have many of those.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡokv1uOQdOX
And Babo just handed him off like a spare part.
It was strategic. Sure.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhgATAezUtR
Babo saw a storm in Lamija and thought Ayub would be the anchor. That made sense.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOq5FbA39Jv
But what grated was how quietly it happened—no discussion, no warning.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQDMOVLy752
Just a line moved from one chart to another, as if it meant nothing.
To me, it did.
Ayub wasn't built for presentation.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡye4rcPrSK6
He was built for precision.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw6GfymvhmR
He's not a team player. He's a weapon.
And Lamija—God help her—I love her, but she doesn't even know what she's been handed.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtau6YMhoRR
Doesn't know what he is.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfnsDFng76M
What he's done.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn26JuKpFFl
What he's capable of when no one's watching.
She's going to try to manage him. Pull him out of the shadows.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtfjXLe3FY0
And she doesn't even know he's a loaded weapon—no trigger lock, no fucking safety.
I was still working through my flagged emails when the knock came.
Right on time.
Didn't even have to check the clock.
"Come in."
Ayub stepped inside. Shoulders squared. Jaw locked.
Too calm. The kind of calm that only means something’s already burning.
Then he sat.
Didn’t fidget. Didn’t posture.
But everything about him said exactly what he didn’t.
He didn’t want this.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYRgMestjuQ
And he was here to ask me to fix it.
"Morning," I said, motioning to the chair.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYtDMf7Gkia
"Jet lagged and already three fires deep, so just say it."
"I need to be reassigned," he said.
There it was.
I raised an eyebrow. "Thought so."
He shifted.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡscyiG9uIq1
"She's used to watching her team. I'm not used to being watched."
I leaned back, smirk already forming.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtN0032qofI
“Oh, I bet you’d love for her to watch you.”
His eyes flicked up—sharp, unreadable.
Didn’t bite. Didn’t blink.
I nodded, satisfied. “Yeah. That’s what I thought.”
I let the silence hang a second longer.
“You saw the update last night?”
He gave a short nod. “Thought it was a mistake.”
"It wasn't. Babo moved you. And we both know his decisions don't come with feedback forms."
I leaned back, waiting.
I knew what this was about.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlk3ctk7RzR
I just wanted to watch him lie to me.
“You don’t want to be on her team because you don’t want her to see the dirt on your hands?”
His jaw twitched. Barely.
“Every quiet threat. Every backchannel deal. Every mess you cleaned for me or Babo. You told me to keep her out of it. And I did.”
He didn’t answer.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG3UE5njnoB
Ayub’s silence wasn’t passive—it was a tell.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8uPnGw2Hkb
When it mattered, he shut down.
“I get it. You’ve got a thing for her. You always have. It’d be sweet—if it weren’t so fucking pathetic.”
I let it land. Then kept going.
“But now you’re on her team. In her space. Under her eyes.” I leaned in slightly. “And you know damn well she’s gonna see it. She’s sharp. Too sharp. She’ll figure out you’re not the quiet, good little boy scout you pretend to be.”
That finally earned me a look.
Controlled. Measured.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMmqG29Okv8
And just shy of murderous.
I smiled, slow.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdiKVb8f0Hp
“Oh, and let’s not pretend proximity doesn’t mess with you. You’ve been dodging her for a decade. Now you’re expected to sit across from her in meetings like she doesn’t rattle something in you that nothing else ever has.”
His stare darkened.
Still didn’t speak.
But I saw it—just beneath the stillness.
This wasn’t about logistics.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP6loi5Bvs0
It was about exposure.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡowoOXjAuh6
And Ayub doesn’t like being seen.
Especially not by her.
His jaw flexed.
Still nothing.
"You want me to go to Babo and reverse it? Can't. Wouldn't, even if I could."
His brow creased.
“You’re Babo’s sniper, Ayub. She works with you every day. She should know.”
Ayub’s jaw flexed.
“I don’t want her to know.”
His voice was low. Firm.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3TcSfqhjMu
Like the words hurt to say—but not enough to lie.
I looked at him.
“Why?”
He didn’t blink.
“Because I’ve done awful shit, Imran. For you. For your father. For her.” He paused. “And if she knew what I’ve done—what I’m still capable of—she’d never look at me the same.”
I exhaled, slow.
“Do you regret it?”
He didn’t hesitate.
“No.”
I nodded once.
“Would you do it again?”
He met my eyes. Steady.
“Tomorrow.”
I leaned back in my chair.
“Then she deserves to know exactly what just landed in her lap.”
I let the words land. Let the silence sit.
Then I added, lighter, "You know what might actually help though? We get her married off."
He blinked. Just blinked.
"I'm serious," I said, straight-faced. "Set her up. Vet the prospects. Do background checks, call their mothers, screen their blood type. Maybe get psychological evaluations done ahead of time."
I tapped my tablet. "You could run the whole operation. Set up interviews. Coffee tastings. Prayer compatibility tests."
His jaw locked, just slightly.
"I mean it," I added with a smirk.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyBAcG2Fgg6
"It'd be good for the company. Imagine the morale boost."
As he stood, he didn't say a word—just flicked me off on the way to the door.
I grinned.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5PHWUx6MAL
"That's more like it."
He walked out, shoulders still tight, but not shrinking.
I watched the door click shut behind him.
Maybe Babo knew what he was doing.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqhsXkDXpRh
But it still felt like a warning shot.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
And now we meet Imran — eldest son, CEO-in-training, corporate firefighter, part-time therapist, full-time older brother who absolutely did not sign up for any of this.
He's trying to keep the entire empire from imploding while his father plays chess with people's careers and his sister sharpens her metaphorical sword before breakfast.
Also, yes — his solution to workplace tension is matchmaking.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIZf20WHHdR
Respectfully, he's tired.
Ayub just wants to stay in the shadows and ruin lives quietly. 107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdfOzaMMx1K
Lamija wants control.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5jlcLbaFo9
And Imran just wants a functioning org chart and one (1) peaceful morning.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg0lbBPVGXK
He's not getting it.
Let me know if you're starting to pick a favorite.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjG64K6OITc
(And if it's not Imran by now, you're lying.)107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ104Lm3IJHK
107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4AIOsFrohf
- Ash&Olive
107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlISgbsxH0j
and then Add to home screen.