Bryce noticed that she had a lost look on her face, and he became worried at once.
"What happened?" He was worried that she would hate him for hiding such a big issue from him.
"Nothing," Marissa replied breathlessly.
"I was just surprised that you are the elusive CEO of Snow Corps, you have no idea what this means," she continued.
"Are you scared? Or are you worried?" Bryce inquired.
"Neither of the two, it is just surreal to know that despite your position as Alpha, you still keep a billion dollar corporation in check, how do you do it?" Marissa genuinely questioned him.
She suddenly transformed into his fan girl.
Bryce had a shy look on his face on hearing her compliment. He had heard enough compliments, but hers was special.
'Mate is so cute,' Drex purred.
'Agreed,' Bryce agreed.
"Alright, I don't know if I can accompany you to your company one of these days, I haven't seen what a modern company looks like," Marissa requested with pouted lips.
"Of course, you are my mate, and I will introduce you to my employees as my wife," Bryce was more than excited to fulfill her wishes as it aligned with his.
__________
The next day, as Marissa requested, they visited the company. They were not alone --- Gray and Bethany decided to accompany them, while slowly building up their bond.
"Wow, it's very huge," Bethany whispered to Marissa once they stepped out of the car.
"I agree with you," Marissa said with a proud smile on her face.
"I can't believe he is the CEO, he is very powerful," Bethany gushed.
"Gray is also powerful, I heard he co-founded the company with Bryce," Marissa pointed to Gray who was discussing with Bryce.
"Our mates are very powerful, the Moon Goddess sure is nice to give us such powerful mates," Bethany giggled.
"Let's go in," Bryce's words interrupted the two ladies with the five of them, including Damien walking into the big company.
Their entrance caused quite a stir between the employees who were on the last floor. They were all wondering who the ladies were as this was the first time they would see ladies by the boss's side.
Their attention was particularly drawn to Marissa due to the blindfold she was putting on.
A few minutes later, Bryce, Marissa and Damien headed to Bryce's office, while Bethany and Gray headed to his office.
"Boss, you have a meeting with the directors today, I think they have made progress in the investigation," Damien read out Bryce's schedule for the day.
Marissa, who was seated on the sofa present in the office listened.
"You are a very busy man," she commented.
"If you want, we can go out, all these can wait," Bryce stated.
He had no idea how his words impacted Damien who was forced to take a step backwards. Damien turned to look at Marissa, hoping that she didn't accept Bryce's decision.
"What? No! Are you crazy?" Marissa exclaimed.
"You are ditching your work because of me? That's crazy," Marissa shook her head dramatically.
Damien, on the other hand, let out a sigh of relief. He thanked Marissa inwardly for making the right choice.
Bryce stared intensely at Marissa who nodded assuringly.
"Come on, you can't be like those men who would abandon work for beauty," Marissa joked.
Damien stifled a laugh, but put on a serious expression after being glared at by Bryce.
"Fine, stay here, don't leave this place, I'd be back soon, I will ask my secretary to get you something to eat, you didn't have breakfast this morning," Bryce had a worried look on his face while he observed Marissa.
"You make it seem like I am a child, go get busy," she chased him out.
"Boss, I have never seen you behave this way before, you have always cared more about work more than nothing," Damien commented.
Bryce stopped in his tracks, turning to look at Damien who had an innocent expression.
"This is because you have not found your mate, once you find your mate, I assure you that you'd behave like me, pray to find your mate soon," Bryce grinned, a thoughtful smile on his face.
"Inform one of the secretaries to get something for Marissa to eat, preferably tea and cookies, they shouldn't add honey to it, she is allergic to it," he instructed.
"Yes Boss," Damien acknowledged the order, although he was curious to how Bryce was aware of it.
"Her dad told me about it, it is the only allergy she has, but it is very dangerous, and could kill her," Bryce explained when he noticed the curious look on his face.
Damien closed his eyes in pain, silently praying to the Moon Goddess to give him his own mate. He could not stand the public display of affection between the Alpha and the Luna.
Just as Bryce had instructed, one of his secretaries walked into the office with a tray containing tea and cookies.
"Miss, the boss ordered me to get this for you, by the way, my name is Ria," Ria placed the tray on the table.
Marissa gave her a small smile of gratitude, "thank you very much."
"Enjoy," Ria's eyes glinted with something strange, and although she smiled, it didn't reach her eyes. She watched Marissa for a longer time before walking out of the office.
Marissa found the smile to be strange, and her eyes lingered on the door for a long time. She stared at the cup of tea, dread feeling her heart. Her eyes narrowed slightly.
She decided to drink the tea regardless of Arya's stern warning. She felt that no one would hurt her since she was brought in by Bryce, and thus, she decided to ignore the warning signs.
It was only when she was hit by a bout of dizziness did she notice that there was something wrong with tea.
"What's wrong with me?" She muttered with her hands placed on her stomach. The heat spread in her chest, and she fell to the floor while gasping for breath.
'It seems the tea has traces of honey in it,' Arya commented, her voice laced with worry.
'What? I am allergic to honey,' Marissa exclaimed, her face turning red.
Meanwhile, Bryce was in the middle of the meeting when he felt a sharp pain in his chest. He didn't bother about it, till the pain returned two-fold.
'What is wrong with me?' He asked, subtly rubbing his chest.
'Mate is in trouble, I can feel that she needs our help,' Drex replied, his voice sounded strain since they both felt the pain.
Bryce's face morphed into a frown, and he rose to his feet instantly, startling the director who was giving his report.
Bryce walked out of the office, causing the directors to be baffled as they all turned to look at Damien.
"I'll go check on the CEO, gentlemen, apologies for the abrupt end of the meeting," Damien apologised before running after Bryce, leaving the directors to discuss among themselves.
"Boss, what's wrong?" Damien called after Bryce who took large strides.
"Get the car ready, something is wrong with Marissa," Bryce instructed, his feet making their way to the office.
Bryce walked swiftly to his office, and just as he burst the door open, Marissa's body went limp while on the floor.
Her lips were pale, her chest barely rose. Bryce's heart turned cold at this sight.