Nathaniel's POV.
I buried myself in work.
It was the only way to quiet the noise in my head. The only way to forget the way Lillian had looked at me that night on my doorstep, vulnerable, torn, eyes wide with something dangerously close to regret, and then just… walked away.
She had whispered, “This is a bad idea,” and left me standing there shirtless in the doorway, holding my breath and my pride.
So, I buried it.
Buried her.
Because now wasn’t the time to think about love or what ifs. I had bigger things on the line. I have finally gotten a shot at pitching my company idea to a round of private investors who had been circling the market like sharks. The kind of people who didn’t blink unless your numbers screamed innovation and profitability.
It was my moment. My breakaway.
I stayed up nights perfecting the deck. Polishing every slide, tightening every graph, checking projections and ROI breakdowns until my eyes burned.
Luca, bless his ridiculous soul, even stayed sober for two days
