Novels by All_about_me

RILEY'S POV I opened my eyes and let the quiet hum of the office fill the space. The usual click of keyboards, the muted conversations, even the hum of the air conditioning seemed louder somehow sharper, as if my awareness had been dialed up. I could feel every movement in the room. Every glance, every tiny shift of energy.Stan. His offer lingered in my mind, unassuming but impossible to ignore. Dinner. Friendly and casual, no strings attached, he’d said. And yet, the simplicity of it made my chest tighten in ways I wasn’t ready to analyze.I walked back to my office window and stared at the city beyond the glass. Buildings gleamed in the late afternoon light, their mirrored surfaces reflecting every sharp angle, every calculated line. I envied them. Everything about them was deliberate, measured and safe. Unlike me. Unlike my emotions, which had a way of spilling over and making me vulnerable when I thought I was composed.I tried to push it aside, but the thought of Stan, s

RILEY'S POV The lobby smelled faintly of fresh coffee and printer toner, the kind of artificial warmth corporate buildings tried to manufacture. I paused just inside the revolving doors, adjusting my bag higher on my shoulder while scanning the space out of habit. Morning light filtered through the glass ceiling, spilling across marble floors and steel railings.It was supposed to be an ordinary Tuesday. Ordinary people have started to feel unfamiliar lately.I checked my watch. Eight forty-two. Stan was due at nine.I headed toward the elevators, nodding at familiar faces along the way. Some people offered smiles. Others gave polite acknowledgements. Things at the office were getting better after the whole saga with Drake. Gone were the loathed looks.I returned them all with the same practiced professionalism, even though my mind was elsewhere.Aiden had texted earlier.>Did you sleep well?I hadn’t answered. Not because I didn’t care but because I didn’t know how to reply hones

SOFIA'S POV The corridor smelled faintly of lemon polish and recycled air.That was always the first thing I noticed when I stepped out of the executive elevator. The artificial cleanliness layered over human effort and the quiet promise of efficiency. Light poured through the glass walls lining the hall, catching on steel accents and glossy floors, turning everything sharp and reflective. Every detail had been curated to suggest control. I liked that.My heels moved in steady rhythm against marble as I walked, tablet resting against my forearm, notifications pulsing silently beneath the screen.Assistants passed in clusters, voices low, steps purposeful. Somewhere behind a closed door, a conference call hummed. Phones rang and stopped ringing, doors opened and closed. The building breathed productivity.I turned the corner near the conference rooms and nearly collided with Riley.She walked straight past me. No greeting or acknowledgment.Not even a pause.Just a stiff line of mo

RILEY'S POV The elevator doors slid open with a soft mechanical sigh, releasing me onto my floor.The hallway smelled faintly of polished wood and citrus cleaner, the kind facilities used when they wanted a place to feel more expensive than it really was. Overhead lights reflected off glass partitions and framed artwork I’d stopped noticing years ago. People moved with purpose around me, heels clicking, low voices merging into one indistinct corporate hum.It felt strange to be back to work, not wrong, just unfamiliar in a way I couldn't quite place. Even though I was only gone for two days, the weekend to be precise.I adjusted the strap of my bag on my shoulder and started toward my office, nodding politely at faces I recognised, offering small smiles that required no effort. Someone called my name from across the corridor. I lifted a hand in acknowledgment without breaking stride.Everything looked the same. And yet, something in my chest stayed tight.I hadn’t realised how mu

AIDEN'S POV I didn’t speak right away after she finished. Not because I was short of words, but because I had way too many.Choosing the wrong one would turn what she just gave me into something transactional, something I feared Riley didn’t open a door so I could rush through it. She opened it so I could prove I wouldn’t.She was looking at the floor, shoulders drawn slightly inward, like she was bracing for impact. I recognized that posture immediately. It was the stance of someone who had learned through repetition, that honesty was often followed by consequence.I refused to be another consequence.The room was quiet, the way spaces become after something irreversible had been said. Not empty, settled. The city noise outside felt so distant, like it belonged to another version of my life entirely.Riley shifted slightly, her fingers twisted together in her lap. Waiting looked so hard for her.For me too, if I was to be honest.I’d built my life around decisiveness. Around kno

RILEY'S POV It didn’t arrive the way I imagined it.There was no sudden bravery or cinematic resolve where everything fell into place and I finally became the kind of woman that had everything I envisioned.What came instead was exhaustion. The bone-deep kind that striped you bare and left you only with the truth.I was tired of guarding the door.I didn't feel dramatic, I just felt factual, like I was noticing a bruise I'd been compensating for without realizing it.Like I'd been holding this space shut for so long that I forgot the difference between protection and confinement.Aiden sat beside me on the couch, close enough that I was aware of the warmth of his arm, far enough that he wasn't crowding me.He hadn’t tried to touch me since I walked in. He didn't ask if I was okay.He didn't fill the quiet with concern or reassurance, andthat, and somehow made this harder.The room was dim, the last of the evening light thinning out near the windows. Outside, the city hummed live,