Chapter Three.

My hands were shaking as the message kept playing in my head.

The possibilities of what would happen if they reveal it. But how?

I didn't tell anyone. No one was supposed to know.

I bent to pick it up, my knees shaking as I did, and the moment my hand wrapped around my phone, it vibrated again as a new message notification popped up, this one from a different number, but the same chilling question:

'Does Noah know?'

I feel my tummy twist and if it wasn't for the wall, I'd be on the floor due to the dizziness that overwhelmed me. 

I swiped to read the message again, my eyes slowly moving past every word.

How did they know?

I should be running, running back to my office, locking myself in, but something kept me rooted here, stuck in place.

This can’t be happening again.

I sent a quick message back, typing in a hurried panic,

'Who is this?'

But, no reply came through.

I was still staring at the message when I heard the click of heels. I turned around, but it was too late to hide my reaction and the panic I feel.

The Executive Liaison's piercing gaze met mine, curious.

“Ms. Hemsworth, are you all right?” Her voice is smooth with a little bit of sincerity in them. She was studying me, her eyes narrowing slightly as she takes in the tension I’m sure was written all over my face.

“I’m fine,” I managed to say, forcing the words out with an effort. I can’t let her see that I’m unraveling, can’t let her see the crack in my armor that Noah has managed to exploit so effortlessly.

“I’m going to need you to follow me, Ms. Hemsworth,” she said after a beat, her tone brisked, no room for argument. "There are a few executives that'll like to meet you concerning the designs. Mr. Woods has asked me to bring you."

I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat. 

I walked behind her, my footsteps hollow in the quiet as my mind kept racing.

We passed through a long corridor again, and the people we met on the way gave her a slight nod and outrightly ignored me but I was not really bothered. There was something else on my mind.

Something else no one is supposed to know but someone already does.

She opened a door at the end of the hall and stepped aside, allowing me to enter first.

In the room were four people—including Noah—waiting for me.

I took a deep breath as I sat on the provided empty chair. But just before I fully got into the room, my phone buzzed with a new message.

The message is signed:

Olivia Harper!

My mind raced as I stare at the screen of my phone.

Who is Olivia Harper?

The question whirls round my mind, over and over, each repetition hitting harder than the last.

And how did they find out about the baby?

My chest tightened. The air in the room felt heavier with each passing second, replaced with dread. A dread so consuming that it made my knees weak.

How could they have known?

My head spinned. Five years. I buried that chapter of my life so deep that I started to believe it would never surface. But someone has found the grave—and they’ve dug it up. Not just the memory, but the truth.

I wiped the sweat from my brow with a shaky hand, the chill of the air conditioning doing nothing to cool the storm inside me.

Noah’s voice cuts through the haze, pulling me back to the present.

"Are you alright?"

I flinched. I’d almost forgotten he was here.

In this room.

So close.

Too close.

I fumbled with my phone, shutting off the screen as if that could somehow erase the message, the name, the panic crawling up my spine.

"Y—yes, I'm fine," I managed to say, though I’m certain the tremble in my voice betrayed me. I sound like a liar, and worse—I felt like one.

"Leave!" His eyes are still on me but he's clearly not talking to me. "We'll continue the meeting at another time." He says.

The four people in the room stood up to leave after a quick nod of their head.

Noah stepped towards me and my body reacted instinctively. I closed my eyes, inhaling deeply as his scent fills the space between us. It used to be the only thing that could calm me.

It still is.

He stepped closer, his breath fanning across my face. I opened my eyes slowly, and his were already locked onto mine.

"You've never been good at lying to me."

His voice is low, good, and knowing.

"I know," I whispered, exhaling the weight of the truth I can’t yet give voice to.

He took another step closer, leaving no room between us.

"Then please tell me the truth, the actual truth. Not some coverup lie or story," he says, voice tight with something raw. "Did you fall out of love with me?"

My breath raced.

I never stopped.

Not for a second.

Tears spilled from my eyes before I could stop them. I tried to hold them back, but the dam is cracking, and the pain I’ve held in for five long years is leaking through.

"Noah, I—"

"I know," he cuts in softly.

"You're going to say it's hard to explain. But it's not. I know you, Elina."

He reached for me, his warm hands cradling my face, lifting it until I can’t escape his gaze.

"I know you loved me. You still do. I felt it every single time you looked at me, touched me, breathed next to me. It wasn’t fake.

 None of it." His voice breaks slightly, eyes glistening.

"What I don’t understand is why you left. Why did you walk away when everything was perfect."

The crack in my heart deepened.

Because it was perfect.

And that was exactly why I had to leave.

"Yes, Noah," I whispered with my voice shaking. "Everything was perfect. It’s just—"

My words falter, the rest caught in a tangle of grief and guilt.

He leaned in closer, desperation sneaking into every word.

"Tell me something, Elina. Anything. I thought I could move on, thought I was strong enough to let go, but I’m not. I’m drowning here. Help me."

And just like that, I broke down.

I clutched the hand he placed on my cheek, holding it as if it was the only thing keeping me from collapsing entirely. His eyes searched mine, and I know—he needed the truth.

I wanted to give it to him.

"Noah—"

The door swung open as Judith walked in.

She took a few steps in, then froze. Her eyes landed on us—on his hands on my face, on the tears streaking down mine—and something shifted in her.

Her voice falters.

"Oh, um—I’m sorry if I… interrupted something."

"No," I said as I stepped away from Noah. "I was just leaving."

I stormed out of his office and I have to control myself from running out. This is definitely not how I hoped my day would go.