Charlotte’s POVThe moment I closed my office door behind Jonathan, I felt like the air had been sucked out of me. I had to keep my posture calm and composed for him, but inside, something in me was fracturing. Telling him I needed time, telling him to walk away—it felt like tearing out a part of my
Jonathan’s POVI had been staring at my phone since nine that morning, every few minutes checking it as if Charlotte’s name might magically appear on the screen. I sent text after text, each one carefully worded, a balance between apologizing, explaining, and pleading. Nothing. Not a single response
Charles’ POVDamian was already standing when I stepped into his office, his hands gripping the edge of his desk, jaw set like he had been holding himself back from saying something explosive. I knew the look. It was the same one I saw in the mirror every morning lately. I closed the door behind me
Emily’s POVI was still in a haze the next morning, my mind looping Damian’s words over and over as though replaying them would give me some hidden meaning I had missed. I sat at my desk with my laptop open, the cursor blinking accusingly on a half-finished recipe post I had been trying to write for
Emily’s POVI felt the heat of his words before I could even process them, the low, deliberate way he said them pulling me out of my post-shower haze like a sharp wind in the middle of a warm afternoon. “We need to talk.” I turned, my hair still damp against my robe, my skin warm from the steam, my
Damian’s POVI made sure I left the office on time, not a minute late, my mind locked on one thing and one thing only—Emily. I had been holding this weight in my chest all day, avoiding Louis entirely because the image of him sitting there in her restaurant, laughing with her, holding her hand, was