LOGINThe call with Daniel should have made me feel better. Instead it left me angry, furious, actually. I sat inside the taxi staring out the window while the city lights blurred past. One thought kept repeating itself, Victor. What exactly did Daniel mean? My fingers tightened around my phone. Daniel sounded convinced, certain, like he knew something, like he knew Victor had been involved somehow. In what?? And how? I squeezed my eyes shut. Mom. The answer always came back to Mom. She worried about me so much that she could barely let me breathe. I knew she had people checking on me before, she never admitted it directly, but I wasn't stupid, I noticed things, the timing of her calls, the way she somehow knew where I had been, the questions that were a little too specific. I had ignored it because fighting about it never changed anything, now I wasn't so sure. My phone suddenly lit up, MOM CALLING. I stared at the screen, the call kept ringing. Usually I would ignore it, to
Cael waited until the last employee left the conference room before looking at me. "Stay behind for a minute." I stopped halfway to the door, my stomach tightening. Of course. Geez, I should have moved faster! Everyone else filed out, gathering their notes and laptops, murmuring quietly amongst themselves, and within moments the large conference room was quiet. I sat across from him and folded my arms. "What now?" Cael leaned back in his chair, completely unbothered by my tone. "We need to discuss a few things before tomorrow." "About Meridian?" "Partly." I narrowed my eyes. That answer alone made me suspicious. With Cael, partly never meant something small. It meant he had already decided something and was only now choosing to tell me about it. For a few seconds he reviewed a document in front of him, turning a page slowly, deliberately, like he had all the time in the world. I watched him and said nothing. Then he looked up. "Are you free tomorrow evening?" The questio
I barely slept, every time I closed my eyes, I saw my mother's face, then my father's photograph, then Daniel's voice, then Cael. By the time my alarm went off, I felt like I hadn't rested at all. I stared at the ceiling for a few seconds before forcing myself out of bed. "Today is not the day to fall apart," I muttered. The Meridian presentation was today, months of work, months of stress, months of late nights, everything came down to a single meeting. I walked into the office carrying a coffee that wasn't nearly strong enough to save me. The moment I stepped onto the executive floor, I knew everyone felt the pressure, people moved faster, phones rang nonstop, folders were everywhere, even the normally calm assistants looked nervous. Mr. Shawn spotted me immediately. "Nora!" "Good morning." He looked at my face and frowned. "You look exhausted." I smirked. "Thank you." "That wasn't a compliment." I managed a weak smile. "I know." He lowered his voice. "Did you slee
Nora's POV The drive was quieter than I expected. Soft music played through the car, low enough that I could still hear the sound of the road. Cael drove with one hand on the wheel, his other hand resting between us, and after a few minutes his fingers found mine. I looked down, then at him. He didn't say anything. He simply kept driving, his thumb brushing lightly over the back of my hand. My face became warm. I looked out the window. Why was I suddenly nervous? This wasn't our first time spending time together. We had eaten together once. We had talked, we had laughed. But this felt.... different. This time we both knew there was something between us, and neither of us was pretending otherwise. I bit my lower lip. “Relax.” I looked at him. He was smiling. “What?” “You're nervous.” “I'm not.” “You've been biting your lip for the last five minutes.” I immediately stopped. “I have not.” He laughed. “You have.” “I was...." “You do know you do it subconsciou
Nora's POV The drive was quieter than I expected. Soft music played through the car, low enough that I could still hear the sound of the road. Cael drove with one hand on the wheel, his other hand resting between us, and after a few minutes his fingers found mine. I looked down, then at him. He didn't say anything. He simply kept driving, his thumb brushing lightly over the back of my hand. My face became warm. I looked out the window. Why was I suddenly nervous? This wasn't our first time spending time together. We had eaten together once. We had talked, we had laughed. But this felt.... different. This time we both knew there was something between us, and neither of us was pretending otherwise. I bit my lower lip. “Relax.” I looked at him. He was smiling. “What?” “You're nervous.” “I'm not.” “You've been biting your lip for the last five minutes.” I immediately stopped. “I have not.” He laughed. “You have.” “I was...." “You do know you do it subconsciou
Nora's POV The drive was quieter than I expected. Soft music played through the car, low enough that I could still hear the sound of the road. Cael drove with one hand on the wheel, his other hand resting between us, and after a few minutes his fingers found mine. I looked down, then at him. He didn't say anything. He simply kept driving, his thumb brushing lightly over the back of my hand. My face became warm. I looked out the window. Why was I suddenly nervous? This wasn't our first time spending time together. We had eaten together once. We had talked, we had laughed. But this felt.... different. This time we both knew there was something between us, and neither of us was pretending otherwise. I bit my lower lip. “Relax.” I looked at him. He was smiling. “What?” “You're nervous.” “I'm not.” “You've been biting your lip for the last five minutes.” I immediately stopped. “I have not.” He laughed. “You have.” “I was...." “You do know you do it subconsciously
The ceiling was unfamiliar.That was the first thing.I lay there for a full second just staring at it, waiting for my brain to catch up with the rest of me. White ceiling. Dark curtains. Sheets that were too soft to be mine.Then everything came back at once.I sat up so fast the room tilted.The
The stranger didn’t say yes. He didn’t say no either.He just looked at me for two long seconds, then jerked his head toward the back of the bar. “VIP lounge. Now.”My legs felt loose from the drinks, but I followed him. The world tilted a little as we moved through the crowd. His hand landed on th
I don't remember deciding to go to a bar.I just ended up in one.That's the only way I can explain it. One minute I was standing outside Daniel's building already heartbroken and the next, I was on a barstool somewhere loud and dim, with a glass of something that burned in front of me and no clear
I swung the door open.I don't even remember turning the key. One second I was in the hallway and the next I was inside. The light from the bedroom was spilling out into the dark living room and I was just…..standing there.Processing.Because what I was seeing didn't make sense yet. My brain was s







