Chapter 18

The air between them crackled, the kind of tension that made every breath feel earned.

I stood frozen, caught in the middle of two men whose stares could burn holes into each other. Drew’s eyes, cold and unyielding, were fixed on Max like he’d been waiting for a reason to unleash everything he’d held back.

Max didn’t shrink beneath the weight of Drew’s stare. Instead, he leaned forward slightly, his smirk sharp. "I could ask you the same thing, Drew, Don't you have a job. Why do you always show up whenever I'm with Lila?” he said, voice calm, almost too calm. "Is this how you treat all your employees, or is Lila an exception?"

Drew’s jaw twitched. "She works for my company. That makes her my responsibility."

"Responsibility?" Max echoed, a short laugh escaping his lips. "Funny choice of words for someone who walks around pretending she doesn’t exist."

Drew’s eyes narrowed. "Watch yourself."

Max took a step closer, his voice steady. "No. You watch yourself. Because you seem awfully invested for someone who doesn’t care.

You show up, you interfere, you watch her like you’re afraid she’ll disappear. That doesn’t look like indifference, Drew. That looks like obsession."

The silence that followed was deadly. My breath caught in my throat as Drew moved, just slightly, but enough to shrink the space between them.

"Don’t flatter yourself," Drew said, his voice low and sharp. "I don’t give a damn who she spends time with."

Max raised a brow. "Then why are you always there? Always watching? Always one step behind her like a shadow that can’t make up its mind whether it wants to stay or vanish."

Something flashed across Drew’s face, barely obvious, but it was there. A flicker of something he couldn’t hide quickly enough.

"Stay away from her, Max."

"Or what?” He asked with a smirk on his face and I’m sure Drew wanted to wipe off so badly. “What right do you have to tell me to stay away from her? I'm friends with Lila, can't say the same about you. You are just her boss"

"Stop it!" My voice cracked through the tension like thunder, louder than I intended, but it didn’t matter. They froze. Their bodies rigid, eyes still locked like I hadn't spoken at all.

I stepped between them, the weight of the moment pressing down on my chest like a boulder. My heart thudded, heavy and uneven, but I turned to Drew first. Looked into those eyes that once felt electric, now just left me cold.

"I appreciate what you looking out for me. I do. But this?" I motioned between them. "This has nothing to do with you. I can take care of myself, Drew. I don’t need you to fight my battles."

For a moment, something shifted in his expression, a crack in the armor but just as quickly, it was gone.

His voice was ice. "You’re right. You’re not my concern. You never were. You want to spend your time with riffraffs? Be my guest."

It hit me like a punch to the gut. The words didn’t just sting, they ripped.

Not because they were true. But because they came from him.

From the man who had kissed me so passionately like I was the only woman who ever existed. From the man whose child was growing quietly inside of me, a truth he didn’t know, and maybe never would.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to shatter that icy facade he wore like armour. But all I could do was stand there, frozen, swallowing back the tremble in my chest.

Max’s voice was soft beside me. "Lila…"

"Not now," I said quickly, the words escaping before he could get any closer, before I crumbled completely. My tone wasn’t harsh, but it was final. "We’ll talk tomorrow, okay? I just need… I need space."

Max looked hesitant, but he nodded. "Tomorrow."

I turned and walked away before either of them could say anything more. My heels clicked softly against the pavement, the rhythm of each step echoing louder than the last. I didn’t stop. Not when the burn behind my eyes sharpened. Not when the pressure in my chest built so tightly it felt like my ribs might snap.

I kept walking. Past the parking lot. Past the street. Past the sting in my throat and the ache in my belly.

But the farther I walked, the heavier it became.

Drew’s words looped in my head like poison. “You’re not my concern. You never were.”

Each syllable felt like a cut, deep and deliberate. The kind you don’t notice until you’re already bleeding.

I was trying to hold it in. Trying to pretend like his words didn’t hollow something out of me.

But somewhere between the edge of the lot and the turn onto my street, the tears broke free.

And this time, I didn’t stop them.

They slipped down my cheeks, hot and silent, releasing the ache I had tried so hard to cage.

Because he didn’t know.

Because he wouldn’t care even if he did.

Because the father of my unborn child had just looked me in the eyes and told me I meant nothing.

And for the first time in a long time...

I started to believe it.