Chapter 46

Drew's POV

I saw them before they saw me.

Lila and Kimberley, standing toe to toe in the lobby like two opposing flames pretending to smile. I stood partially tucked behind the glass partition near the elevator and from where they stood they couldn't see me.

I didn’t hear the first part of their conversation, but I didn’t need to. The body language said everything.

Kimberley in her designer power suit, radiating calculated confidence, poised with a tilt of smug superiority, lips curled in the way she always did when she thought she was the smartest person in the room.

And Lila...

God.

She held her ground like a queen who didn’t need a throne. Calm, unshaken, not a single crack in her armour. She didn’t flinch. Didn’t fidget. She just stood there, delivering her lines with grace while Kimberley tried every subtle weapon in her bag.

There was this fire in Lila. Controlled, but lethal. And she wielded it well. She didn’t stoop to Kimberley’s level. She didn’t lash out. She didn’t tremble like most people did when Kimberley deployed that fake charm laced with venom.

She stood tall, no theatrics. Just strength.

I should’ve stepped in.

I should’ve interrupted.

But I couldn’t move. I was stunned watching this woman I had hurt, who had every reason to shrink back, refuse to be intimidated. There was this quiet fierceness in her that I hadn’t seen before. A woman who had once stood in my shadow now stood in her own light.

Pride wasn’t something I let myself feel often.

But in that moment, watching Lila hold her ground against Kimberley’s manipulations, I was proud. Not in a possessive way. Not in a way that made her mine.

Just proud that she was herself.

That she didn’t need anyone to stand up for her, not even me.

I didn’t let it show when she turned and caught me watching. Just offered a casual line about her claws still working. But inside, something shifted. A new kind of respect was blooming, thick and unignorable.

But I couldn’t say it. Not yet. Not with Kimberley still sniffing around.

I headed back into my office, heart still pounding from what I’d witnessed. I barely had time to sit before the door swung open again without a knock.

Of course.

Kimberley.

She walked in like she owned the place like nothing had changed. Like I hadn’t once watched her burn everything between us to the ground and walk away without blinking.

“Drew, You could at least pretend to be happy to see me,” she said, her voice syrupy sweet. “Got a minute?”

“No,” I replied without looking up.

She laughed, like I was just teasing. “Well, too bad. I’m staying.”

I looked up slowly.

There she was the same woman who once knew how to read me like an open book. Only now, she was reading a language I no longer spoke.

She dropped a glossy folder on my desk.

“A proposal,” she said brightly. “My father’s firm wants in on the launch campaign. We’re willing to offer a top tier package. Press, billboards, influencers and Ads across the country. You name it. This launch could be historic with our backing.”

I stared at the folder for a moment, then leaned back in my chair, eyes locking with hers.

“I already have someone competent handling this campaign and a very reliable team. Why do you think I will be interested in this proposal?”

She scoffed. “You can't possibly be referring to Lila as the competent one. She can barely put herself together. Meanwhile with my father's firm on board this campaign everything will be top notch.”

I don't know what gave her the right to think that she could call the shots in my company and decide who was competent enough to handle my launch but whatever that was I was ready to tear it down to the ground.

“Is this your new strategy, Kimberley? Business deals in exchange for access?”

She didn’t flinch. “No. This is me extending an olive branch. Come on, Drew. Let’s not pretend like we didn’t have something special once. We were good together. We shared... a lot.”

She stepped closer, her voice dipping into a lower, softer register. “I’ve missed you and I know you’ve missed me too. Let's forget the ugly memories and build something solid once again. Together we would be unstoppable.”

I watched her.

Every word was a trigger now. A reminder of who she really was behind the expensive perfume and empty charm. She thought she still had me, that somewhere beneath the surface, the old Drew was waiting to welcome her back.

But what she didn’t know?

He was long dead.

I stood up slowly, walked around the desk, and stopped just inches away from her.

“You want to know what I’ve missed?” I said, my voice cool and even. “Peace, clarity, days where I don’t have to second guess the intentions of the person sleeping next to me and nights that don’t end with betrayal.”

Her smile faltered. Just a fraction.

“And you know what’s wild?” I continued. “For the life of me, I can’t figure out what I ever saw in you.”

That did it.

Her expression cracked for a second. Not enough to break her, but enough to expose the beginning of the fall.

“Drew,” she started, voice tight, “Don’t do this. I know I made mistakes, but…”

“Mistakes?” I echoed, cutting her off. “You didn’t make mistakes, Kimberley. You made decisions. You lied. You cheated. You manipulated every room you walked into, including mine.”

She opened her mouth again, but I didn’t let her speak.

“I don’t want your proposal,” I said sharply. “I don’t want your firm. I don’t want your ‘let’s forget the past’ apology tour. And I damn sure don’t want you.”

That’s when the fear began to creep into her eyes.

Because I wasn’t raising my voice.

I wasn’t yelling.

I was just done.

Truly, completely, done.

I stepped even closer, lowering my tone.

“You think just because you waltzed in here in a thousand dollar suit and reminded me of our so called good times, I would fall in line? Let me make this very clear.”

Her breath hitched.

“You are my past. That’s where you belong. You don’t get to rewrite the story and you don’t get to show up and pretend like I owe you closure. You can't just walk in here and dangle business like a bribe for forgiveness. You lost that privilege a long time ago.”

Silence.

“You want forgiveness?” I said, leaning down just slightly, my eyes boring into hers. “Get it somewhere else.”

Her jaw trembled. “You can’t mean that.”

I straightened.

“Get out of my office.”

Her mouth opened, but no words came.

“And Kimberley,” I added, my voice now ice-cold, “if you ever walk in here again, if you ever try to manipulate your way into my business or my life.”

I stepped forward again, and this time, she actually took a step back.

“I’ll make sure you regret it.”

That was the final blow.

Kimberley’s face lost its color.

She stared at me like she was looking at a stranger. Like she had just realized the man she once knew no longer existed and worse, didn’t miss her at all.

She didn’t say another word.

She just turned around and walked out.

Her heels clicked against the tile like the closing notes of a failed performance.

When the door clicked shut, I didn’t sit back down right away.

I exhaled slowly and walked to the window.

I had waited a long time to say those words. To mean them.

And for the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel like I was still chained to my mistakes.

I felt free.

Now all that was left… was figuring out what freedom really meant.

And what or who came next.

Kimberley thought she still had power over me.

Today, I showed her just how wrong she was.