Chapter 7: The First Lie

KELVIN’S POV

The city looks calm from up here. Glass buildings, steady traffic, everything moving the way it’s supposed to, cars sliding through intersections, people crossing streets like nothing ever breaks, like everything always fits into place if you follow the lines.

I should feel the same. I don’t. I stand near the window, one hand in my pocket, my gaze fixed on the streets below like that’s enough to settle what’s already shifting inside me, like distance will make it smaller, easier, manageable.

It isn’t. I’ve handled worse than this. Bigger deals, bigger risks, situations that could’ve cost me millions if I got them wrong, decisions that affected entire companies, entire lives, and I didn’t hesitate, didn’t second guess, didn’t lose control.

But this shouldn’t even be a problem. It should be simple. The door opens behind me. I don’t turn immediately. I don’t need to. I already know it’s her.

The air changes. Subtle, but there, like something shifts without sound, like the room tightens without moving.

I turn anyway. Sandra steps inside, closing the door behind her, her hand lingering on it for a second like she almost didn’t come in, like she thought about leaving before this even started.

For a second, neither of us says anything. Silence stretches too tight, too aware. I break it. “We need to talk about what happened.”

My voice is steady, controlled, measured the way it always is when something matters, like this is just another conversation, another issue to solve.

She doesn’t move closer. Doesn’t soften. “Nothing happened,” she says. “It was a mistake.” The word sits there between us, heavy in a quiet way, like it’s supposed to close the door on everything, like it erases what I remember too clearly.

I study her for a moment, watching the way she holds herself, the way her shoulders stay straight even when there’s tension underneath, the way her eyes don’t quite meet mine for too long.

“Was it?” She doesn’t hesitate. “I’m with Austin.” The lie is immediate. Like she decided this before she walked in.

I take a step closer. Slow. Measured enough to give her time to react. “Are you?” Her breath shifts slightly, just enough to notice, just enough to tell me something isn’t as steady as she wants it to be.

She doesn’t step back. But she doesn’t hold her ground either. There’s space between us. Not enough, too much. My eyes drop to her lips for a second before I stop myself, forcing my focus back up, forcing control back where it belongs.

This is wrong. I know it. Everything about this is wrong. She knows it too, I can see it in the way her fingers tighten slightly at her sides, in the way she keeps her voice even like it takes effort.

But neither of us moves yet. The tension builds. It’s not loud, but it’s there, sitting between us, making everything feel closer than it should be, sharper than it should be.

If I move closer…….If she doesn’t stop me…….The thought cuts off before it finishes.

The door opens. I step back immediately. Austin walks in like he belongs here, like this space is his, like nothing is out of place, like he didn’t just interrupt something that shouldn’t have been happening in the first place.

“I was looking for you.” His eyes move quick between us. Not enough to accuse but enough to notice.

Sandra moves first. Creates space. Puts distance where there wasn’t enough before.

Good. That’s what should happen. Austin’s attention shifts back to her, his posture relaxed, his tone casual, but there’s something under it now, something that wasn’t there before.

“We’re having dinner tonight,” he says, like it’s already decided, like it doesn’t need discussion. “Both families.”

Sandra stiffens. She didn’t expect that neither did I.For a second, everything lines up too clearly, pieces fitting together in a way that shouldn’t happen, connections tightening into something dangerous.

“I’ll be there,” I say simple the way it has to be. But inside……this just got complicated. Sandra understands it too.

I can see it in the way her shoulders tense slightly, in the way her eyes don’t quite settle on anything, like she’s already thinking ahead, already seeing what this means.

She’s trapped now. So am I.

Her phone vibrates. The sound cuts through the silence, sharp enough to pull attention without trying.

She glances down for a second. A name on the screen. Pamela. Her expression tightens slightly, something quick almost nothing, but enough to notice if you’re paying attention.

She doesn’t open it or respond, just turns the screen off and puts the phone away. Ignoring it, avoiding it. That tells me more than the message would’ve. There’s more going on here. More than I’ve seen. More than I should be involved in.

But I already am. The conversation doesn’t recover after that. Austin talks, filling the space like he always does, confident, controlled in his own way, like everything is still where he left it.

Sandra answers when she has to, her tone neutral, distant, like she’s present but not really there.

I stay quiet, watching, listening. Noticing things I shouldn’t care about. The distance she keeps from him. The way she avoids eye contact. The way she doesn’t react the way she’s supposed to. That’s not a relationship anymore and she knows it.

She leaves first without looking back.  The door closes behind her, soft but final and the room feels different immediately.

Austin says something. I don’t really hear it. My focus is still on the door. On the space she just left.

This is wrong. Every part of it. The timing. The connection. Who she is. Who she’s connected to. It shouldn’t have happened. It shouldn’t continue. I know that.

I’ve known it from the moment I saw her again, from the second everything clicked into place and turned something simple into something complicated.

So why………I exhale slowly, my jaw tightening slightly, my hand flexing once at my side. Why can’t I stop thinking about her? Damn it.