Amara’s POV
Weeks had passed since that night on the rooftop — the night the city glowed beneath them, and everything quietly changed.Cruz Holdings had settled into a fragile calm. Projects moved forward, the board stopped panicking, and the crisis faded into memory.Almost.Because Amara hadn’t forgotten.She couldn’t forget the way Damian had looked at her that night — not as his employee, not as the woman who’d saved his company, but as someone who saw him. For days afterward, his words replayed in her mind like a song she couldn’t stop humming.> Strength isn’t about control — it’s about trust.Maybe it was foolish, but part of her wanted to believe he’d meant it.And yet, they never talked about it again. Their conversations went back to being safe — polite updates, formal nods, strictly professional. But in between the words, something lingered.Something neither of them dared to name.SAmara’s POVBy the end of the week, the silence hurt more than words ever could.The whispers had grown sharper — meaner. They followed her down hallways, hiding behind fake smiles and polite greetings. Every time she stepped into the elevator, she could feel it — the weight of all their assumptions pressing down on her.She’s sleeping with him.That’s why she’s still here.Poor girl doesn’t even know she’s temporary.Amara pretended not to hear. Pretended the heat in her cheeks was just exhaustion, not humiliation. But pretending didn’t protect her anymore.She stopped eating lunch in the cafeteria. Started skipping meetings she could attend over email instead. Each day, she folded a little smaller, her voice a little quieter.And Damian noticed. Of course he did.He kept asking if she was okay, if she needed time off. She always said she was fine — but every time, the lie got heavier.By Friday night, she couldn’t hold it in anymore.The message she typed was short, almost blunt:>
Damian’s POVThe boardroom felt colder lately.Even with the skyline glowing beyond the glass walls and the polished table reflecting every light, the air had turned tense — sharp, brittle, full of things no one dared say out loud.Damian sat at the head of the table, half-listening as the directors talked through reports — profit margins, investor confidence, public image. The words blurred together into white noise.He hadn’t slept properly in weeks.Most nights ended the same: his phone lighting up in the dark, Amara’s name on the screen, the ache of wanting to see her but knowing he shouldn’t.His gaze drifted across the table — to her.Amara was presenting, voice steady and clear, the glow from her slides catching the edge of her face. Her tone never faltered, but he saw the flicker in her eyes — that trace of exhaustion she couldn’t hide.The whispers had started. He’d heard them in the halls, in elevator
Ethan’s POVSomething about Amara Lopez was different.He noticed it in the small things first — the way her laugh came slower now, softer, like she was guarding it. How her attention drifted mid-conversation, eyes unconsciously drawn to Cruz’s office. The way her posture changed when Damian’s name came up — just a fraction gentler before she caught herself.Ethan had always been good at reading people. It was what made him great at his job — spotting lies, loyalty, weakness. And Amara... she was hiding something.He just didn’t want to admit what it was.For months, he’d watched her rise through Cruz Holdings — smart, steady, relentless. She’d earned every win. But lately, her focus had slipped. She came in earlier, stayed later. Took projects that just happened to overlap with Damian Cruz’s schedule.And when she smiled — really smiled — it wasn’t because of anything in the office. It was because of him.Ethan tried to reason with himself. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe gratitude. Mayb
Amara’s POVRumors travel faster than truth.They start small — a whisper in the break room, a glance that lasts too long — and before you know it, they’ve taken on shape, voice, and weight.By the third week, the whispers had names. Hers. His.> “Did you see her leave his office last night?”“They’re always together lately.”“I heard he drove her home again.”Each word hit like a pebble against glass — small, but sharp enough to leave cracks.Amara tried to tune it out. She buried herself in work, in spreadsheets and proposals, in anything that wasn’t him. But silence couldn’t hide what was already true — because every rumor carried a sliver of it.They had met late. They had lingered too long.They had crossed that line.And now, they were pretending it hadn’t happened.Cold tones in meetings. Polite smiles in the hallway. Conversations so professional they could draw blood.But behind closed doors, the act fell apart.The way his hand brushed hers when he passed her a file.The way
Damian’s POVThe days that followed blurred together — meetings, reports, contracts, numbers that never stopped multiplying.From the outside, Damian Cruz looked like himself again — sharp, composed, in control. Cruz Holdings was stable. His name, once dragged through headlines, was clean again. Everything he’d fought to rebuild now stood firmly in place.Except him.Because every time Amara walked into his office, the world tilted.It wasn’t anything obvious — just the scent of her perfume lingering when she passed, or the calm in her voice as she read through a report. But between them, silence had become its own language — one filled with glances that lasted too long and words that never made it out loud.He told himself it was under control. That as long as things stayed professional, no one would notice how his tone softened when he said her name.But Lydia noticed.It happened during a strategy meeting, so
Amara’s POVWeeks had passed since that night on the rooftop — the night the city glowed beneath them, and everything quietly changed.Cruz Holdings had settled into a fragile calm. Projects moved forward, the board stopped panicking, and the crisis faded into memory.Almost.Because Amara hadn’t forgotten.She couldn’t forget the way Damian had looked at her that night — not as his employee, not as the woman who’d saved his company, but as someone who saw him. For days afterward, his words replayed in her mind like a song she couldn’t stop humming.> Strength isn’t about control — it’s about trust.Maybe it was foolish, but part of her wanted to believe he’d meant it.And yet, they never talked about it again. Their conversations went back to being safe — polite updates, formal nods, strictly professional. But in between the words, something lingered.Something neither of them dared to name.S