ログインChapter 200: Olive's POVBy the time I made it to the Mercer Company, it was almost three-thirty.The meeting had started at three.I was thirty minutes late.My phone had been buzzing nonstop in my pocket—texts from Jessica asking where I was, missed calls from Nina's assistant, notifications that I'd been marked absent from the mandatory meeting.I didn't care.Let them think whatever they wanted. My mother had needed me, and that was more important than any corporate bullshit.I parked and headed inside, my stomach churning with anxiety and dread and the overwhelming sense that I was walking into something I couldn't control.The conference room was on the executive floor…massive space with glass walls and expensive furniture and a view of the Seattle skyline that stretched out like the company owned the entire city.I could see them through the glass before I even opened the door.Nina at the head of the table, mid-presentation, gesturing at something on the screen behind her.The
Chapter 199: Olive's POVShe turned to look at me then, and something in her expression softened."It's not your fault," she said quietly. "None of this is your fault, Olive. You didn't know. You couldn't have stopped it."We sat in silence for another moment before I forced myself to ask the question that needed asking."So you're not ready to go back," I said. "To your matrimonial home. Not yet."It wasn't really a question, but she answered anyway."No," she whispered. "I can't. Not right now."I took a deep breath."Do you want to come to my apartment?" I offered. "You can stay with me. For as long as you need."She looked at me with surprise written all over her face."Your apartment?" she repeated. "Olive, I don't want to impose—""You're not imposing," I interrupted. "You're my mother. And you need somewhere safe to be right now. So come stay with me."She nodded slowly, fresh tears spilling down her cheeks."Thank you," she whispered. "I'm sorry for ignoring your calls this pa
Chapter 198: Olive's POVI pulled up to Walter's house with my stomach in knots.Not because seeing him still hurt—that wound had scabbed over years ago, turned into something dull and manageable.But because I knew what I'd find inside.My mother. Broken. In the house of the man who'd left us both behind.I killed the engine and forced myself out of the car, walking up the pathway to the front door.Walter opened it before I could knock, his face scrunched up with concern."She's in the living room," he said quietly. "She hasn't said anything. Just sitting there crying."I nodded and pushed past him without responding.The second I walked into the living room, I saw her.Diane sat on the couch with her face in her hands, shoulders shaking with silent sobs, looking so completely destroyed it made my chest tightened at the sight.This wasn't about Walter this time. Neither was this about their divorce or his new life or any of that old pain.This was fresh. Raw. Devastating."Mom," I s
Chapter 197: Olive's POV"What problem?" I asked, already dreading whatever Jessica was about to say because nothing good ever started with "we have a problem."Jessica shifted her weight from one foot to the other, her fingers still doing that nervous crossing thing, and I watched as her face went through several expressions before settling on something that looked almost apologetic."Well," she started slowly. "I've been informed that the project will be launched this week—the Quantum AI campaign that we've been working on. The one with all the photoshoot concepts and celebrity endorsements."I nodded, not understanding yet why this was a problem.We'd been working on that project for weeks now, Zane, Antonio and I, have been collaborating on ideas late obviously each person on different days, because I wasn't mentally capable of working closely with both of them at the same time, and we have been building something that they were both honestly proud of."Okay," I said carefully. "T
Chapter 196: Olive's POVI had been avoiding Brenda's calls for the past week now, letting each one ring through to voicemail, watching her name flash across my screen over and over until the buzzing finally stopped.And for the first time ever, I was glad—no matter how disturbing that sounded—that I wasn't working physically in the Hopkins company building where Brenda and I had desks on the same floor, where running into her in the hallway or the break room would have been inevitable.Working from home had never felt more like a blessing and a curse simultaneously.It was crazy, fucking annoying to imagine that my own best friend had slept with Grayson and was now pregnant with his baby.I grimaced at the thought as I furiously typed on my keyboard like I had a personal vendetta against each individual key, my fingers slamming down harder than necessary.She slept with Grayson.The thought hit me again like a physical blow, making my hands smash against the keyboard hard enough that
Chapter 195: Olive's POVThe admission hung in the air—Grayson's quiet "yes" confirming what Brenda had just confessed—and I watched as my mother's face transformed from shock into something cold and hard and absolutely terrifying."Get out," she said to Grayson, her voice so calm it was almost worse than if she'd been screaming. "Get out of this room. Get out of this restaurant. Get the fuck out of my life.""Diane, please, if you would just listen—""OUT!" my mother roared, and I'd never heard her sound like that before, never seen her lose control so completely.Grayson flinched like she'd struck him, and I could see him warring with himself over whether to try to stay and explain or just do what she'd asked.He chose the latter, turning toward the door with his head down, his shoulders hunched, looking like a man who'd just lost everything that mattered.But before he could actually leave, Brenda's voice rang out again, stopping everyone mid-movement."Wait."It was one word, but
Chapter 47: Olive's POVHis mouth crashed against mine—hard, unrelenting, consuming.He kissed me like he was trying to devour every thought in my head, every ounce of anger I'd been holding onto. His lips moved over mine with an intensity that made my knees weak, hands gripping my waist as he lift
Chapter 54: Cole's POV"Invite her to the party."Sophia said it abruptly, turning to face me with an intensity I'd never seen before."What?" I blinked, caught off guard."Invite her to the party. And Zane too. I want both of them there."She was staring at me with focus that made something in my
Chapter 46: Olive's POVOn my eighteenth birthday, Hunter had taken me to my first real party."Bringing you into the world," he'd called it, like I was some sheltered kid who needed to see how adults lived. I'd already had my first kiss at fifteen, already knew what alcohol tasted like, already un
Chapter 39: Olive's POVZane got me the apartment in less than twenty-four hours.I still didn't know how he'd pulled it off—called in favors, threw money around, threatened someone, probably all three—but here I was. Standing in my first real apartment. My space. My name on the lease.The cleaning







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