Chapter 3

The next morning, I placed my resignation letter on the executive partner’s desk.

He read it, signed the acknowledgment, and slid my copy back to me.

The moment his signature made my departure official, a strange emptiness opened inside my chest.

I had spent years building my career at Alder and Finch. I had once believed Adrian would be beside me when I finally left.

Now I was walking away alone.

I folded the letter and stepped into the hallway, only to find Adrian blocking my path.

His brows were drawn together.

“Evie, did you revoke my access to your building?”

“Yes.”

“I took Mia home last night and went back to check on you, but the concierge wouldn’t let me upstairs.” He spoke as if nothing had happened between us. “Tell the building manager to restore it. I need to be able to get in if you’re sick.”

“That won’t be necessary. I won’t be living there after I leave the firm.”

His gaze dropped to the folded paper in my hand. Understanding crossed his face.

“Your resignation letter.” He sounded as though he had nearly forgotten. “Don’t worry. I’ll submit mine this afternoon.”

I studied him.

He spoke so naturally that I might have believed him if I hadn’t heard everything the night before. He still thought I was going to Sterling. He still believed I would wait there until he finally decided to join me.

We walked down the hallway together.

Since Mia had arrived at Alder and Finch, even moments like this had become rare. Adrian was always teaching her, comforting her, or cleaning up another one of her mistakes.

For twenty years, walking beside him had felt as natural as breathing.

Knowing this might be the last time, I allowed myself one final moment of weakness.

“There’s no need for promises between us anymore.”

Adrian stopped.

For a long moment, he said nothing. Then his voice dropped.

“Evie, the truth is, I’ve always—”

“Adrian!”

Mia appeared behind him with a stack of folders in her arms.

She hurried toward us and complained with easy familiarity, “You promised you’d help me prepare for the client presentation. Why did you suddenly disappear?”

Then she handed him the folders.

“I saw that the coaching plan you made for me runs through the next two months, so I organized all the materials in advance.” She gave him a playful smile. “You’re not mad that I looked at your calendar, are you?”

Adrian’s expression stiffened.

He glanced at me guiltily.

Two months.

He had just promised to resign that afternoon, yet he had already planned the next two months of his life with Mia at Alder and Finch.

He had pushed me out while quietly building a future that had never included me.

When I showed no reaction, something almost like disappointment flickered across his face.

I pressed my nails into my palm and forced the bitterness back down.

“You two should talk. I’m leaving.”

Mia turned toward me as if she had only just noticed I was there. Her body jerked in exaggerated surprise.

“E-Evelyn…”

She moved closer to Adrian.

“Are you upset because Adrian has been spending so much time helping me?”

Her eyes immediately filled with tears.

“I know I’m slower than you. I didn’t grow up with your money or your connections, so I have to work harder just to keep up. Adrian is only helping because I don’t have anyone else.”

I had said nothing about her background.

I hadn’t even asked why they were together.

Still, she had already turned my silence into jealousy and herself into its innocent victim.

I didn’t have the patience to perform in this scene with her again.

“You’re blocking the hallway. Move.”

Mia’s lips trembled.

She took one step backward and let the folders fall from her arms. Papers scattered across the floor as tears spilled down her cheeks.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you angry.”

Whatever guilt Adrian had felt disappeared at once.

He grabbed my wrist.

“What the hell is wrong with you, Evelyn?”

His fingers tightened painfully as he dragged me back toward Mia.

“Apologize to her.”

I stared at the hand around my wrist.

For years, I had defended him, protected his pride, and sacrificed opportunities to remain beside him. Yet now he was hurting me because Mia had cried over an insult I had never made.

Something inside me shattered.

Not my heart.

The last piece of tenderness I had left for him.

I tore my wrist free and slapped him across the face.

The sharp sound silenced the entire hallway.

Adrian stood frozen, one side of his face turning red. Mia stopped crying long enough to stare at me.

I looked directly into the eyes of the man I had loved for twenty years.

“The person who owes an apology is you, Adrian.”

My voice did not shake.

“And you don’t owe it to Mia.”

“You owe it to me.”