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"I want a divorce," Archiver said coldly. Silence filled the room. Roxanne was silent and couldn't process what she heard just now. She didn’t know what to feel right now. Mixed emotions—happy because she saw her husband again, or sad because her husband would leave her. She was on the verge of crying. She couldn't control her tears anymore. She did not think that they would reach the point where he would break up with her. Their relationship had only been one and a half years, but she loved her husband so much. Roxanne believed that they loved each other. She thought that love was enough for their relationship to be stronger, but she was wrong about that. The news about him wanting a divorce ruined her perfect dream about their marriage. She loved her husband so much, and his parents witnessed how she worked hard for it just so he could accept her—how she worked hard to get Archiver. And a divorce!? Over her dead body!! She would not agree!! She worked hard to get him to notice her, and now that Archiver was her husband, she would not allow their marriage to end in an instant. Call her selfish or anything, but she didn’t care. The important thing was for her to be with Arch. They were right—people become selfish because of love. And she would not allow him to divorce her. There was no way she would agree to this, especially now that she knew all the reasons why her husband wanted to break up with her so suddenly. "For what? So that you can be with your mistress?" Thank goodness she didn’t stutter; she just bent down and bit her lip to stop the sobs that wanted to come out of her mouth. She refrained from looking into her husband's eyes because she was afraid of drowning in those dark orb-like eyes. She was afraid that in an instant, she would forget everything and agree to her husband's request. She couldn’t quite imagine that Archiver would just throw away their long-time—a year—relationship for a woman; and to make the situation worse, that woman was her best friend. Her very own best friend whom she treasured. She didn't think that the woman she considered a sister would steal her husband from her. "I don't have a mistress, Roxanne. How many times do I have to tell you that?" Nothing? She wanted to laugh, but she was carrying too much weight of emotions to laugh in this situation. He really defended Ella. "Then why? Why do you want to leave me in this marriage all of a sudden?" she asked tearfully. To this day, she still had no idea where she went wrong to make her husband want to divorce her. Because if she knew, she would correct it immediately so that she and the man she loved would not be separated. "Y-You can’t break up with me without a valid reason, Archiver." "I'm sorry, Roxanne. I just fell out of love. That's it," he said coldly. She didn’t know that her heart still had the ability to break again after Arch broke it earlier. She heard her own heart shattering into tiny pieces because of what he said. Her chest felt very heavy. She couldn't breathe because of the pain, and she knew that no one could comfort her during those times. Unless everything happening right now was a dream, but it wasn’t. Destiny liked to hurt her, so even if she wanted to believe that this was just a big scary dream, she couldn’t—because what she saw was clearer than water. Her husband turned his back on her and proceeded to their room without consoling her, not minding that she was sobbing so hard inside from his words. She was not crying out loud, but deep inside her head and heart was in turmoil. Archiver started to pack his things. "You're just giving up? What about me, Arch?" She didn’t know how she was able to speak at that moment without crying in front of him. Arch hated it when she was crying. She even remembered what he said—that he would never make her cry, and if she did cry, it would be because of pure happiness. But it was all just a big lie. "How about me? What about those times when I wanted to give up on you but I didn’t because I love you?" she cried to her husband. Her tears just kept falling from her eyes. Not being able to handle her feelings anymore, she cried so hard. Archiver looked at her with sadness in his eyes. The love that she used to see in his eyes was now gone. And that made her heart shatter into pieces once again. She couldn’t stop herself from remembering her memories with Arch. He used to make sure that she was happy and showered with love. She held on to her husband's words that he would never hurt her. It was funny to think that after being together for so long, everything had changed so quickly. "I'm sorry. I don’t think I can still stay in this marriage after what happened to us," he said sadly. "I don't want to hurt you, so please let me go." Roxanne McBeal gripped the steering wheel of her SUV as she navigated the predawn streets toward the Montenegro Inc. construction site. The clock on the dashboard glowed 5:15 AM, and the chill seeping through the vents clawed at her skin despite the heater blasting on high. She'd barely slept, her mind replaying yesterday's charged encounter with Arch Montenegro;the way his piercing blue eyes had held hers a fraction too long during the project review meeting, the subtle brush of his fingers against hers when passing a blueprint. Routine inspection, she repeated like a mantra. Just verify the foundation pours before the crew clocks in. But her pulse thrummed in her ears, betraying the lie. This wasn't routine. Not with him.The site sprawled on the outskirts of the city, a colossal beast of progress amid the foggy industrial sprawl. Chain-link fences topped with razor wire encircled the perimeter, fluttering with faded warning signs that whipped in the wind. Floodl
CHAPTER — Closer Than BusinessRoxanne arrived at the Montenegro Inc. headquarters earlier than usual, a mixture of nerves and anticipation twisting her stomach. The office smelled faintly of coffee and polished wood;comforting and familiar, yet charged with something else today. Something she couldn’t name.She straightened her blazer and smoothed her skirt, telling herself again and again: it’s just business. Nothing else matters.She passed the glass-walled boardroom and paused. Inside, the table was already set for the day’s meeting. Laptops hummed quietly. Notepads were open. Coffee cups lined the edge like sentries waiting for orders.And at the head of the table, naturally, was Arch.He didn’t look up immediately, too engrossed in the papers in front of him. But the moment he sensed her presence, his head lifted, and their eyes met.That familiar pull hit her chest. The same pull from the site visit. The almost-kiss. The brush of his thumb on her wris
Roxanne sat at her desk, tapping the tip of her pencil against the architectural plans she had spread across the table. The office was unusually quiet, save for the occasional click of keyboards and the hum of the air conditioning. Everything was supposed to be normal. She told herself that a hundred times already. But her mind kept drifting back to the Montenegro Inc. site visit.The way his hand had hovered at her waist, the way his eyes had searched hers, the almost-kiss she could still feel pressing at the edge of her memory — it was impossible to erase.And yet, she was professional. She reminded herself. She was an architect. He was the CEO. Business first, everything else later.She straightened the plans on her table and forced herself to focus.Then, the door opened, and Arch entered.He moved through the room with his usual calm authority, but there was something in the tilt of his jaw, the tightness in his shoulders, that betrayed him. He looked at h
The elevator ride to the top floor felt longer than usual.Roxanne’s fingers tightened around the rolled-up blueprint tubes in her arms as the digital numbers climbed. She kept her eyes forward, pretending her pulse wasn’t betraying her — pretending she didn’t remember everything that happened days ago.The silence.The closeness.The mistake neither of them has dared to name.When the elevator doors slid open, the familiar cool scent of Arch’s office floor greeted her — clean, sharp, laced with something earthy and expensive. His scent. His world.She swallowed hard.“Professional,” she whispered to herself. “You’re here to work. Nothing more.”Her heels clicked softly against marble as she approached the double glass doors of the CEO’s office.The frosted nameplate read: ARCHIMEDES LAURENZ MONTENEGRO.CEO.Her boss.Her almost.She knocked once.“Come in,” his voice called.Deep. Controlled. Too calm.She pushed the door open.Arch was
Roxanne woke up slowly, as if surfacing from the deepest part of a dream she wasn’t ready to leave.Warmth.That was the first thing she felt.A strong, steady warmth wrapped around her waist, pulled tight to her stomach. A weight draped over her hip. A heartbeat pressed against her back.It wasn’t a blanket.It was him.Her eyes flew open.Arch was behind her, still asleep… and holding her.Not loosely.Not accidentally.He was holding her like she was the only thing keeping him anchored.Her breath caught. She didn’t move. Couldn’t move. The events of last night crashed back into her chest —His confession.His hands.His voice breaking.His mouth on hers, desperate and gentle and everything she should’ve pulled away from but didn’t.Their bodies tangled on the bed.His arms finally closing around her like he’d been waiting years to do it.Her lips tingled at the memory.She pressed her eyes shut.What did we do?She swallo
The condo was quiet again, the lights warm and low, shadows stretching softly across the walls. Roxanne stood there with her heart pounding against her ribs, watching Arch breathe, watching the slight sway of his body as he leaned back on the bar stool. He wasn’t drunk enough to lose himself completely, but he wasn’t sober either. He was in that dangerous space in between — where people say the things they’ve been desperately trying to swallow. And Arch… he wasn’t swallowing anything tonight. Roxanne could see it in the way he stared at her. His pupils dark, his breathing uneven, his emotions sitting right beneath the surface like a storm ready to burst. She should have walked away. She should have escaped before something irreversible happened. Before the fragile line between them snapped. But she didn’t. Instead, she whispered, “Arch… you should rest.” He lifted his head slowly, eyes dragging up her figure like he didn’t want to miss a single inch. “R







