LOGINTwo days later, the walls of my apartment felt like they were closing in.The silence was too loud. My phone buzzed constantly even when it wasn’t ringing. Every shadow felt like a watcher. I hadn’t slept properly since the scandal broke, and the weight of it all pressed on my chest until breathing felt like work.So I did the one thing Lucy would absolutely lose her mind over.I went outside.I didn’t tell her. I didn’t tell Tracy. I pulled on a face mask, a cap pulled so low it shadowed half my face, and stepped out just as evening began to settle. The sun hung low, turning the streets gold, pretending the world was normal.I walked slowly, hands tucked into my sleeves, replaying everything I’d tried not to think about. The podcast. The kiss. The headlines. The way my name had stopped feeling like mine.Then I smelled him. Not his cologne. That was gone. This was something sour and heavy, like old alcohol clinging to skin that had not slept enough or washed enough or cared enough
Alex POVI’m actually feeling happy since I left Aria’s house, I’m glad we were able to settle all our grudges and misunderstandings.We even did baby shopping online, I’m so happy about everything.I was even whistling like a young man, down my hallway until I received a call from my secretary.I wondered why he was calling me.So when my phone continued vibrating nonstop, I assumed it was routine noise. Time zone differences. A board member waking up anxious. A regional director overreacting to market chatter.I did not assume it was war.Few minutes later, i was in my home office, sleeves rolled, tie still loose around my neck, skimming a quarterly report when my chief of staff knocked once and entered without waiting.That alone made me look up.She never broke protocol.“Sir,” she said, voice tight, tablet pressed to her chest. “We have a situation.”I exhaled slowly. “Define situation.”She hesitated. A fraction of a second too long.“The board is requesting an emergency meeting
My chest tightened. Not the dramatic kind. Not the kind that announces itself loudly in the form of heart attack. This was quiet. Heavy. Like something pressing inward from all sides, asking my lungs to negotiate for space. Leah was still talking but her words were blurring together now. Brands. Screenshots. Commentary. Everywhere. “Okay,” I said, surprising myself with how steady my voice sounded. “Okay.” Leah blinked. She was pacing already, fingers flying over her phone, opening emails, closing them, opening another app. “This is not okay,” she said. “This is the kind of thing that either ends a career or rebrands it overnight. And we do not let the internet decide which one it is.” I leaned against the counter and closed my eyes for half a second. When I opened them, the kitchen looked the same. White tiles. Morning light. The faint smell of ginger from the tea I never drank. “Talk to me,” I said. “Slow.” She took a breath. Planted her feet. Looked at me properly f
I woke up to the sound of breathing that was not mine.For a split second, panic shot through me. My body stiffened before my mind caught up. Then I remembered. The couch. The blankets. The weight of last night settling quietly into morning.He couldn’t go home because he still felt weak and I wasn’t that inhuman to send him away in such a state.Sunlight leaked through the curtains in thin lines, landing on the edge of the rug, the arm of the sofa, the side of his face. Alexander was still asleep. One arm flung carelessly over his chest, lashes resting against his cheek like he belonged there. Like this was normal.It was not.I sat up slowly, careful not to make the bed creak. My chest felt tight, but not in the sharp painful way. This was softer. Confusing. The kind of tightness that came from letting something familiar back in when you promised yourself you would not.I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood. The room smelled faintly like his cologne and the tea I never
“Those bartenders,” I said. “The night we met. The ones who refused to give me your number. Was that you.” His expression changed. Not guilt exactly. Something closer to resignation. “Yes.” The word sat there between us. I swallowed. “Why.” “Because I’m an influential person and i didn’t want anyone, especially a one night stand to get access to me unnecessarily.” he said simply. I laughed once. It came out sharp. “Lol .” “Yes.” At least he did not dress it up. My gaze dropped to my hands. “Did you know who I was before you slept with me.” “No.” The answer came too quickly to be rehearsed. “I knew your face later,” he continued. “After. When I saw your face properly the following morning. But that night, before the sex… you were just a woman who looked at me like she did not need anything from me.” I felt my throat tighten despite myself. “And after,” I asked, softer now. “After we slept together. Did you know.” “Yes.” I nodded slowly. That explained m
For a second my brain refused to process it. He looked unreal. Too still. One arm twisted awkwardly beneath him, his face pale against the dark tile. “Alex,” I breathed. No response.The sound that left my throat was small and broken. I dropped beside him, knees hitting the rug, palms hovering uselessly over his chest like I was afraid to touch him and confirm something I was not ready to name.He was breathing. Shallow, but there.Relief came so fast it hurt.“I told you not to come,” I said, even though he could not hear me. My voice shook anyway. “I locked the door.”I pressed my ear lightly to his chest. His heartbeat was there, uneven but stubborn. Too fast. Too loud.I could not lift him. Even if I tried, even if adrenaline helped, my body would not allow it. The doctor’s voice from earlier echoed in my head. High blood pressure. Stress is not your friend right now.I swallowed hard and stood, grabbing the thick throw blanket from the couch, then another from the bedroom. I kn







