Chapter 15

Rielle’s POV

Zayden exhaled and stepped closer, his voice gentling.

“Rielle,” he said, “I have to talk to her. It’s urgent — about my parents. But I promise I’ll be right back. Just… wait for me, okay? I’ll explain everything.”

Something in his tone made it hard to say no. He sounded sincere — almost desperate to make me understand.

So I just nodded, even though a small, uneasy ache had already begun forming in my chest.

“Okay,” I said quietly.

He gave a small, grateful smile — the kind that always seemed to undo me — and then he turned, walking out of the kitchen toward the study where Linda waited.

And I waited too.

At first, I told myself it would only be a few minutes. Maybe ten. Fifteen at most. I poured myself another cup of coffee, stared out the window, and tried to ignore how empty the house suddenly felt without his presence.

But minutes turned into nearly an hour.

The coffee grew cold. The silence stretched. I kept glancing toward the hallway, half expecting to hear footsteps — a door opening, his voice calling my name, something.

Nothing.

I scrolled through my phone just to have something to do, but my focus kept slipping back to the clock. Two hours. Maybe more. The sun had shifted, painting the kitchen in a softer light, and still no sign of him.

I let out a long, shaky sigh, pushing the mug away.

He forgot.

The thought hit harder than I wanted it to. Maybe it wasn’t intentional — maybe that conversation really was urgent — but he’d said he’d be right back. He’d promised.

And I’d believed him.

I laughed softly to myself, but it came out hollow. How foolish of me to think I was anything more than just an assistant having breakfast with her boss. To think that moment earlier — the closeness, the almost-kiss — might’ve meant something to him.

I stood, gathering my things slowly, my chest tight with a mix of disappointment and something dangerously close to sadness. I left the untouched pancakes on the counter, his mug still half-full beside mine — a quiet reminder of how the morning had started.

Before walking out, I glanced once more toward the hallway. Still no sound. No Zayden. No explanation.

I swallowed hard.

“Right,” I whispered to myself, forcing a small smile. “Guess that answers everything.”

And with that, I turned and walked out of the house — the echo of my footsteps the only thing that followed me.

By the time I got home, the ache in my chest had settled into something heavy and silent. I didn’t even bother turning on the lights — I just dropped my bag on the couch and sank down beside it, staring at nothing for a long time.

The house felt too quiet. Too still. Every time I closed my eyes, I kept seeing him — the way he’d looked at me in that kitchen, the way his voice had softened when he said wait for me.

And then… nothing.

He’d forgotten me.

The thought kept circling in my head until it started to sting. He hadn’t even sent a message. Not a call. Nothing to say, I’m sorry I kept you waiting.

I reached for my phone before I could stop myself and scrolled to Elsie’s contact. She was the one person I could talk to without pretending I was fine.

She picked up on the second ring. “Rielle? Hey, what’s wrong? You sound—”

“I don’t even know,” I cut in, my voice cracking a little. “I just… I waited for him. For hours. He said he’d be right back, Elsie. He didn’t come.”

There was a pause on the line, then a soft sigh. “Zayden?”

I pressed my lips together. “Who else?”

I tried to laugh, but it came out shaky. “I should’ve known better. I mean, really — what was I expecting? That he’d suddenly see me as more than… whatever this is?”

Tears blurred my vision before I could blink them back. “He looked at me like I mattered, Elsie. For a second, I actually believed it.”

“Rie…”

“And then that woman showed up,” I continued, my throat tightening. “Linda. She looked at him like she’s known him her whole life. Maybe she has. And he—he just left with her like I wasn’t even there.”

My voice dropped to a whisper. “Maybe that’s all I am to him. Someone he likes being around when it’s convenient. Someone who doesn’t belong in his world.”

There was a small silence before Elsie spoke again, gentle but firm. “Rie, don’t do that to yourself. You don’t know what happened.”

I wiped at my cheeks with the back of my hand, voice trembling. “But that’s the problem, Elsie. He didn’t even try to tell me.”

The tears came freely then — quiet, exhausted tears that felt like they’d been waiting for days.

I sank deeper into the couch, clutching the phone to my ear. “I just wish I’d meant enough for him to remember I was still there.”