Chapter 7

Rowan’s POV

I had lost deals before, but never like this. Never to her.

River stood across the table, her voice sharp and steady, every word cutting through me while the board leaned toward her as if she carried the sun in her hands. When the contract slid to her side, I felt something tear inside me. 

This deal was supposed to be mine. It was supposed to lift my company to the next level. Instead, I had just lost everything that mattered to me at that moment, and the person who took it away was my so-called ex-fiancé.

Her eyes met mine when the meeting ended, cool and dismissive, as if I was nothing more than dirt under her shoes. The way she spoke to me, calm and controlled, like I was already finished, burned hotter than fire. I wanted to crush her. 

I wanted to wipe that look off her face and remind her who I was. But the truth hit me like a blade. She was not the same River I once knew. She was untouchable now, and I could not understand how.

Yes, she had always been smart, maybe even brilliant, but this rise was too fast. No one went from nothing to board member overnight. It would take years of grinding and clawing your way up. Unless someone had carried her there. Unless she had help.

And then she told me she was married. The word cracked open something inside me. Married. I tried to name the feeling crawling in my chest but I couldn’t. Was it jealousy? Rage? All I knew was that it felt wrong. 

She was mine once, and the thought of another man holding her, touching her, building her up to this throne she now sat on, made me sick. But who was he? I knew every man in this city worth knowing, yet I had never heard his name. 

That made it worse. That made it unbearable.

So I followed her.

I told myself it was reckless, but I didn’t care. Hours passed as I sat in my car down the street from her building, my hand gripping the wheel so tightly the leather dug into my skin. When she finally left the office and drove home, I was right behind her. 

She walked into the apartment building alone. My chest tightened as I stared at that door, imagining some faceless man waiting for her inside. Suddenly, my phone buzzed with Nova’s name flashing across the screen. I ignored it. 

My eyes stayed on that door, sharp, hungry. And then I saw him. The door opened and a man stepped out. 

At last.

He moved with quiet power, shoulders straight, the kind of man who did not need to speak to command a room. My pulse hammered as I leaned forward, desperate to see his face, but before I could, he slid into a car and drove away.

I cursed under my breath, anger twisting sharp inside me. I had missed him.

But River was still inside.

I climbed out of my car, every step toward her door heavy with something I could not name. My chest burned, my thoughts tangled, but my need to see her again pushed me forward. I rang the doorbell and in no time the door opened.

River stood in the soft glow of her apartment, wearing a red lace night gown like fire wrapped in fabric. The light caught her skin, warm and golden, the nightgown slipping against her curves in a way that made my throat close. 

She turned, her eyes landing on me, her lips parting slightly, and for a moment the air between us seemed to vanish. I froze, staring at her, every muscle in me wound so tight it hurt. 

This was the same River I had abandoned, the same woman I thought would never rise without me. And yet she stood before me stronger, more powerful, and more beautiful than I had ever seen her.

I could not stop looking at her. The red lace clung to her body like it belonged there, daring me to remember what it felt like to touch her, daring me to imagine another man seeing her like this. 

I told myself I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction. No matter how my chest burned at the sight of her in that gown, no matter how much heat crawled through my veins, I would not let her see me hungry for her. 

She didn’t deserve that. Not after the way she stood in that boardroom and looked down at me like I was nothing. Still, the shock in her eyes was clear. She was hiding something. I stepped deeper into her home, my gaze sweeping across the room. 

For someone who claimed to be happily married, the place felt strange. No wedding photos on the walls, no framed smiles on the tables. Just emptiness that didn’t match her new life.

“Get out, Rowan,” she said, her voice sharp but shaking. “You’re not welcome here.” I almost laughed. She thought she could order me out of her house the way she had crushed me in that meeting. 

I leaned closer, letting my words cut. “You may have fooled them with your pretty speeches, River, but you’ll never fool me. I know what you really are.”

River’s eyes burned as she moved toward the door. “Leave, Rowan. Now. Or I’ll call the police.” Her threat was real, and I knew she meant it. I cursed under my breath and stepped out, slamming the door behind me. 

But I couldn’t drive away. Not yet. I waited in the shadows of my car, my heart pounding with questions that wouldn’t stop. Minutes passed. My phone buzzed again, Nova’s name flashing across the screen for the second time. 

The sound of her voice grated before I even answered. I tossed the phone into the backseat, the anger boiling too high. And then I froze.

A man was walking up to River’s door. The same man I had seen leave earlier. This time I caught a better look at his back, the cut of his shoulders, the way he carried himself. He was familiar. Too familiar.

I gripped the wheel, my pulse hammering. Who the hell was he? And why did I feel like I already knew him?

-

Killian’s POV

“Get off my car,” I barked, my voice sharp enough to cut the night. The thief froze for a second, hand still gripping the handle, then tried to swing at me. I didn’t give him the chance. 

My fist landed first, cracking against his jaw with the kind of force that always made a man rethink his choices. But this one was stubborn. He came back swinging, wild and desperate, but I had years of rage to fuel me. 

The fight was messy, a flurry of fists and grunts, but he was no match. By the time he stumbled back, clutching his side, he knew he had picked the wrong man. He ran, disappearing into the dark, leaving me bruised but standing.

Such audacity people have these days. He should thank his God that I didn’t call the police on him…nonsense. I picked up the bottle of champagne that had rolled across the ground and slid back into my car. 

Tonight was supposed to be about celebrating River not getting pissed over some petty thief. River had earned it. She had stood tall, fearless, and the kiss she had given me earlier still lingered on my lips. 

It had been soft but fiery, full of the kind of passion that made me want more. But wanting wasn’t the same as taking. I wouldn’t risk making her feel trapped, not when I had worked so hard to give her freedom. 

I can’t wait to take back what rightfully belongs to me, even if it meant starving myself of the one thing I craved most. The drive back was fast, my mind a storm of her smile, her lips, her fire. By the time I opened the door, I was ready to see her glow again.

But what I found stopped me cold.

River sat curled on the couch, her robe clinging to her body in a way that could unmake me with a glance, but it wasn’t her beauty that hit me. It was the shadow in her eyes, the way her body stiffened when she saw me. Something had happened.

She rushed to me, her hands gentle as they touched the cut on my hand. Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. “What happened to you, Killian? Did someone hurt you?”

I forced a smile. “Nothing big. Some fool tried to hijack my car. I taught him a lesson. I’ll live.” Relief flickered across her face, like she was glad I had gotten into a fight rather than something else.

“Are you sure you’re fine? I asked softly, touching her cheeks. She nodded.

And in that moment he knew she had lied.

Because he always knew when she lied to him.