Shattered trust

Alina didn't storm through the mansion-she glided, her silence louder than any scream. Jesse followed, tension pulsing in his chest like a ticking bomb.

"Alina, wait," he said, grabbing her arm gently.

She turned, eyes ice-cold. "Don't touch me."

He let go immediately. "Let me explain. That article-it's twisted, it's only half-"

"Half true?" she snapped. "So the rest is what? Character building?"

Jesse looked genuinely gutted, the kind of expression you can't fake-not even for five hundred thousand dollars. "I didn't come into this to scam you. I needed the money, yes, but I didn't think I'd actually start-"

"Start what?" Her voice cracked, just once. "Caring?"

He didn't answer.

That silence was everything.

She stepped back. "I trusted you. I let you into my home, my life-"

"You hired me," he cut in, anger bleeding into his voice now. "This whole thing started because you didn't believe in love. And now I'm the villain for catching feelings?"

Alina flinched like he'd hit her.

And that's when the door opened.

"Alina," came a soft voice.

Naomi, her personal assistant-short, sharp, dressed in sleek gray slacks and no-nonsense boots. But her eyes, always softer around Alina, now brimmed with concern.

"I saw the article," Naomi said, stepping between them. "And the security tapes. That story broke too fast. It's planted. Someone wanted it to explode tonight."

Alina blinked, struggling to breathe. "Why would someone...?"

Naomi looked at Jesse, then back at her. "You know who."

Alina's voice dropped. "Gregory."

Naomi nodded grimly. "You're being played, Alina. Again. But this time, it's not just business. He's attacking you. The woman, not the CEO."

Jesse stepped closer, voice low and honest. "I swear to you, I never meant to hurt you. I came in for the money. I stayed because... because somewhere between the pretending and the posing, I started falling for you."

Alina looked between the two of them-her walls fighting to hold, her emotions clawing through the cracks.

"I don't know who to trust anymore," she whispered.

Naomi gently touched her shoulder. "Then trust me. And trust what you felt tonight. Because that wasn't fake, Alina. Not for you. Not for him."

The room fell silent.

Alina looked at Jesse one more time, pain blooming across her face like a slow bruise.

"I need air," she said, and walked out into the night.

****

The night was quiet, the kind of heavy silence that felt like it was waiting to be broken.

Alina stood at the edge of the balcony, the cold stone railing biting into her palms. Below her, the city lights shimmered like scattered dreams-so close, yet impossibly far.

Her heart was a storm behind her ribs.

She had faced boardrooms full of sharks, headlines full of lies, men who only wanted her money-but this?

This betrayal felt personal.

The worst part? She wasn't even sure it was betrayal. Jesse's eyes hadn't lied tonight. His voice hadn't trembled from guilt-it had trembled from something far more dangerous.

Emotion.

"Alina."

She didn't turn. She didn't have to. Naomi's voice was the only one she ever let into the quiet.

"You should be asleep," Alina said softly.

Naomi came to stand beside her, not pushing, just there. "So should you."

They stood in silence for a moment, the wind tugging gently at Alina's hair.

"I was falling for him," she whispered, finally. "And I didn't even see it happening."

Naomi didn't react, just waited.

"I let him touch my world, Naomi. Ours. The house, the clothes, the damn art." She laughed bitterly. "I danced with him."

"And for a moment," Naomi said, "you were happy."

Alina looked over. "That's what makes it worse."

Naomi's eyes softened. "That's what makes it real."

Alina swallowed, her voice fragile. "Do you think it's possible? That he meant it?"

"I think it scares you more that he did," Naomi said gently. "You're Alina Sterling. You're untouchable. But tonight? You were just a woman with someone who saw you."

Alina's throat tightened. "I don't know if I can forgive him."

"You don't have to. But maybe-just maybe-you should ask yourself one question."

Alina turned to her.

Naomi looked straight at her. "Was he the first person you wanted to forgive?"

Silence.

And then a single tear slipped down Alina's cheek.

She didn't wipe it away.