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Chapter 8

Author: Dyana
last update Huling Na-update: 2025-07-05 06:49:36

CHLOE'S POV

By Friday evening, the city was less busy. The cold had finally reduced and the streets of Manhattan were warm and beautiful.

We were meeting at a rooftop wine bar in Havemayer, a rare kind of place where executives could pretend not to be executives, where they could laugh freely without fear.

I almost didn’t go.

Three times I picked up my coat and put it back down. Twice I told myself Elias wouldn’t care either way.

But it wasn’t about him.

It was about me finally taking up space somewhere he didn’t control.

So I slipped into my short navy dress and low heels, tied my hair back, and let Nina drag me out with a grin.

“Good girl,” she said, looping her arm through mine. “Let’s go drink wine and gossip like the emotionally stable adults we are.”

“I can do two of those things,” I muttered.

She laughed. “I know.”

...

The rooftop was already buzzing with loud music playing, and our colleagues were drinking and laughing.

Gavin saw me first.

His smile widened as he stood, lifti
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