LOGINPOV: EvelynBy the time evening settles in, I’m already done with the office.Not because there isn’t work to do. There’s too much of it, actually. Too many files and that project sitting right at the center of everything like a loaded gun no one else realizes is about to go off.But I don’t stay because staying there means sitting in the same space Arthur walked into earlier and that fucking creeped the hell out of me.So I leave.I go to the school to pick Toby up myself for the first time in a while. He runs up to me the second he sees me, backpack half falling off his shoulder, talking before he even reaches me.“Mom, we had this thing today and I almost won but then Daniel cheated—”“He didn’t cheat,” I say automatically, crouching slightly to fix his bag properly. “You just didn’t win baby. That's a serious accusation and you should learn to accept loosing baby.”“That’s the same thing,” he insists.“It’s not.”He huffs like I’ve personally offended him, and I almost smile.Almo
POV: ArthurI don’t go far.That’s the first thing I realize after I step out of her office and the door shuts behind me. I make it down the hallway, past her assistant, past the glass walls and the quiet hum of people pretending not to watch me, and then I keep walking like I actually have somewhere to be.I don’t.By the time I reach the elevator, I already know I’m not done here.The doors slide open and I step inside, jaw tight, my mind running through that conversation again whether I want it to or not. The way she looked at me. The way she didn’t hesitate. The way she said no like it was the easiest thing in the world.There wasn't even anger in her response The doors closed and I stared at my reflection in the metal surface for a second longer than I should. I look exactly the same. .But something under it feels… off.The elevator reaches the ground floor and I step out, moving through the lobby without slowing down. People move out of my way automatically, like they always do
POV: EvelynBy the time I get back to my office, everything looks exactly the way it’s supposed to. I step through the glass doors without breaking stride, already scanning the space out of habit. My assistant looks up immediately, straightening in her seat.“You’re back early,” she says.“Something came up,” I reply, already walking past her.“Do you want me to—”“No interruptions unless it’s urgent,” I cut in, not slowing down.She nods quickly. “Understood.”I don’t wait for anything else. I push my office door open and step inside, letting it close behind me with a soft click that shuts out the rest of the world.For a second, I just stand there.Not because I don’t know what to do, but because my mind is already running through everything at once. Rebecca’s words, the confirmation about Samantha, the fact that they thought Toby was leverage like he was just some piece in a game they could move around whenever they felt like it.My fingers curl slightly at my sides.I move to my d
POV: ArthurI don’t like repeating myself.It’s a simple rule I’ve had for years because when people make me repeat things, it usually means they’re stalling, lying, or trying to figure out how much I already know. And right now, sitting across from Rebecca with a glass of untouched whiskey in my hand, I can already tell she’s doing at least two out of three.She looks completely at ease.That’s the first problem.Rebecca doesn’t look like someone who just got dragged into a situation that’s starting to fall apart. She’s leaning back in the chair like this is a casual meeting, one leg crossed over the other, fingers tapping lightly against the armrest like she’s bored.It’s calculated.It’s always fucking calculated with her.“You called me here just to stare?” she asks, tilting her head slightly, a faint smirk pulling at her mouth. “Or is there an actual point to this meeting of yours?”I take a slow sip of my drink, letting the silence stretch just enough to irritate her before I se
POV: EvelynBy the time I get downstairs, I already know something is very wrong.Malachi is standing near the table, not moving much, just there like he’s waiting for something. Nina is off to the side, leaning against the wall, arms crossed, her expression locked down so tight it almost looks like she doesn’t care.That’s how I know something was really wrong. Maybe they fought. Toby isn’t here. Good. That means whatever this is, he probably didn't need to see it.I step fully into the room, letting the door close behind me, my eyes moving between both of them. Neither of them speaks first, which tells me everything I need to know.“Where is she?” I ask.No one pretends not to understand.Malachi looks at me for a second before answering, like he’s deciding how to say whatever is in his mind. “She’s gone.”For a moment, I didn't react. Not because I didn’t hear him, but because I did and my brain is already trying to process how that even happened. Rebecca was right here. We had h
POV: Malachi“And you fucking let that happen?”The words come out harder than I planned, but I don’t take them back because right now, I don’t have the patience to soften anything. Rebecca is gone, the one person we had sitting right in front of us with answers, and somehow she walked out like we handed her the key to our door ourselves.Nina doesn’t flinch.That alone pisses me off more than it should because I know that look. I’ve seen it before. It’s the one she uses when she’s already accepted whatever she did and decided she’s not going to show it, not even a little.“That’s not what happened,” I take a step closer, close enough that she can’t avoid me. “Then explain it properly,” I say. “Because from where I’m standing, it looks exactly like that.”She exhales through her nose, like she’s already annoyed with me for even asking. “She played it,” Nina replies. “She kept me talking, found a gap, and used it.”“In a locked room,” I say flatly.“There’s a secondary latch,” she sho
POV: ArthurThe meeting had already started by the time I arrived, and I didn’t expect anything out of the ordinary from it, because it was just another proposal to review, something that would either move forward or be rejected depending on whether it made sense for the company.I took my seat qui
POV: EvelynFive Years LaterThe morning started early but I was already awake before the alarm went off and there was no reason to stay in bed when the day had already begun.I got up, dressed, and stepped out into the living room just as the sunlight began to filter through the glass, and the apa
POV: EvelynThe flight was long, but I didn’t spend time thinking about anything I had left behind, because once I boarded and took my seat, I decided to keep everything about that marriage, and that part of my life already felt closed off in a way that didn’t need revisiting.By the time the plane
POV: EvelynI didn’t slow down until I was inside my office with the door closed behind me, and even then, it didn’t settle the way I expected it to, because the moment I stopped moving, everything I had pushed down during the meeting came back at once, sharp and immediate.Seeing him hadn’t been p







