MasukLydia POV“Have I made a terrible mistake taking you on as a client?”I frowned.“Excuse me?”“It’s seven in the evening.”“So?”“My work hours have officially ended.”“Dr. Sana—”“Call me tomorrow morning.”“Please.”“No.”“Doctor.”“No.”“Dr. Sana.”“Lydia.”I sighed dramatically.“Please. I’m having an elder-sister moment.”Silence.Then I heard her laugh.“You are shameless.”“I learned from the best.”“You owe me a trip to Barbados after this.”“Fine.”“I’m serious.”“I’ll send you to Barbados.”“With a spa package.”“Yes.”“Five-star hotel.”“Yes.”“Business class.”I rolled my eyes.“You’re becoming expensive.”“You’re the one who called after hours.”“Please analyze me before I change my mind.”She laughed again.“Fine. Read me your answers.”So I did.One by one.She didn’t interrupt much.Every now and then, she’d make a quiet sound of acknowledgment.“Mmm.”“Interesting.”“Go on.”When I finished, there was a long silence.“So?” I asked.“So,” she said slowly, “I think you’
Lydia POVNot because I didn’t like him.Because admire felt like too big a word.Eventually, I wrote:I don’t think “admire” describes it.Then:I’m happy when I see him doing well. It feels almost like watching an older brother? No. Younger brother. Like seeing someone I care about finally figuring his life out.I frowned.Again with the younger brother thing.“Interesting.”I circled it.Seventh: If romance disappeared tomorrow, would I still want this person in my life?This one was easy.Theo — absolutely.I smiled.I’d still want him around. But honestly, I don’t know if he’d want that.I hesitated.Because that thought actually hurt a little.Then Dave.I almost laughed.Romance disappeared years ago and he’s still in my life. So… obviously.I underlined obviously.Eighth: Am I attracted to him—or attracted to how he makes me feel about myself?I stared at that question.Then dropped the pen onto the mattress.“No.”I picked it back up.“Nope.”I dropped it again.“This is stup
Lydia POVYou know what?I was changing my mind.I couldn’t allow these two men to keep occupying valuable real estate in my head like they had paid rent.I had work tomorrow. Two children who somehow managed to turn every ordinary day into an Olympic event. A client who was currently giving me enough problems to qualify as a second full-time job. Bills. Emails. Meetings.And somehow, here I was, sitting on my bed at night, conducting an internal election between two grown men.Absolutely ridiculous.I reached for the notebook Dr. Sana had given me.“Fine,” I muttered. “Let’s just get this over with.”I crossed my legs beneath me, opened the notebook, uncapped my pen, and stared at the first question.First: How do I feel before I see him?I tapped my pen against my chin.“With Dave…”I paused.My mouth twisted slightly.“Weird.”I wrote it down.Then I added:With Dave, I feel weird, but in a good way.I stared at the sentence.Okay.That was vague.Very insightful, Lydia.I moved on
Lydia POV“The car engine.”I groaned.“Oh my God.”“You promised.”“I promised we’d talk about it.”“And you said you’d research.”“I did.”“You researched?”“I did.”Eli gasped dramatically.“She’s actually serious.”“Excuse me?”“Mom researched car engines.”“I am capable of research.”Ava laughed.“Okay, Mom. See you soon.”By the time the kids arrived, I had barely finished my second bite of lunch.The door opened.“Mom!”Two pairs of footsteps thundered through the office.I barely had time to stand before Ava launched herself at me.I caught her.“Hey!”She hugged me tightly.Eli came immediately after.“Me too!”“Come here.”Within seconds, I had both children attached to me.My assistant watched from the doorway, smiling.I kissed the top of Ava’s head.“How was your lesson?”“Good.”“Did you behave?”“Yes.”Eli answered at the exact same time.“No.”I looked at him.He grinned.“I behaved mostly.”“Mostly is doing a lot of work in that sentence.”We sat around the dining tab
Lydia POVI left Dr. Sana’s office with my handbag tucked beneath my arm and my little sheet of questions folded neatly inside it.Her receptionist looked up as I approached the door.“Have a good day, ma’am.”“Thank you.”I smiled politely and walked out.The second the glass doors closed behind me, I glanced back at her through the window.I wondered if she was going through some kind of romantic crisis too.Was she sitting somewhere after work, staring at two men’s names on a piece of paper and wondering which one she actually wanted?Probably not.She probably had a peaceful life.Ugh.I missed when my biggest problems were work deadlines and whether my children had remembered to put their shoes where they belonged.Now I had two grown men occupying entirely too much space inside my head.I got into my car and dropped my handbag onto the passenger seat.“Honestly,” I muttered, starting the engine.Was I even supposed to be entertaining this?Especially after everything Dave had pu
Lydia POVDr. Sana’s smile became almost mischievous. “Homework.” I groaned. “Of course.” She reached for a sheet of paper and slid it across the table. At the top, she wrote: DAVE vs. THEO I stared at it. “Oh my God.” “Relax. This isn’t a BuzzFeed quiz.” “It looks exactly like one.” “It isn’t about scoring who buys better gifts.” “Good.” “Or who is more handsome.” I raised my eyebrows. “That wasn’t going to be my metric.” She gave me a look. “Lydia.” “Fine.” She began writing. “Tonight, you’re going to answer these questions separately for Dave and Theo.” I picked up the pen. “First: How do I feel before I see him?” I wrote it down. “Second: How do I feel while I’m with him?” I wrote. “Third: How do I feel after I leave him?” Another line. “Fourth: Can I be completely myself around him?” I nodded. “Fifth: Do I trust him?” I wrote that down. “Sixth: Do I admire who he is when nobody is watching?” That made me pause. She noticed. “Good question, isn’t
Lydia POVOh.That was… unfortunate.Because he was beautiful.In a sharp, expensive, dangerous kind of way.Dark suit.Sharper jaw.Dark eyes that looked almost black under certain lighting.Everything about him looked controlled.I clicked another picture.Still no smile.Another.Same expression
Lydia POV“You’re getting married to Dave Ashton tomorrow by eight a.m.”Those were the words that ended my life as I knew it.One sentence.One Tuesday evening.One announcement delivered with the same emotional weight my father would have used to ask someone to pass the salt.For a moment, I hone
Bernard stepped in, hands clasped neatly in front of him.“I apologize for disturbing you, ma’am. I came by earlier, but there was no response.”I rubbed my eyes. “I was asleep.”“Yes, ma’am.”He said it so respectfully that I almost felt bad for sounding irritated.Almost.“Would you like dinner?”
Lydia’s POVThe inside of the house was even worse than the outside.Worse, because now I had to physically stand inside it and accept that this was where I was expected to live.The space swallowed me the second I stepped in.The entrance opened into a massive living area with floors so polished I







