Semua Bab Beneath the Surface : Bab 51 - Bab 60

The atmosphere in the office had changed.The launch was a month away, and everything had shifted into overdrive. Deadlines were no longer flexible. Every detail had to be perfect, down to the stitching on the custom uniforms and the scent profile of the elevators. The Manhattan property was in its final phase, and Drew had pulled most of his core team into a tighter loop. That included me.We had been holed up in his corner office for hours going over brand rollout timelines and final design samples. I had my laptop open, documents spread out between us, both of us so immersed in details that we didn't noticed how late it had gotten.Drew sat across the table, sleeves rolled to his elbows, brows furrowed as he scrolled through a vendor report I’d flagged for inconsistencies."We’ll need to push this back to the design team," I said, tapping the edge of the screen. "The mockup doesn’t align with the new color palette. They’re still using the early phase blue gold combo."He nodded slo

Drew’s POVKimberley’s perfume still lingered in the air long after she’d left; expensive, suffocating and fake.I stood there, staring at the door, feeling the last traces of her voice crawl under my skin. She’d come in here expecting to own the room. She’d expected me to fold, to scramble for whatever she dangled in front of me. But what rattled me wasn’t Kimberley.It was Lila.She hadn’t flinched. Not once. Kimberley had tried to use her as a pressure point, leaning into her smug little performance, and Lila just… sat there. Calm. Composed. Watching. That composure wasn’t accidental, it was strategy. And that meant there was something she hadn’t told me yet.I turned my head just enough to catch her in my peripheral vision. She was staring at her book, probably thinking about how to answer the inevitable question. There was no way I was letting her leave without answers.I could hear the subtle shuffle of Lila’s pen against her notebook. My own breathing was shallow, too measured.

Max’s question lingered in the air between us, deceptively casual.“Did anything special happen at the office today?”He said it like he was just making conversation, but the timing, the way his eyes held mine… there was intent behind it.I let the silence stretch. I didn’t drop my gaze immediately. Instead, I tilted my head, letting my lips press together like I was trying to recall my day. My mind was already ten steps ahead, arranging the pieces before I moved one.If I answered too quickly, he would know I was ready for the question and if I hesitated too long, he would smell the lie.Finally, I gave a small shrug. “Nothing much, really. Just the usual work and meetings” I let the sentence hang in the air before adding, like it was an afterthought, “But… you won't believe it, Kimberley stopped by.”The reaction was tiny, but I caught it.A fractional pause in his breathing. The faintest tightening at the corners of his mouth. His eyes flickered, one heartbeat too quick before the

Drew’s POV The day had barely hit its stride when I closed my office door, sat down behind my desk. My office was quiet except for the low hum of the city far below, the kind of sound you could forget was there if you weren’t listening for it. I came in earlier than usual, the kind of early where the hallways still smelled faintly of last night’s cleaning supplies, and the air in here was untouched, cool, crisp and waiting. Max had been in my head all night. Not just because of what he’d done, but because of what I now knew he was trying to do. The Italian collection, the investors, the museum in Asia. The kind of play that could make someone a fortune if they didn’t care who they burned on the way. The only problem for him was that I now cared very much about what he was up to. From the very moment he thought of ever sabotaging my launch he was already planning his downfall unknowingly. Right on schedule, my private phone buzzed. The investigator never called the main line;

Lila’s POVBy the time I got home, the weight in my chest had grown heavier.I told myself all afternoon that I would breathe easier once I left the office, once I put some distance between myself and Drew’s voice, that low, steady way he’d spoken about dismantling Max’s life piece by piece.But the walls of my apartment didn’t quiet my mind. If anything, the silence made it worse.I tossed my bag onto the couch, kicked off my shoes, and wandered aimlessly to the kitchen. My hands went through the motions, kettle on, tea bag in a mug but my thoughts were running on a completely different track.Max.Drew.The baby.I sat curled up on the couch, knees pulled to my chest with the mug of tea cooling untouched on the coffee table. The steam had already started fading, just like my earlier attempt to distract myself by watching some mindless TV. I couldn’t remember what was playing. I couldn’t even remember turning it off.Max’s name felt different now. For weeks I had told myself I could