Semua Bab MY UNDOING: Bab 71 - Bab 80

MACEY Evelyn was one of those people who just… made you feel calm. You know the type... soft-spoken but confident, with a smile that felt like sunlight after rain. “Macey Carter,” she said, her tone genuinely welcoming. “I’ve heard some lovely things about your work.” That alone almost made me blush. “Good things, I hope,” I said, laughing nervously. “Only the best,” she replied. “Why don’t you tell me a bit about your design process?” And just like that, it stopped feeling like an interview. We talked about fabrics, inspirations, and how I sometimes got ideas from random street posters or a stranger’s jacket. She laughed and said, “That’s how you know you’re a real designer. You see beauty where others don’t.” When she finally leaned back and said, “You can resume whenever you feel ready. Though if you take my advice, Monday’s a great day for new beginnings,” my heart practically somersaulted. I managed to hold it together. I smiled, thanked her, and shook her hand again, but t

MACEY To say I was excited was an understatement. I felt like I was floating on air, my heart practically doing backflips in my chest. I kept glancing at my phone, waiting for Damien to call and tell me he was on his way. The moment it rang, I nearly dropped it in my excitement. “Hey, Mace,” he said, his voice warm and steady, like an anchor in the middle of my chaos. “I’m in front of your apartment.” I practically launched myself out of my chair and bolted to the door. By the time I reached the curb, there he was, standing next to his car, looking impossibly calm and perfect. He smiled when he saw me, and I swear my heart skipped a beat. “Hey,” he said softly, opening the passenger door for me. “Here, get in. Make yourself comfortable.” I slid into the seat, smoothing the fabric of my dress and stealing glances at him. Damien was already in the driver’s seat, adjusting the rearview mirror, but his eyes kept flicking to me. “You look beautiful,” he murmured without prompting. My

DAMIEN I tried to drive home. I really did. I even made it halfway down the street before my hands tightened on the wheel in a way that told me I was fooling myself. Everything inside me felt wrong. Leaving Macey the way I left her felt like I had walked out of a burning building and left someone I loved inside. My chest was tight. My mind was racing. She was not fine. Anyone could see she was not fine. The moment she walked out of that conversation with her mother, her entire energy had crashed. She was quiet, withdrawn, and distant in a way that made me feel helpless. And I hated feeling helpless. I slowed the car, glancing at my rearview mirror like it held the answer to everything that was wrong between us. I could still see the faint outline of her apartment building in my mind. Something was not right. Something had broken inside her tonight, and if I let her sit alone with that kind of pain, I would never forgive myself. I pulled a sharp turn and went back. The clos

ZINNA I knew something was wrong the moment Damien stepped into my apartment. I had never seen him look like that before. Damien was the stable one. The solid one. The man who didn’t crumble, even when everything around him was falling apart. So when he broke down in my arms earlier, really broke down, I felt the ground shift under my feet. That wasn’t just sadness. That was grief. That was heartbreak. That was my big brother holding on to me because he had nothing else to hold on to. And it scared me. It really did. It made everything inside me twist because I wasn’t used to seeing him like that, and I hated that I couldn’t fix it instantly the way I fixed everything else. When he left, my apartment suddenly felt too quiet. Too still. And I stood there staring at the door, feeling this odd, heavy pressure in my chest. Damien wasn’t supposed to hurt like that. He didn’t deserve to be that broken. He didn’t deserve the confusion, the sadness, or the guilt he was drowning in.

MACEY I was fuming. Actually, no—I was beyond fuming. I was vibrating. I wanted to push Zinna off my property, shove her back into her fancy car, and tell her never to show up at my door again. Seeing her standing there like she had every right to breathe the same air as me after everything she had said and done? My blood boiled. She lifted a hand in the smallest, weakest wave. “Hi, Macey.” I laughed. Loud. Sharp. Bitter enough to sting my own throat. “Keep your hi to yourself, Zinna. Why are you here?” She swallowed, blinking fast, like she hadn’t expected me to come out swinging. Like she thought I’d open the door and melt, or politely fold into myself like I used to at the office. Not today. “Can we go in?” she asked softly. “Maybe talk inside?” I raised a brow so high it practically touched my hairline. “Really? You’re serious right now?” She winced. Actually winced. The great Zinna Blackwell, queen of composure and perfectly iced-out reactions, flinched like I’d slappe