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Chapter 62: Lost Him For Good

The studio was dark except for the soft amber light spilling from the floor lamp near the drafting table. Midnight shadows stretched across unfinished designs, fabric samples pinned crookedly on the corkboard like frozen moments Ashley hadn’t yet dared to complete. The door opened. “You’re standing there like I didn’t tell the guard to stop you,” Duke said without turning around. Ashley shut the door hard enough that the sound echoed. “You didn’t tell him to stop me,” she snapped. “He said you’ve been expecting trouble all night.” Duke finally faced her. He looked exhausted—no suit jacket, sleeves rolled up, tie abandoned on the chair. The man who once looked untouchable on magazine covers now looked like someone bracing for impact. “So,” he said quietly. “You saw the news.” “You ruined yourself,” Ashley shot back, crossing the room in quick strides. “You had no right!" Duke’s jaw tightened. “I had every right.” “No.” She laughed sharply, eyes glossy. “You don’t get to decide

Chapter 63: She Felt Ready

“You said you wouldn’t leave things unfinished,” Ashley whispered to the empty apartment.The rain continued tapping against the windows, softer now, like it was already tired of witnessing heartbreak. She sat on the edge of her couch, bare feet tucked beneath her, the envelope trembling slightly between her fingers. Duke’s handwriting stared back at her. Neat and controlled. Always calm, even when everything else fell apart. “I hate that I recognize your penmanship like this,” she said quietly, as if he could hear her.She slid a finger under the seal and paused, taking a breath she didn’t trust. “Running away again?” she muttered before finally pulling the letter out. She unfolded it slowly. “Ashley,” she read aloud, forcing her voice steady. “If you’re reading this, I’ve already left.” Her chest tightened. “So you really did it,” she said softly, eyes burning. “You didn’t even wait for me to wake up angry again.” Her gaze moved line by line. “I’m leaving the country for now. N

Chapter 64: She Found Me

“You really chose the smallest office you could find,” Ashley said, her voice calm but tight. Duke froze mid-motion, one hand still on a stack of invoices. He did not turn around immediately. “You shouldn’t have come.”He said it quietly, like a truth he had practiced saying to himself. Ashley let out a short laugh that carried no humor. “That’s your opening line after months of disappearing?” He finally faced her. “You tracked me across a country.”His gaze searched her face, not angry, more exhausted than she had ever seen it. “You left me a letter and thought I’d just accept that as closure.”She stepped further inside, heels clicking softly. “You really don’t know me that well.” “This isn’t your world anymore.”He gestured around the small office, the humming printer, the mismatched chairs. “There’s nothing here for you.” “I didn’t come for your furniture,” she replied evenly. Duke exhaled slowly. “Ashley.” “No.”She lifted a hand. “Don’t say my name like that. Not like you’r

Chapter 65: At Risk

“You should sit,” Ashley said, looking around his office before turning back to him.Her tone was calm, professional, nothing like the woman who once waited for him to decide everything. Duke did not move. “You flew here to tell me that?” “I flew here because you keep assuming I need saving,” she answered. “I don’t.” He leaned against the desk instead, arms crossing instinctively. “Then what do you need?” “A conversation where you don’t flinch every time I speak,” she replied.She reached into her bag and placed a thin folder on the table between them. “And your time.” Duke stared at the folder as if it might explode. “If that’s about money, I already told you I don’t want it.” Ashley smiled faintly. “I didn’t bring pity. I brought paperwork.” He let out a soft breath. “Ashley.” “Read it,” she said, pushing the folder closer. “Before you decide what it means.” “I know what it means.”He shook his head. “You think I’m struggling and you want to help.” She straightened. “No. I th

Chapter 66: What Could Have Been

“You shouldn’t be surprised,” Ashley said as she stepped inside his office, placing her bag neatly on the chair. There's nothing hesitant about it despite the weight of everything between them. Duke looked up from his desk, clearly caught off guard. “I thought you already said everything you needed to say yesterday,” he replied, standing slowly. His eyes traced her face like he was making sure she was real. “I did,” she answered. “But saying and doing are two different things.”She walked closer, heels soft against the floor, stopping across from him. “This place is small,” he said quietly, glancing around. “You didn’t come all this way for a tour.” “No,” Ashley said. “I came to talk business again.” Duke let out a short laugh filled with disbelief. “Now that really surprises me.” She opened her folder and laid it on the table without ceremony. “I’m investing in your company.” His expression tightened instantly. “No.” “I haven’t finished,” she said calmly, meeting his resistanc

Chapter 67: Not Your Liability

“Let’s go over the numbers one more time,” Ashley said as she adjusted the tablet in front of her, eyes focused, posture calm and professional. “They’ve already been reviewed twice,” Duke replied, seated beside her at the long conference table. “The margin is solid.” “I don’t like surprises,” she said, not looking at him. “Especially abroad.” “That sounded personal,” he answered quietly. She finally glanced at him. “Everything is personal when millions are on the line.” Around them, the glass-walled meeting room buzzed faintly with foreign executives preparing for the joint presentation. “You haven’t disagreed with me once today,” Duke said. “That’s not true,” Ashley replied. “I disagreed twice. You just didn’t notice.” He gave a faint smile. “You still test people before trusting them.” “And you still apologize without saying sorry,” she countered. “That’s unfair,” he replied. “You insisted on handling the negotiations alone this morning,” she said calmly. “You didn’t have

Chapter 68: No Lies This Time

“Tell me why you brought me here, Duke.” Ashley stepped onto the rooftop, the wind tugging at her hair as the city lights stretched endlessly below them. The night was warm, the kind that pressed against her skin.. Duke didn’t turn around. He stood at the edge, hands gripping the railing, shoulders tight beneath his shirt. “Because I needed somewhere quiet,” he said, voice low. “And because I’m running out of ways to keep pretending I’m fine.” Ashley’s breath hitched at the strain in his voice. She had seen Duke furious, guarded, arrogant, generous in rare bursts—but this? This brittle quietness? It unsettled her. “You’ve been quiet since the meeting,” she said. “Is this about introducing me as your partner? You didn’t have to force yourself. You could’ve just said my name.” “It wasn’t about the word.” “Then what?” He finally faced her. The usual sharpness in his gaze was gone. No walls, no mask—just a man standing in front of the only person who could unravel him. “Ashley,”

Chapter 69: The Real Marriage

“They are ready for you,”the moderator said softly, peeking into the waiting area.Ashley adjusted her blazer and glanced sideways.“Are you breathing or just pretending again?”her voice calm but edged with quiet humor.Duke let out a slow breath.“I am breathing. I think. My chest just forgot how to do it properly in front of cameras.”“You built empires in rooms scarier than this,”she replied, checking the notes tablet once more.“This time you are not standing alone. That changes everything.”He nodded.“That is the part that terrifies me the most.”“It should,”she said, finally meeting his eyes.“It also means you have something real to lose now.”The moderator gestured again.“Five seconds.”Duke straightened his posture.“If I mess this up…”“You will not,”Ashley interrupted, firm but gentle.“And if you do, we fix it. Together.”The doors opened, and the hum of voices surged forward. Cameras flashed as they stepped onto the stage side by side. The company logo glowed behind them, redes

Chapter 70: It's A Challenge

“I didn’t bring a ring.” Ashley looked down at Duke kneeling on the stone tiles of her balcony. The wind lifted her hair, cool and steady, nothing like the storm that had lived between them for years. “That’s usually the point,” she said quietly, arms crossed more out of self-control than distance. “I know.” His voice was calm, stripped of the old authority that once filled boardrooms. “That’s why I didn’t bring one.” She let out a breath, slow and measured. “Then why are you on your knees, Duke?” “Because this is the only position where I don’t feel like I’m asking for something I don’t deserve.” He lifted his head, eyes clear, unguarded in a way that still startled her. “And because I’m not here to claim you.” Silence settled, broken only by the distant sound of traffic far below. “I’m here to promise something instead.” Ashley studied him, really studied him, the lines at the corners of his eyes that had deepened, the way his shoulders no longer carried arrogance but resolv

Chapter 71: This is War

“They’re all looking at me like I already lost.”Ashley whispered, her fingers tightening around the edge of the wooden table as flashes exploded from every corner of the courtroom.“Look at me, not them.”Duke said quietly, leaning closer so only she could hear him. “You’re not alone in this. You never will be again.”“You said that once before.”Her voice trembled despite her effort to keep it steady. “And everything still burned.”“I know.”His jaw flexed. “That’s why this time, I’m standing where everyone can see me fall first.”The judge’s gavel echoed, silencing the restless murmurs. The courtroom of polished marble and towering glass felt more like an arena than a place of justice. Reporters filled every seat behind the barricade, pens ready, eyes hungry. Cameras followed every breath Ashley took.“All rise.”The clerk announced.As they stood, Ashley felt the weight of two lifetimes pressing down on her shoulders. One where she loved blindly. Another where she rebuilt herself piece

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