The door slammed hard enough to rattle the glass.Ethan barely had time to lift his head before pain exploded across his face.Alyssa’s palm connected with his cheek in a sharp, resounding crack—clean, unrestrained, furious.“Don’t,” she said, her voice shaking, “you dare say my name like you still have the right.”Silence fell between them, thick and suffocating.Ethan didn’t move. He didn’t raise a hand to his cheek. He simply stood there, absorbing the blow like a verdict he had known was coming. The room—her office, once shared, now unmistakably hers—felt smaller, tighter, as if the walls themselves were holding their breath.“You disappeared,” Alyssa went on, her chest rising and falling too fast. “No message. No warning. Nothing. Do you have any idea what that did to me?”“I know,” Ethan said quietly.That was his mistake.Her laughter was short and brittle. “No. You don’t.”She stepped closer, eyes blazing, every inch of her controlled exterior cracking at the edges. The woman
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