All Chapters of Intricacies of the heart: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

67 Chapters

Chapter forty one

CRESTHosting nights always meant logistics, security briefings, staff rotations, catering inspection, a walkthrough of the property to ensure nothing was out of place. I didn’t even like these gatherings anymore, but they were tradition, and tradition, unfortunately still mattered in the circles I did business with. She’d been asleep when I left earlier.I left her a note promising to return home. I knew she was trying to act unbothered, trying to stay graceful, but I’d seen the way her shoulders had curled when I told her the night before, I’d be having a pretty busy day. I should have woken her up, reassured her before driving down to the office to finalize some important paperwork. I’d left the office at noon, headed straight to my hosting apartment.I checked my phone while people buzzed around me. No missed calls. No texts from her. Good.The last thing I wanted was to look down at the screen and feel that slow tug of guilt for not messaging her first. I was about to shoot her a

Last Updated : 2025-12-03

Chapter forty two

I didn’t remember falling asleep. One moment, I was on the couch, curled under the throw blanket with the TV on mute, staring at the front door like I could will it to open. The next, someone was touching my shoulder, warm fingers brushing lightly, hesitantly, like they weren’t sure if they had the right to.“Hey… sweetheart.”Crest’s voice.My eyes fluttered open. For a second, I didn’t fully understand where I was or why my neck hurt, or why my blanket was half on the floor. And then I saw him, standing over me. Tie gone, shirt creased, eyes red-rimmed like he hadn’t slept at all. His hair was a mess he didn’t bother fixing, suit jacket hanging from one arm like he’d walked through hell instead of a dinner. He looked… wrecked. And the worst part was that I didn’t feel angry, or sad, or anything at all. Just… blank, Like something inside me had clicked off during the night. He crouched beside me, worry etched across his face. “You fell asleep down here. I—I didn’t mean for— I’m so s

Last Updated : 2025-12-03

Chapter forty three

CRESTThe moment the front door clicked shut behind her, everything inside me went still. Not quiet. Not calm, just… hollow. It didn’t matter how many messes I’d cleaned up in my career, how many negotiations I’d dragged back from the brink, how many emergencies I’d handled. Nothing felt as gutting as the sight of her walking away from me. I sank onto the arm of the couch, elbows on my knees, head hanging. The exhaustion hit me like a truck, hours of smoothing egos, trying to keep a multimillion-dollar deal from collapsing in front of everyone.I’d been locked in that study for most of the night, surrounded by furious men, stiff-backed lawyers, and a PR team that looked one bad headline away from tears. No phones allowed, no stepping out, no leaving until every party had signed off on the temporary crisis agreement. It was supposed to be a simple hosting night. Networking, drinks, keeping up appearances. And she’d slept alone on the couch waiting for me. God.My chest tightened entire

Last Updated : 2025-12-03

Chapter forty four

I didn’t check my phone all morning. Not because I was being dramatic, not because I wanted to punish him, but because I genuinely couldn’t bear to see whatever would be waiting for me. An apology, an explanation, or worse… nothing. I buried myself in work instead. I prepped the lunch orders with mechanical precision, knife against cutting board, rhythm steady, breath tight. My body moved. My mind didn’t. I stayed in that numb, suspended space where emotions couldn’t chase me. At least that was the plan. By noon, Monica had asked me twice if I was okay, by one, I’d lashed out at two servers over minor mistakes. By two, I found myself standing inside the walk-in fridge pretending to reorganize herbs because the cold helped me stop shaking.My phone had buzzed in my pocket earlier, I’d ignored it. By three, the weight of the unread notification threatened to pull me under. I slipped into my office, closed the door quietly, and finally brought out my phone. One message lit the screen.Cr

Last Updated : 2025-12-04

Chapter forty five

He didn’t leave the house, never left for work. Probably never ate. My heart sunk. He wasn’t sprawled out comfortably, he wasn’t resting. He looked like he’d waited until exhaustion knocked him out. My breath caught so sharply it hurt. I closed the door gently behind me, the sound woke him. His eyes blinked open slowly… then widened when he saw me. He sat up immediately, like he’d been shot with adrenaline. “You’re home,” he said, his voice rough, sleep-hoarse and something else. Relief, fear, hope. All tangled.I didn’t speak. He swung his legs off the couch and stood, taking a hesitant step towards me, then stopping as if afraid he might push me too far just by existing too close. “I didn’t want to sleep,” he said quietly. “I was trying to wait for you. I thought maybe if you came home and I wasn’t here—” His voice broke, barely perceptible. “I didn’t want to risk that.”My throat tightened painfully. He swallowed and looked at me like he was preparing himself for impact.“I know

Last Updated : 2025-12-04

Chapter forty six

I would never have imaged that the fallout of that night, would become the thing that brought Crest and I closer than ever. But here we were, weeks later, and somehow our relationship felt… solid. Not perfect, not without work, but threaded with something steadier, warmer, almost effortless in the way only hard-earned things are. He’d kept his promise about transparency, about letting me in. And I’d softened too, not in weakness, but in understanding.The kids… God. The kids were my undoing in the sweetest way. Every Saturday morning they would burst through the door like a tiny hurricane, backpacks dropped anywhere, shoes left in impossible places, their voices bouncing off the walls as if the apartment was their personal playground. And somehow, I loved it. I adored them. I was now a constant part of Sunday ritual. Breakfast at Lou Mitchell’s and kite flying at Montrose Harbor.They were obsessed with my desserts, which made no sense because these kids were used to private chefs and

Last Updated : 2025-12-04

Chapter forty seven

Monica’s apartment, our childhood home, which used to be mine, kind of still is, looked almost exactly the same as when I left it. Except she had added colors, my calm neutrals were gone. A blush-pink throw blanket was dramatically draped across the couch, paired with gold-accented pillows she bragged about finding “for a steal, like a thief.” The coffee table was suddenly covered in glossy fashion magazines, scented candles, and an unnecessary-but-charming crystal bowl filled with pink Starbursts only. The dining area got a small makeover too, she added a vase of fresh flowers she replaced every few days (“It motivates me to act like my life is together”). She pushed our old bookshelf against the wall and filled it with romance novels, self-help books, and a surprising number of ceramic figurines shaped like cats in yoga poses. The little changes made the whole place feel lighter, softer, and a bit chaotic. Very… Monica. Cherry was already curled up on the couch, a chocolate bar in

Last Updated : 2025-12-04

Chapter forty eight

If someone had told me a year ago that I’d be spending a whole Friday shopping for a birthday trip to Greece with Monica and Cherry acting like my personal glam squad, I’d never have believed it. Yet here I was, driving with Monica in the back seat, Cherry in the passenger seat. Listening to them argue about which mall had better designers. Last night, I told them about my birthday trip to Greece with Crest, which is happening tomorrow by the way and they suggested I spent the night, so we could maximize time to shop today. Cherry spent the night as well.“No, no,” Monica insisted, tapping her acrylic nails on her phone screen. “We’re going to the one in River North. If my sister is going to Greece, she’s not stepping foot on the island looking like a ‘before’ picture.”Cherry snorted. “You mean like the before-picture version of you, pre-rehab?” Monica gasped dramatically and slapped her arm. “I will crash this car myself.”I sighed. “I don’t need a whole new wardrobe—” Both of them

Last Updated : 2025-12-04

Chapter forty nine

On the drive back to Monica’s apartment, the three of us were drowning in shopping bags. Half of them were mine. The other half… well, Monica’s grin said everything. We were exhausted but happy, that deep, warm, woman-happiness that comes from being poured into instead of drained dry. As we pulled into the building, Monica turned to me, looking serious.“When you go to Greece… don’t downplay it,” she said. “Let him spoil you. You deserve it. And for once? Just enjoy your life.”Cherry nodded, touching my arm from the back seat. “And when you get back, we’re doing round two. We didn’t even get to handbags.” I groaned into my hands. I shifted the car into park, and before I could even take off my seatbelt, Monica hopped out and swung open the back door, grabbing a suspiciously large shopping bag, one I knew she hadn’t bought for me.I narrowed my eyes. “Monica.”She froze mid-lift, like a raccoon caught raiding a trash can. “Yes?”“What is that?”She straightened her shoulders. “This?

Last Updated : 2025-12-04

Chapter fifty

My heart flipped. If this was his reaction just to me walking through the door…Greece was going to be dangerous.I barely made it three steps into the bedroom before Crest was already setting my shopping bags on the small couch, like he was unwrapping classified evidence. He treated them with too much interest, way too much interest, I narrowed my eyes suspiciously.“You’re enjoying this,” I accused.“Absolutely,” he said without shame. “This is the most fun I’ve had all week.”I couldn’t fight the smile tugging at my mouth. He gestured.“Sit. Show me what you bought.”“You’re not going to judge quantity?”“I’m going to judge everything,” he corrected. “But lovingly.”I sat down, legs tucked under me, while he started removing items from the bags with careful precision, folded tops, beach dresses, sandals, swimsuits wrapped in tissue. He examined each piece like they were investment assets instead of clothes. “Okay,” he murmured, holding up a bright sundress. “This one. I’m claiming

Last Updated : 2025-12-04

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