Chapter Eleven

Mila’s POV“Ace,” I called out, knocking on the door. “Ace, are you okay?” But there was no response. Another crash came from inside, this time it was lower, like something had fallen.I pushed the door open and entered the office. The smell of alcohol hit me immediately, strong and sharp. Ace was sitting on the floor with his back against the wall,his knees pulled up to his chest and his head bowed down.His hands were shaking so badly they looked like they weren’t even his. His shirt was wrinkled, his tie missing, broken glass spread around him with whiskey spreading across the floor.He was crying and his chest rose and fell too fast like he couldn’t breathe. “Ace,” I whispered, scared to move too fast.His eyes were shut tight and he folded his knees tighter at the sound of thunder.“Ace—““Don’t,” he choked out. “Don’t come closer.”He let out a broken sound, like a mix of a sob and a gasp.“I can’t…I can’t,” he said, grabbing at his chest like something was crushing him.At tha

Dernière mise à jour : 2026-01-21

Chapter Twelve

Ace’s POVWhen I woke up, the first thing I was aware of was a bad ache in my head. It was heavy and sharp as if something had been resting on my head all night and it just moved.I turned my head slightly and saw Mila sleeping next to me. She looked tired and weak and some of her hair had fallen to the front covering half of her face.I tried to stand but the pain throbbed harder at my attempt making me fall back on the bed.“Hey,” said Mila, raising her head quickly. “Slow down.” Her voice was gentle and careful, as if she was afraid I might snap again. I already hated that she saw me in my vulnerable state yesterday.The rain started all of a sudden sending my already stressed mind into a frenzy. Memories from that unfortunate day flooded my mind and I lost it completely.As much as I hated she saw that, she calmed me down faster than usual since the panic attacks began. I knew she had questions about it but I wasn’t sure I was ready to answer them.“What… what time is it?” I stam

Dernière mise à jour : 2026-01-22

Chapter Thirteen

Mila’s POVAfter I walked out of Ace’s room, I rested my back on the door and let out a deep breath. I noticed my hands were still shaking from what I just heard.I thought he was having a bad day but getting to know the truth about how much pain he had been carrying broke me. I really can’t imagine how hard it must have been for him after going through something so traumatic at such a young age.I went downstairs and sat on the couch still replaying his words in my head. The rain had stopped now but the air still felt thick and heavy after everything that had been said. I then grabbed my phone to call the office like I said I would.“Good morning, this is Mila Gerald,” I said, keeping my voice steady. “Mr. Garren and I will not be coming in today, we’ll be working from home for the rest of the week.”“Is everything alright?” The voice replied politely.“Yes,” I said, “Everything is fine.” And hung up before they could ask anything else.Ace slept for most of the day and I checked on

Dernière mise à jour : 2026-01-24

Chapter Fourteen

Mila’s POVI couldn’t sleep well the night before we returned to work. Everything kept replaying in my mind, the story Ace told me, how he looked when he talked about his mum, and the doubts I had about Stella that I couldn’t let go of and Ace’s promise to look into it, whatever it meant.The drive to the office was really calm, Ace asked the driver not to play the radio like he did every morning when he wanted to listen to the news. When we made a stop at the red light, he turned to me."Are you okay, Mila?" he asked.I nodded. “Yeah I’m…I’m just nervous.”“It’s alright,” he said. “Today won’t be too hectic.”I believed him, or at least I wanted to. I felt eyes land on us immediately as we walked into the office and I noticed a few things about Ace.Unlike before, Ace did not walk ahead of me as he normally did. Instead, he adjusted his steps to match mine and if someone approached him and greeted him accordingly, he replied as everyone else did. But the moment someone looked at me

Dernière mise à jour : 2026-01-27

Chapter Fifteen

Mila’s POVStella started coming into my office more often after that day. On some days she would ask harmless questions, about me, my family and other times about work and little observations I didn’t think she needed to share.I kept telling myself that I was reading too much into things and that not everything had a hidden agenda until she started talking about Ace. It always began so casually, like it just slipped out and she didn’t mean to even though she clearly did.“Ace has always been… distant,” she said one morning while leaning on my office door. She was meant to deliver a report for me to review but she started rambling again.“Even to people he’s close to,” she continued.I kept my eyes on the screen of my laptop, “Some people are just private.”“Oh absolutely. But with Ace it’s more than that. He doesn’t really… stay.”Hearing that made me look up, “Stay how?” I asked.A soft smile spread on her face. “Emotionally, he can be very present one moment and completely withdra