Semua Bab HIS TO LOSE: Bab 11 - Bab 19

Dominic's POV The morning started with a lie I told myself.I’m fine.I repeated it in the mirror while knotting my tie. Repeated it in the elevator on the way up to the executive floor. Repeated it when Monica handed me my coffee and gave me that look she gives when she knows something is wrong but is too professional to say so.I’m fine.Arielle Moore was coming in today for a site check. That was all it was. A professional visit from the interior designer assigned to the HaleAI renovation project. I had dealt with contractors, consultants, architects — people who walked through my office and measured things and left. This was no different.I was fine.My phone screen lit up on my desk. Her name wasn’t on it. It was my 9 AM meeting with the product team. I silenced it and pulled up the renovation schedule instead.Arielle: Site check, executive floor. 10:00 AM.I closed the tab.Fine.She arrived at 10:03.I knew it because I wasn't keeping an eye on the door. I was going through Q

Dominic’s POVIt’s Saturday and my family had yet another event. I’d been skipping them for a while now but Susie — my older stepsister from my father’s side — called and urged me to come with Jared. I couldn’t say no to Susie. Nobody could.Last night was still fresh in my mind as I stood in the bathroom, water running, not quite ready to step in. Having Arielle there had been… peaceful. No expectations, no performance, no pretense. Just two people existing in the same space, reflecting on life. Tranquil — that was the word for it. I’d slept off the moment Ralph dropped me home, only making a quick detour to a mall to grab Jared a LEGO set before calling it a night.I was still in that headspace when Susie pulled into my driveway at 11am with her husband and their three boys — loud, chaotic and completely unannounced.“You’re not dressed.” She didn’t even say hello.“The event starts at one—”“Dominic.”Her husband Marcus caught my eye from behind her and gave me the look. The one

DOMINIC’s POVThe drive home was quiet.And the city at this hour was the kind of empty that let you think too much.I wasn’t thinking.Or I was trying not to.The evening kept replaying anyway. The circles I’d drawn on her arm without meaning to. Her hand on my chest, warm and still. The way she’d removed my hands from her waist with this small, unconvincing firmness that had almost made me smile.Almost.I got home, changed, and opened my laptop.Work was easier than thinking. I stayed at my desk until sometime past 2am, answering emails that could have waited, reviewing reports that already looked fine. By the time I closed the laptop my eyes were dry and my mind had finally quieted.I slept for four hours.Jared was already awake when my alarm went off, sitting at the foot of my bed with his tablet like a small, unbothered property owner.“Dad. I’m hungry.”“Good morning to you too.”He blinked. “Good morning. I’m hungry.”I showered, got him fed and packed his overnight bag for

The office was quieter by six.I’d loosened my tie somewhere between the fourth meeting and the fifth, jacket thrown over the back of my chair, laptop open to a report I’d been staring at for twenty minutes without actually reading.A knock at the door pulled me out of it.“Come in.”Arielle pushed the door open, bag on her shoulder, coat already on, clearly on her way out.“Just wanted to say goodnight.” She leaned against the doorframe like she had somewhere to be but wasn’t in a rush to get there.“Goodnight.” I leaned back. “How did the contractor call go?”“Better than expected. They pushed the timeline back two days but I negotiated it down to one.” She shrugged. “We’re fine.”“Good.”She should have left then. She didn’t. She shifted her bag and glanced at the bookshelf behind me like something had caught her attention.“Is that a vinyl player?”“It is.”“You actually use it?”“When the mood calls for it.”She smiled slowly. “I didn’t take you for a vinyl person.”“There’s a lo

Saturday came in quietly.No meetings, no calls, no Jared this weekend. Just the apartment, the grey sky outside and too much time to think.I picked up my phone somewhere around noon.I wouldn't mind some company today.I sent it before I could talk myself out of it. Set the phone down. Picked it up again.Her reply came twelve minutes later.I’ll think about it.She was at my door by two.“You thought fast,” I said when I opened it.She walked past me into the apartment. “Don’t make it a thing.”I smiled and closed the door.She made herself comfortable on the couch while I moved around the kitchen checking what I had.Not enough.“I’m going to get a few things.” I grabbed my keys. “Are you good here?”She was already reaching for the remote. “Don’t rush.”I stood there for a second looking at her settled into my couch like she’d done it a hundred times, shoes off, legs tucked underneath her.I left before I said something unnecessary.The store was quick. Twenty minutes, in and out.