Mr Strong, I Refuse To Be Your Duty のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 21 - チャプター 30

She was awake before five.The room was dark and the city was at its quietest, that particular grey-blue silence that belongs only to the hour before light, when even London forgets to be loud. Nicole lay on her back with her hands folded on her chest and looked at the ceiling and took careful note of what she felt.She had expected to feel complicated. She had expected the night to leave sediment, layers of grief and guilt and the residue of five years sitting over everything like dust. She had braced for it without realising, the way you brace for cold water when you step outside.Instead she felt quiet and settled. The particular stillness of a mind that has been through a difficult thing and came out the other side not triumphant, not relieved exactly, but simply clear. As though the last tangled thread had been pulled through and the fabric had finally stopped pulling.She was not thinking about Asher. This continued to surprise her not because she had expected to miss him, sh

Zara paced around her office for a while before finally sitting down and taking a deep breath.She looked at the documents in her front and opened them, reading the Stardom quarterly projection figures with her office door closed.It was so early to be doing this, but it had to be done. They were not supposed to be on her desk , they were Stardom's internal documents, not publicly filed, not circulated, but Zara had a network that predated her return to London by several years, and her network occasionally produced information ahead of its public release. She did not ask how, instead she simply read.The figures were good, better than good. For a subsidiary that had been posting losses for seven consecutive quarters before Nicole Kevin's arrival, the projected reversal was significant. It was not miraculous, there was clearly a great deal of work still ahead, but the trajectory was unmistakable. The line on the chart went up.

Asher saw the article at half past eight in the morning.He was at his desk with his first coffee of the day, going through his emails, when the notification came through on his phone. A business press alert. He almost dismissed it. He got dozens every morning and most of them said nothing he didn't already know.But the name in the headline stopped him.He read it once, quickly. Then he put his phone down and picked it back up and read it again, slower this time.The article was about Nicole's press statement. It covered the Stardom Fashion Home's quarterly projections, the Paris partnership, the rebranding timeline. It had quotes from industry people who spoke about her with the kind of respect that takes years to earn. And tucked into the third paragraph, almost casually, were the projected numbers for the Stardom Fashion Home's current quarter.They were good numbers. Very good numbers, for a company that had been struggling.Asher set his phone face down on the desk.He sat for a

They walked back toward the hotel along the Seine. The river was dark and the lights of the city reflected in it, broken and shifting. They walked slowly, without rushing, because neither of them wanted to rush.The river was more beautiful than she had expected. Even more beautiful than the images she'd seen around. "What are you thinking?" William asked.Nicole considered the question. "That this is the first time I've done something and been proud of myself," she said. "Not proud of what it means for someone else. Just proud, of me."William didn't say anything. He just nodded, slowly, like he understood exactly what that cost to say.They reached the hotel and got keys to their rooms from the receptionist.The lobby was quiet and the elevator was waiting. They rode up to their floor in silence and walked down the corridor to their rooms, which were side by side.Nicole reached her door and took out her keycard. "Goodnight," she said. "Goodnight." He paused. "Nicole."Sh

They landed back in London on Thursday morning to the news that Céleste Moreau had confirmed the partnership in a formal statement released to the trade press overnight. Nicole was nothing but overjoyed. All her late nights at the office and at home had finally paid off in a way and so quickly too. She hadn’t had the time to actually have a chat with William about their walk yesterday before his brother called him needing his assistance on an urgent matter and truth be told, she was grateful for the distraction even though she missed his touch afterwards. William had sent her a message later that night telling her that he was not going back to London with her the following day. Her flight was leaving very early in the morning so she did not have the opportunity to say goodbye to him physically.She sent him a message, informing him of the good news and focused on her trip. She was headed straight to the office now and had already called Aunt Ciara to let her know that her luggages an