The faint hum of my laptop filled the air as I typed furiously, the bright glow of the screen illuminating my tiny office. The space is a little messier than normal with half-empty coffee mugs lining the desk, sticky notes on every surface, and a mountain of files teetering right next to me. It was not glamorous at all, but it was mine, built entirely from the ground up with sleepless nights and a stubborn refusal to give in.
I glanced at my phone, resting next to the keyboard, darkened. Max had not called me even once during the day. That was strange. He usually found something to qualify as an excuse to check in, even just as a quick text. My stomach churned, but I quickly shoved the unease aside. He probably just has his head in meetings and whatever other billion-dollar deals the Dalton empire is making right now.
Still, I wished I could throw around a few kind sentences his way. Things felt... off lately.
I shook my head and focused on the email I was drafting with numbers and projections blurring into an incoherent imaginary picture. This pitch had to get done. Investors are not going to wait while I comfort my fragile psyche.
The front door unlocking snatched me back to reality. My heart leapt, and I stood quickly, smoothing my wrinkled blouse. Max was here.
He stepped inside, dressed in his usual tailored suit, the kind that cost more than my entire month's rent. His dark hair was perfectly styled, not a strand out of place, but his eyes didn't meet mine. Instead, they darted around the room like he was searching for something - or avoiding me.
"Hey," I said softly, forcing a smile. "You're late. Long day?"
"Yeah, something like that," he muttered as he loosened his tie. He didn't move closer, didn't kiss my cheek, nor even offer a reassuring smile.
I frowned, arms crossed instinctively. "Max, is everything okay?"
He momentarily froze, tightening his jaw. Then he sighed, ran a hand through his hair, and finally met my gaze. "Lila, we need to talk." The way he said it made my stomach drop. The couch was to be my official seat, keeping tension so thick between us that it was almost suffocating.
Max leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees, hands clasped like in prayer for the right words to come. "Look," he tried to say, toneless, but there was no hiding of the strain in his voice. "I'm not sure how to say this, so I'm just going to say it."
The cushion's edge was clutched by me, knuckles going white. "Say what, Max? What's going on?" His eyes flickered to mine, full of something that looked like guilt but felt more like pity. "It's not working, Lila. Us. This relationship. I think it's time we went our separate ways." Like a freight train, those words hit me. My mind reeled, attempting to put the pieces together. "What are you talking about? Max, we've been together for years. We've built a life together--"
"Have we?" His voice had the cleanest cut I heard him ever speak. "Lila, you're too concentrated on your company, on your dream. And I respect that. But I need more than this."
My heart raced and I blinked. "More? What does that even mean? Max, I have been standing by your side all along. If I have supported you in every way, how can you say that it doesn't suffice?"
He sighed again, stood abruptly and started to pace the room. "It's not about you all. It's me. It's what I need for my future. And honestly..." He faltered, as if weighing whether to say his next few words.
"Honestly, what?" I demanded, my voice shaking.
"There is someone else," he said under his breath, his back to me.
I spun out right in the middle of it. "Someone else? Who?"
He turned to face me, and, this time, there was no guilt in his expression-- just a cold, calculated certainty. "Olivia West."
Olivia West. That name sliced through me like a knife. I knew her, of course; everybody in the business knew her. She was ruthless, powerful, and everything I wasn't.
"You are leaving me for her?" I whispered, disbelief coating each word.
"She knows what I need," he said simply.
Then everything inside me broke.
The rest of the conversation just blurred out with hollow explanations and weak apologies. Max said that it was not personal, that he had not meant for this to happen, but his words sounded rehearsed like he had been waiting for weeks to spell out this speech.
By the time he went, the apartment had grown much colder, and it felt emptier as if he had also taken all warmth away with him.
I stood in the middle of this empty space, staring at the door he had just walked out of, trying to comprehend the things that had just happened. Anger boiled below my surface, hot and consuming. How could he do this to me? After everything he did, after all those sacrifices
Nothing was strong enough to keep the tears back. Now they streamed like a flood, obliterating my view as I sank to the floor. I lay there for a number of hours, the silence in the apartment weighed heavily on me.
I woke the following morning with extremely swollen eyes and a pounding headache, while the anger had settled into a colder, sharper form that I was not going to let Max destroy me.
My train of thought veered, interrupted by a blinking message on my phone.
"Sebastian Knight. CEO of Knight Enterprises. He wants to meet you. Says it is urgent."
My frown deepened as I wiped my face and read the text again. Sebastian Knight was a name spoken in hushed whispers at boardrooms and high-profile networking events. He was a billionaire, mighty like a titan in business and known to be a ruthless one.
Why would someone such as he want to meet me?
But in the end, curiosity always edged out caution. I agreed to the meeting, and a few hours later, there I was stepping into his sleekly intimidating office.
Sebastian stood by the window, his silhouette framed against a city skyline. He was tall, impeccably dressed, and he carried himself with the kind of diffidence that turned people's insides to water. When he turned to face me, his piercing blue eyes locked onto mine as he analyzed and calculated.
"Lila Parker", his voice smooth but firm: "thank you for coming".
I nodded stiffly, unsure of what to say. "You said it was urgent."
"It is," he said, gesturing to me to seat myself.
I perched on the edge of the chair, feeling like prey under his gaze. "What do you want, Mr. Knight?"
His smirk was faint at best, with something unreadable glimmering in his eyes. "Let's call it an opportunity. You and I have a common enemy, Ms. Parker. The Daltons."
I caught my breath. "What do you mean?"
"I know about Max and Olivia," he said bluntly. "And I know what they've done to you."
My heart raced, a mixture of anger and curiosity. "Why do you care?"
Sebastian leaned forward, his gaze intense. "Because they've wronged me too. And I think it's time we both got what we deserve."
The room fell silent, his words hanging heavy in the air.
"What are you proposing?" I asked cautiously.
His smirk returned, colder this time. "A partnership. One that will bring the Daltons to their knees."