His eyes lifted to meet mine—clouded, lost, desperate.
“Let her go, Dorian,” I whispered, my voice low, seductive, every word a gentle snare. “Don’t go chasing ghosts. She made her choice.”
I let it hang there, soft and poisonous, giving just enough space for it to sink deep.
Then I leaned in a fraction more, my voice barely above a breath.
“Stop chasing ghosts,” I murmured. “I need you focused—on what really matters now. On the projects. On rebuilding what you’re about to lose.”
That’s all I asked.
And he didn’t say yes. But he didn’t say no either.
I poured him another drink. He emptied it.
And another. He kept drinking like he was trying to burn her out of his veins.
By the time he collapsed, I’ve already won.
I led him upstairs, half-conscious, and let him fall into my bed, lost in his misery.
And I watched him.
Control. Influence. Power. These were the currencies I understood.
Not love—not the messy, irrational emotion that people like Dorian chased through fire and ruin.
No, I didn’t need his heart. I just needed his need.
And he had come to me broken, begging for something—anything—to dull the ache she left behind. That made me the cure. The fix. The place he landed when he fell.
Wasn’t that what power really was?
He thought this was comfort. Redemption. But it was surrender. To me. Again.
And I savored it. The way a spider savors the quiver of a fly in her web.
I had waited. Planned. Played the long game.
She took his love.
I took his will.
* * *
That morning, when I brought him coffee, I knew. I had him again.
Not because he loved me. But because she was gone.
He sat at the edge of my bed, head in his hands, his face pale and drawn, the weight of too much whiskey—and too many shattered illusions—dragging him down.
He looked wrecked. Lost in a fog he couldn’t escape.
And when his eyes finally met mine, I saw it—the confusion, the horror creeping in. He glanced around the room, at the discarded clothes scattered on the floor. His jaw clenched.
“Did we…?”
His voice was rough, low, coated in dread. “I drank too much last night. I… I don’t remember.”
