Chapter 2
Creed’s silence wasn’tempty.It was structured, carefully maintained, like something he’d decided not to dismantle yet.
Another week had passed.Another string of meetings where I felt his presence without feelinghim.He moved through the office like I was invisible, like I was just another name on the org chart instead of the woman who had once held his attention with a single look.But I wasn’t just another employee.
And we both knew it.
The silence gnawed at me, worse than anger ever could have been.I had seen Creed furious—had watched him dismantle people with nothing more than his composure and authority.I had felt the weight of his disappointment before.
This was different.
This was deliberate.
I told myself that certainty was easier than wondering if I’d finally been erased.
I sat at my desk, my phone resting in my palm like it weighed a hundred pounds.I stared at the dark screen, willing it to light up.Hoping—praying—that his name would appear.I didn’t care what he said.He could remind me how badly I’d fucked up, how deeply I’d fractured his trust.
I’d take it.
Anything was better than this hollow stretch of nothing between us.
But the screen stayed dark.
No vibration.No message.
Just silence—mirroring the ache spreading through my chest.
Creed was really gone this time.
I pressed my hand against my chest, as if I could physically hold my heart together, but the ache didn’t ease.God, I missed him.Missed the way his voice wrapped around me like certainty.The way his presence grounded me when everything else felt unstable.
I missed the way he looked at me—like hesawme.Like every broken, guarded piece of me didn’t scare him away, but drew him closer.
And you ruined it.
The truth hit hard, sharp, and undeniable.
I had pushed him away when all I wanted was to be held.I had kept secrets in the name of protection when what he needed from me was trust.I fought something that had already claimed me.
I couldn’t stand it anymore.
