Her fingers curled into tight fists at her sides, nails digging into her palms as she forced herself to stay where she was.
Don’t move.
Don’t open it.
Don’t—
She held her breath, listening.
A few seconds later, footsteps sounded from the other side of the door… slow… then fading.
Her heart pounded louder in her ears.
Then silence.
Another moment passed.
The sharp sound of a car engine starting broke through the quiet, followed by it driving away, the noise gradually disappearing into the distance.
Only then did her body give in.
A trembling exhale left her lips as her strength drained all at once. Her shoulders slumped, and she slid slightly against the door, barely holding herself up.
12 Hate Him
Magnus flipped through the files spread across his desk, page after page sliding under his fingers. The soft rustle of paper filled the quiet office, but he didn’t lift his head even once. His posture remained rigid, shoulders squared, jaw tight—completely absorbed on the surface.
But his mind was nowhere near the documents.
It kept drifting… back to Sylvia.
The more he tried to focus, the worse it became. Her face kept appearing in front of him—clear, vivid, impossible to ignore. Especially that look she made when he pleased her in bed. The slight curve of her lips, that soft, breathless look.
His fingers paused mid-page.
A slow, uncomfortable tension built in his body, his shoulders stiffening as he exhaled through his nose, trying to shake it off. He leaned back slightly in his chair, rolling his neck once as if that could clear his thoughts—but it didn’t.
It only made it worse.
“Damn it…” he muttered under his breath, dragging a hand down his face.
Just then, the sudden ringing of his phone cut through the silence.
Magnus’s eyes flicked toward the desk, irritation flashing briefly across his face. He glanced at the screen—Gregory.
He reached out, fingers brushing the phone before picking it up. With a quick swipe, he answered.
The screen lit up with Gregory’s face.
He was outside, wind pushing through his hair, the background crowded with people moving in and out of a large building. The sky behind him was dull and stormy, typical Edinburgh weather casting a grey tone over everything.
Gregory, however, looked completely at ease.
He smiled the moment he saw Magnus.
Magnus leaned back into his chair, one arm resting lazily on the armrest as he watched him.
“What are you doing?” Gregory asked casually.
