“Why?”
His pause stretched long, the restaurant noise settling around us.
“Because I should’ve been honest from the beginning,” he finally admitted. “And I wasn’t.” His attention burned—not with strategy, but with remorse.
“I hurt you.” He faltered. “I see it. In your face. In every line of you.”
A tear slipped down my cheek before I could stop it. I reached for it, feeling the wet heat on my fingers.
He flinched like he’d been struck. “Emma…” His hand lifted, instinctively reaching for me before he caught himself, fingers curling into a fist.
“I am so sorry.” The words tore out of him.
I swiped at my cheeks again.
“Don’t worry about the merger. I’ll step down, let Tessa stand in for me. Falkirk would still benefit from a partnership with Elion regardless of the mess I’ve created.”
That name hit harder than anything else he’d said.
Not him.
Not the betrayal.
Elion.
My company. My people. The ones who trusted me to keep the ground from giving out beneath them.
The voices didn’t hesitate.He’s planning to destroy you. A trap. A setup.
The shift inside me was immediate—like a door slamming shut.
Whatever softness had cracked through a moment ago evaporated, replaced by cold clarity and the familiar pull of responsibility settling back into place.
“That was your plan all along.” The realization sat like a stone in my throat. “To break me. To take Elion.”
“No.” He moved toward me, palms up. “No, that’s not—”
“You’re lying.”
“Please. I swear on my mother that wasn’t my intention. If I could explain—”
“Explain what?” I snapped.
“Everything.”
His shoulders dropped. He looked—ruined.
It only made it worse.
“I thought you cared for me.” Another tear slipped free.
“I do,” he said, something unguarded flickering across his face. “I do. Please don’t leave believing none of it was real.”
I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. The betrayal and the aching tenderness warred until I didn’t know which side hurt more.
“I don’t know what to do,” I whispered, my hand slipping from the door handle to fist in my hair.
You never have,my father’s voice pushed through.
