I look down at my hands.
They’re empty.
No tablet. No pen. No illusion of control left to cling to.
I didn’t just use her. I caged her. I built a trap and called it help. I wrapped coercion in inevitability and pretended it was generosity.
Something inside me goes very still.
“It’s over, Rex,” I say.
My voice doesn’t shake this time. The panic drains out of me, replaced by something colder, cleaner, more dangerous.
Rage.
Silence stretches on the line.
“What did you just say?” Rex asks quietly.
“I said it’s over. The ‘Sunrise & Soul’ deal is dead. The LOI is terminated.”
He laughs. Short. Ugly. Disbelieving.
“You can’t, Leo. You signed. It’s contingent, sure, but you walk away now? After the leak? After I lined up partners?” His voice sharpens. “Your reputation is toast. Ashford Ventures backs out of a deal with a small business? You’ll be a joke. And Tess?” He sneers. “She’ll be RUINED. They’ll say she killed it. She’ll never recover. You think they’re at her door now? You walk, and you bury her.”
I close my eyes.
I see her face again.
Not angry. Not yelling.
Just done.
Get out.
I did this.
I put her in that cage.
“I don’t care about my reputation,” I say quietly. The words feel strange and right on my tongue. “And I am not going to bury her. Send me the bill. I’ll pay whatever penalties there are.”
“Leo, don’t be an idiot, you can’t…”
I hang up.
The line goes dead.
Silence rushes back in, heavy and absolute. The city hums faintly beyond the glass, but inside the apartment, it’s just me and the wreckage.
I made a public mess. Which means I have to clean it up publicly.
I can’t call Tess. She won’t answer. I can’t go to the bakery. She’d have me arrested, and she’d be right to.
I stare at my phone for a long second before tapping Julian’s name.
I don’t know how to ask for help without sounding like I'm making it a business problem. I don’t know how to say I ruined something real, and I don’t trust myself not to make it worse. So, I don’t dress it up.
“Julian?” My voice comes out softer than I expect. Raw. “I need your help.”
