bChapter /bb111 /b

My initial instinct was to act like I didn’t see him. Still,mon country, ingrained deeply within me by Mom’s constant reminders throughout my childhood, won out.

It would be undervably rude of me to simply ignore him, especially given his friendly wave. With a high that I hoped didn’t sound to put upon, reluctantly made my way over to his table. The aroma of fried food and strong coffee hung heavy in the air.

A waiter, bncing a tray precariouslyden with tes, pushed a spare chair to Mkai’s table, seemingly assuming I was joining them Before I could politely decline, Mkal’s hopeful eyes were fixed on me. Resignation settled over me. There was no graceful escape now.

As soon bas /bI settled into the offered chair, its stic slightly cold against my thighs, Mkai spoke, his enthusiasm evident. “Congrattions Elenal! heard you got the internship at bLegacy/b.” A sudden wave of unease washed over me.

“You did?” questioned, my brow furrowing slightly. How had he found out so quickly?

“Well, only two people got epted this time around. So, it was kind of all over the workce buzz and you know, since my sister is the CEO…” He trailed off, a yful smirk on his lips, and I frowned, a strange, unsettling feeling churning in my gut. My mind immediately jumped to conclusions, unwee bsuspicions /bcreeping in like tendrils of doubt. Had Niki somehow intervened!

Then, as though reading the sudden apprehension that flickered across my face, Mkai shook his head firmly, bhis /bexpression turning senous. “Don’t ge anything twisted, Elena. You got this internship purely based on byour /bown talent and expertise. bBelieve /bme. My sister would never ept anyone based on connections or anything like that.” His tone was sincereb, /bhis gaze direct, and I could finally breathe a little easier, the knot of suspicion in my stomach loosening its grip.

For a second, a bdark/b, irrational part of me had suspected that maybe Niki was somehow behind this, bpulling /bstrings even from afar. But then, 1 mentally scoffed at the absurdity of the thought.

Niki had his ownplicated reasons for our… arrangement. Helping me secure an internship at his friend’spany seemed highly unlikely, even counterproductive to his own hidden bagendas/b..

I’d been diligently holding myself off from looking at the TV, avoiding news websites, even resisting the urge to scroll through social media on my phone, for fear of identally catching sight of him. The mere thought of Niki, the phantom image of his intense gaze, his smile, was enough to reignite that strange, unsettling urge that I’d been trying so hard to suppress over the past week. That irrational, insistent urge to go see him, to seek him out, despite everything. It was ba /bweakness I couldn’t afford to indulge right now,

The only other productive thing I had managed to aplish over the course of the past bweek/bb, /bbesides a disastrous apartment viewing, was doing some preliminary research on how to file for divorce. I had absolutely no clue where to even begin the process, and I had a sinking feeling that Mom, still reeling from my decision regarding the baby and the internship, wouldn’t exactly be rushing to offer her assistance with dissolving my sham marriage. Aher gathering bas /bmuch information as I could find online, my next step, after securing a ce to stay in Maxster City, was going to bbe /bcalling awyer.

But the more I saw bhis /bface in my mind’s eye, the more I vividly imagined his presence, his scent, the more I put off that phone call. It was utterly

Indiculous.

Aher everything he’d done, the lies, the maniption, the sheer audacity of our arrangement, I was still reluctant topletely let go of him. But bright /bnow, with my impending move and the life growing inside me, I didn’t have a choice. The clean break, however painful, bwas /bthe only logical path forward

“Earth to Elena?” Mkai said, snapping his fingers gently in front of my face, pulling me abruptly from my swirling thoug Later, looking slightly impatient, was standing next to him, pad in hand waiting to take my order. Mkai looked at me with a questioning smile, then down at theminated menu lying on the table. “Do you wanna try the chicken shawarma? It’s the speciality here.”

He boffered/b, band /bI nodded. “Yeahb, /bsure. Not spicy, please,” I badded/b. The waiter nodded, scribbled something on his pad, and disappeared back towards the bustling kitchen.

The man seated to Malski’s right was a quiet and observant sort. He hadn’t spoken a single word to me, not even a polite greeting, since joined their table. I finally looked over at him properly, feeling his steady gaze on me. His features were distinctly East Asian, his dark hair slicked back with a subile.

sheen, and he looked somewhat out of ce in this casual, bustling cafeteria with his impably stored dark coat and one, presed cks. Even though I myself was wearing a beige zer, mine looked decidedly mute ranit over my worn jeans.

“Oh. Diena, this is my best friend. Haniki,” Mkai said, gesturing towards the quiet man with a friendly smile. “Haruki bis /bawyer, Hanjki, thin t? our new intern at Legacy” He effered, and I felt a small wave of relief that he hadn’t mentioned my rather unconventional connection to the Very

family:

Haruki’s dark eyess

s seemed to assess me for a brief moment, his gaze sharp and intelligent, before a polite smile touched his lips. He inclined his head in a respectful nod. “Nice to meet you, Elena ”

“Same here,” Treplied, offering a small, hopefully genuine smile in rebum. |

The atmosphere around the table felt a little awkward after that, the silence punctuated only by the tter of tes and the murmur of other

conversations.

Thankfully, Mkai, ever the social butterfly, spoke again, breaking the slight tension. “Oh, by the way, Elena, what brings you all the way out here to this part of town?” He looked me up and down with a curious paze.

I pursed my lips, contemting how much to reveal. Deciding that a vague answer was better than an outright lie, just spouted the truth, albeit in a slightly abridged form. “I’m just here to check out an apartment I could potentially rent… no luck yet, unfortunately,”

“Oh, right, for the internship, right?” He nodded knowingly. “But there are so many apartments avable in Maxcester City. Why no luck? There’s a pretty amazing apartmentplex I own, actually, right next to the Legacy Motors headquarters…” He trailed off, a hopeful smile on his face as he looked at me expectantly.

“An apartment… within my budget?” I questioned, my eyebrows arching slightly. The sheer cost of the ces I’d seen online had leftminty deted.

“Budget!…what exactly is your budget, Elena?” He asked, his brow furrowing in a mixture of curiosity and perhaps a hint of confusion. “Aren’t y rich?” He questioned, thest word hanging in the airb, /bden with unspoken assumptions.

I chuckled, a small, weary sound: “Not even close. My budget bis /bas low as humanly possible while still being… livable. It really doesn’t matter if it’s ba /bshared space or not,” I added, emphasizing my willingness topromise on privacy for the sake of affordability

bMkai /blooked genuinely taken aback by my response. I could practically see the unspoken questions swirling in his mind, the ones he was politely refraining from asking.

About Niki. I mean, if I was married to Niki Vetrov, shouldn’t be living aide of unimaginable luxury? Of course, in the eyes of the public, and perhaps even in bMkai’s /bperception, I was

Especially considering the rather generous monthly ballowance /bNiki had been depositing into my ount. But that arrangement, I knew, wouldn’tst once the divorce was finalized. And I wasn’t the type to simply splurge and fritter away money, regardless of its source.

I had a deep–seated sense of responsibility, a constant awareness of potential future needs. bWhat /bif Mom suddenly got sick again? What if my own health issues resurfaced? And then there were the ever present expenses of the baby, a future that suddenly felt both incredibly real and terrifyingly uncertain.

Those were all very valid reasons why I couldn’t justy back and rx for the next two years while I carelessly spent my bsavings/b. The future felt too precarious for such reckless abandon

Han

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