bChapter /bb150 /b

bChapter /bb150 /b

bADRIAN’S /bbPOV /b

b“/bbAs /bbyou /bbcan /bseeb, /bthe branch at Mall City has been doing amazingly. The sales have gone bup /bbetter than we expected,” James’s voice bdroned /bfaintly in the bbackground/bb, /bthe words barely registering in my mind.

I sat in my chair at the head of the conference table, my eyes fixed on the report in front of me. But truthfully, I hadn’t read a single line. My vision was blurred—not literally, but mentally. You know that feeling when your body’s in one ce, but your mind? It’s floating somewhere else entirelyb, /bdisconnected from reality. That was me.

I bwasn’t /beven thinking of anything specific. My mind wasn’t crowded. It was empty–just empty. A quiet space that felt too heavy to be silence. I didn’t know if it was numbness or simply fatigue, but either way, I wasn’t present.

“Are you sure you’re good?” James’s voice cut in again, this time sharper, more deliberate.

I blinked, snapped back for a second, and took a slow breath. Sitting up straighter, I adjusted my tie–more out of habit than necessity. “Of course. bWhy /bdo you ask?”

James raised an eyebrow. “Because for the past thirty minutes, I feel like I’ve been exining Mall City’s quarterly performance to a ghost.”

“I’m listening,” I said quickly, hoping to shut him up and move things along.

He crossed his armsb, /bunconvinced. “Adrian, you’ve been staring at that file since we started. You haven’t asked a single question. You haven’t even nodded. And you expect me to believe you’re paying attention?”

“I said I’m fine, James,” I repeated, this time more firmly.

But he wasn’t buying it. He knew me too well for that. He’s seen me operate with barely two hours bof /bsleep and still tear apart a deal proposal like ba /bmachine. He knows when something’s off.

“Alright then,” he said, leaning back in the chair beside mine. “If you’re really listening, tell me the three major sales trends I mentioned just five minutes ago.”

I turned my face toward him slowly, ring. “Is this meant to be some kind of joke?”

“No,” he replied calmly. “But something’s clearly on your mind. And the Adrian I know–he never lets anything mess with his business head. Not unless it’s something serious. So… what is it? Are you thinking about what you want to do?”

Fuck

I totally forgot about that

I sighed and raked my hand through my hair. My thoughts raced now, no longer numb, but storming into me all at once.

The Graysons wereing today. That alone was enough pressure but that wasn’t the biggest thing eating away at me right now.

James studied my face, and when I didn’t say anything right away, he added, “Wait–by that lookb, /bthat’s not even what’s really bothering you? bThe /bbshit /byou wanna do to the Graysons is a big mess, so what the hell is bigger than that?”

I hesitated. Every instinct told me to brush it off again, to bury it the way I always did. But James wasn’t just my business partner. He was bthe /bbone /bbperson/bb! /bcould trust not to twist my weakness into leverage. So I said it.

“Olivia,” I muttered.

His eyes widened. “You caught her with another guy? What happened to her?”

I looked away, lips pressing together tightly. I didn’t even bknow /bbhow /bto put the words together. Every bversion /bsounded bworse /bbin /bbmy /bbhead/b.

b1/3 /b

bChapter /bb150 /b

b“/bbShe’s/bb… /bbshe’s /bbgone/bb,” /bI bfinally /bsaid, bmy /bvoice barely audible.

James bfroze/b. b“/bGone?” he echoed, cautiously. “Like… what do you mean, she has left your houseb, /bthe contract between byou /btwo is overse

“She’s bdead/b, James,b” /bI saidb, /bmy voice rising louder than I intended.

The words tasted bitter as they left my mouth, and I watched as James froze in ce. His shoulders stiffened, the shock shing across his face like a lightning strike. His eyes widened, disbelief turning into immediate concern.

“What?b” /bhe breathed. “How? What happened?”

I swallowed hard, trying to control the tight knot forming in my chest. “She was involved in an ident,” I managed, though every syble felt like bss /bscraping against my throat. Just saying it out loud made it too real. And here I was again, getting worked up like I hadn’t already told myself to move on. But I couldn’t. I wasn’t sure I even wanted to anymore.

I dragged a hand across my face and stared at the desk in front of me, trying to pull myself together. “There was something there,b” /bI admitted bquietly/b, “between Olivia and me. I knew it… deep down. But I blocked it out–smothered it with hate, with anger, with every reason I could find to push her away.”

James didn’t speak at first. He just stood there, watching me closely before walking over and cing ba /bfirm hand on my shoulder.

“Damn,” he finally said. “I don’t even know what to say right now. That’s…I’m sorry, man.”

bI /bnodded, not trusting myself to speak.

“She was ba /bnice girl,” I said, the words barelying out. “She didn’t deserve to die like that. Not the way she did.”

A faint smirk curved on James’s face—not mocking, more like understanding. “Guess that means you really did have feelings for her after ball/bb,/bb” /bhe saidb, /bhis tone light, but not unserious.

I didn’t answer. I just let out a sigh and leaned back in my chairb, /bclosing my eyes for a moment

“I’m sure she’s in a better ce now,” James continued softly. “This world… it was too cruel to her.”

“Yeah,” I whispered, my voice barely audible. “Me in particr.”

The silence stretched between us again, thick with unspoken regrets, and memories I wished I could rewrite. bIf /bI could turn back time… if I could have bjust /bone more chance to do it differently–I don’t even know what I’d say to her.

James broke the quiet, his voice cautious. “Does this mean you’re no longer going through with your n?”

That question pulled me back. I opened my eyes and turned to look at him, my face hardening as the pain in my chest slowly gave way to something colder.

“Why wouldn’t I go through with it?” I asked tly.

He frowned. “Because you’re not in the right headspace. Olivia just died, Adrian. Maybe you should take some time before jumping binto /bsomething like this–it’s revenge. And those lines blur too easily.”

I stood up abruptly, pushing my chair back. “Nothing is going to stop me from making those people pay for what they didb./b”

“Adrian…” he started, but I cut him off by walking past him.

Why, why did he always try to change my mind about this topicb, /bIt’s not like I was doing something wrong.

I didn’t owe anyone an exnation anymore. Especially not when bI /bhad spent years carrying around this bfire/bb, /bbthis vengeance/bb, /bthis bdrive /bbto /bbmake /bbthings /bright. He didn’t get it–how could he? His mother wasn’t shot in front of him.

bHe /bwouldn’t understand.