Elias sat in his office the next morning, trying to find his focus. The room was quiet, he could hear the distant sound of activity from the team, but none of it seemed to matter as much as the questions swirling in his head.What if he wasn’t enough? What if his best wasn’t enough?He had spent so long pretending that he had it all figured out, wearing the mask of someone who knew what they were doing, that now, when the truth was starting to show itself, he felt more lost than ever. The pressure was suffocating, and he wasn’t sure if he could keep pushing forward on his own.A knock at the door pulled him from his thoughts.“Elias?” It was Lana, standing in the doorway with a look that was both knowing and patient.“I thought you might be busy with the project,” Elias said, his voice lacking its usual confidence. He gestured to the empty chair in front of his desk. “Have a seat.”Lana stepped in, her eyes scanning the room before she settled into the chair, her arms crossed. “I don’

The days that followed Mara’s visit felt like an endless stretch of uncertainty. Elias couldn’t shake the thoughts of their conversation, the weight of her words clinging to him like a shadow he couldn’t outrun. She had come into his life, thrown open doors he had carefully shut, and left again, just as quietly as she had arrived. But her presence had left an imprint—one that wasn’t going away anytime soon.Elias tried to focus on the work that needed his attention. The project, the team, the endless meetings. He had always been able to lose himself in the bustle of his responsibilities, in the small, tangible progress that he could measure and control. But lately, even the work seemed to slip through his fingers, his thoughts constantly drifting back to Mara, to what she had said, to the pieces of his past he had buried so deep.He was sitting at his desk, hands clasped tightly in front of him, staring at the papers in front of him. The deadlines loomed, but his mind was elsewhere—lo

Elias couldn’t help but return her smile, a small, grateful curve of his lips. He ran a hand through his hair, taking another deep breath. "I don't even know where to start, Lana. There’s so much... I’ve been carrying this whole thing like I can hold it all together, but I’m not sure anymore. I don’t know if I’m even doing the right things."Lana’s gaze softened as she stepped closer. "Start with what’s most important to you, Elias. Not what everyone expects from you, but what you actually want. What matters to you, deep down."The question lingered in the air, and for a moment, Elias felt completely frozen. What did he want? The answer should’ve been obvious. But he couldn’t pin it down. The lines between his personal life, the project, and everything else had blurred so completely that he couldn’t tell what was his anymore.“I used to know what I wanted,” he said, his voice quiet, almost apologetic. “But it feels like I’m just going through the motions now. Like I’m not even sure w

Mara took a slow breath, her gaze still fixed on her coffee cup as if gathering the strength to speak. She finally looked up, meeting his eyes, her expression unreadable. "I’ve been thinking about us a lot. About what we were, and what we became. I don’t expect you to forgive me, but I need you to understand something."Elias leaned forward slightly, his pulse quickening. He didn’t know what he expected her to say, but it wasn’t this. He thought maybe she wanted to explain herself, make excuses. But there was something in her voice now, something raw.He opened his mouth to say something, but she raised a hand to stop him."I’m not here for your forgiveness," Mara continued, her voice steady. "I’m not even sure I deserve it. But I need you to know that everything that happened—everything I did—it wasn’t about you. It was about me, about my own mess. And I didn’t know how to fix it. So, I ran."Elias’s heart hammered in his chest. Her words hit harder than he expected, and a small par

Elias had barely put the phone down when a knock at the door interrupted his thoughts. He had expected it to be someone from the team, perhaps Lana checking in on how he was holding up after his conversation with Mara, but when he opened the door, it wasn’t anyone he had been expecting.Grady stood there, his hands in his pockets, looking more uncertain than usual. Elias felt a pang of guilt; he'd been so wrapped up in his own internal mess that he hadn't really stopped to check in with Grady, even though the man had been a steady presence through it all."You’re looking... like you’re carrying the world," Grady remarked dryly, his usual smile absent.Elias managed a small chuckle, though it felt strained. "You could say that."Grady’s gaze softened. "We still talking about work, or something else?"Elias hesitated. He could feel the weight of Mara’s words still pressing down on him, making it harder to breathe, to think clearly. "A little of both," Elias finally said, stepping aside