Johnny woke up to silence.Not the good kind.The unnerving kind—the kind that sits on your chest and refuses to move.The room was dim, lit only by the thin gray wash of morning squeezing through the curtains. His head throbbed. His throat felt like sand. His jaw was tight, as if he had been grinding it all night.He blinked, groaned, pushed himself upright.The other side of the bed was cold.Too cold.He frowned. The sheets were neatly folded back, like someone had slipped out carefully, deliberately, trying not to wake him.His heartbeat flicked once—then kicked.“Rhea?”Silence.He swung his legs off the bed and stood, ignoring how weak and unsteady he felt. He scanned the bedroom first—the chair, the couch, the messy pile of their clothes on the floor from last night’s chaos.No Rhea.He tried the bathroom.“Rhea?” His voice echoed against marble. Empty.He checked the closet. The entryway. The balcony.Nothing.A jolt shot through his chest. Fear. Stupid, irrational fear, but i

Steam curled around Johnny as he stood under the shower, palms pressed to the tile. The water was hot enough to sting, but he barely felt it. His mind was drifting—slow, heavy, all tangled up in the night before.The hot water beat down on Johnny’s shoulders, but his mind kept circling back to Rhea—not in some dramatic, world-ending heartbreak. He didn’t know Rhea deeply enough for that.But in a quieter, messier way. Her absence… it left a weird taste in his mouth.They’d only known each other a few chaotic hours, thrown together by bad timing, danger, and whatever the hell last night was supposed to be. He didn’t pretend it was love. It wasn’t. What he felt was something closer to unfinished business—like a conversation that cut off halfway through.He didn’t know her enough for it to hurt like a breakup. They were practically strangers stitched together by chaos, alcohol, bad timing, and a night that spiraled faster than either of them expected.But still…The empty space she left

The Silver Crest Holdings building wasn’t far from the Nebula Hotel. The two establishments sat in the same central district, one of the busiest areas of Pantheon Valley. The streets were still humming with early morning traffic, and Johnny decided against using any of his cars. Instead, he walked briskly, almost jogging, to clear the last traces of his hangover from his head. Each step helped him shed the fuzziness, letting his mind sharpen gradually as the city moved around him.By the time he arrived, his clothes were slightly wrinkled, dust clinging to the hems, and his sneakers scuffed from the uneven sidewalks. A row of luxurious cars gleamed under the morning sun, parked neatly along the entrance. The building itself loomed tall and imposing, all steel and glass, reflecting the skyline in its mirrored panels. Johnny paused briefly at the entrance, taking in the structure. It was a statement. A monument. A business empire manifested in concrete and glass.He adjusted his hoo

The moment Johnny stepped through the glass doors of Silver Crest Holdings, a quiet wave of déjà vu washed over him. Nothing had changed. Nothing. The lobby still had that cold, expensive smell—like polished marble and paper fresh from the printer. The same muted silver lamps. The same reception desk where interns hovered like anxious ghosts. Phones ringing. Heels clicking. People rushing past each other with the sharp urgency of those who believed their entire future depended on a signature. Everyone was busy. Everyone looked important. Everyone acted like they mattered more than whoever stood next to them. Johnny stood still in the middle of it all, watching. And for a split second, he saw a younger version of himself—same building, same walls, except his clothes were cheaper, his shoulders lower, and his eyes… tired. Always tired. Back then, when he was an intern, he didn’t really see the world around him clearly. He didn’t know the game he had walked into. He thought it wa

"What the hell do you mean by you are in charge?!" A ripple went through Emily.She covered it with a smirk.“You think you can talk back to me?” she scoffed. “Do you know who I am?”Johnny didn’t answer.But Emily did—she answered herself, loudly, proudly, for the whole office to hear.“I am now the assistant head of the real estate department,” she announced, tapping her badge. “Seven departments in the entire company, and I’m second-in-command of one. And you—” she jabbed a finger into his chest, “are nothing. A fired intern who couldn’t even bring coffee correctly.”Her voice sharpened, turning venomous.“You know how I got here? I earned it.”Johnny raised a brow.Lie.Everyone knew.Even Emily knew everyone knew.She slept her way up the hierarchy like it was a ladder made of bedsheets.And she flaunted it with zero shame.“And now,” she continued, leaning in so close he could feel her breath, “you’re standing here like you belong. You’re not even supposed to be in the building