2025-08-27 23:00:48
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Chapter One hundred and twenty five
Elise didn’t step inside right away. She lingered in the doorway, her gaze steady on Elias, but her awareness never leaving Mara. Mara, for her part, didn’t shift, didn’t fidget, didn’t look away. She sat in her chair with the same composure she had walked in with, her presence deliberate, her silence almost challenging.Elias cleared his throat, though his voice betrayed the tension in him. “Elise… come in.”She crossed the threshold, each step measured. “I can see I’m interrupting something,” she said evenly, her eyes darting briefly to Mara before settling back on Elias. “But maybe it’s better if I don’t leave you to it.”Mara leaned back slightly in her chair, folding her hands together. “You don’t have to leave,” she said, her tone calm. “This isn’t a secret conversation. Not anymore.”The words hit Elias like a hammer. His chest tightened, and he felt the pressure building, the collision of the life he used to live and the one he was trying to build now.“Maybe you should explai
Chapter one hundred and twenty four
Elias shifted in his chair, his hands clasped together tightly on the desk. Mara sat across from him, her eyes steady, watching him with the same quiet insistence she always had. He hated how familiar it felt—being seen like that, without any way to hide.“You said you’ll try,” Mara finally spoke, her voice calm but carrying weight. “But I need more than that, Elias. Trying isn’t enough if it means you get to retreat whenever it feels too hard.”Elias bristled, leaning back. “You think I retreat because it’s easy? Because I want to? You have no idea what it feels like to be pulled in every direction, to feel like no matter what choice I make, someone ends up broken.”“I do know,” Mara countered quickly, her voice sharper now. “Because I was one of the people left broken. Don’t act like this pain only belongs to you.”Elias’s jaw tightened. He wanted to argue, but the truth cut through his defense before he could speak. Mara had every right to say it. She had been left to carry pieces
Chapter one hundred and twenty three
Grady lingered in the doorway longer than Elias expected. His hand rested on the frame, his body half-turned as though he had something else to say. The pause stretched, and Elias felt it pressing on him, pulling at the fragile thread of understanding they had managed to weave together.Finally, Grady gave a small nod, his voice quiet. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”Elias almost asked him to stay, to press the conversation further, but the weight in his chest told him they weren’t ready to go any deeper tonight. He gave a faint nod in return, and Grady stepped out. The soft click of the door closing left the room swallowed by silence.Elias leaned back in his chair, exhaling slowly. Relief and unease twisted together, refusing to separate. They had taken a step forward, but the air between them wasn’t cleared. Not really. Grady’s tone had been careful, measured—not cold, but guarded. As if he was still holding back, unwilling to give himself completely to the promise of “together.”Elias ru
Chapter one hundred and twenty two
The following days passed in a blur of meetings, late-night planning sessions, and a constant undercurrent of tension that Elias couldn’t quite shake off. His conversation with Elise had lingered in his mind, offering him a temporary sense of clarity. But the weight of everything else—the project, the pressure from his team, and the unspoken distance growing between him and Grady—remained firmly in place.Elias sat at his desk, his fingers hovering over the keyboard. The latest reports had come in, but he couldn’t focus on them. His mind was elsewhere, trying to piece together everything he had learned over the past week: the conversations with Grady, the moments of vulnerability with Elise, and the quiet, looming presence of Mara that he couldn’t escape.A soft knock at the door broke his concentration. He looked up, surprised to see Grady standing there, his expression unreadable.“Can I come in?” Grady asked, his voice steady but carrying the weight of something unsaid.Elias nodde
Chapter One hundred and twenty One
The following morning, Elias was back at his desk, the lingering effects of his conversation with Grady still fresh in his mind. He had to keep moving forward. The team was counting on him. But it wasn’t just work that weighed on him today; the uncertainty of everything he was facing had found its way into his thoughts again.Lana had sent a few messages asking for updates on the upcoming phase of the project, but Elias hadn’t yet responded. His fingers hovered over his phone as he stared at the screen. It was easier to ignore the task ahead than to face it head-on. But the longer he delayed, the harder it would be.A knock at the door broke him from his thoughts. He wasn’t expecting anyone, but then again, that had been a constant theme in his life lately—unexpected visitors, unwanted interruptions, and conversations that always seemed to challenge him in ways he wasn’t ready for.The door opened slowly, and there stood Elise.Her presence was a surprise, but not an unwelcome one. He
Chapter one hundred and twenty
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
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