The next day at work
Ava had only been searching for the bathroom.
She hadn't meant to overhear anything—definitely not the kind of conversation that froze her in place, heart skipping, breath caught halfway in her throat.
The Storm estate was a maze of polished floors and shadowed corners, each hallway echoing its own secrets. She'd gotten turned around after dropping off Elian's revised manuscript. Now she stood just outside a partially open library door, invisible in the quiet.
Inside, two voices—low, sharp, unmistakably tense.
"Elian," came the first, tight with restraint. Kian. "You can't keep doing this. Cutting everyone off. Acting like you're fine when you're clearly not."
There was a pause. Not defensive. Just… detached.
"You sound like Rayzel," Elian replied, his voice cold enough to make her flinch.
"Rayzel doesn't have to pick up the mess after you disappear."
"I never asked you to."
"No," Kian said, and this time his words carried something bitter beneath them. "You never ask. You just implode. And everyone else gets to burn."
The silence that followed wasn't just heavy—it felt personal. Ancient. Like the end of a conversation they'd had a thousand times, always with the same conclusion: nothing changes.
"You chose to protect me," Elian said, softer now. Still distant. "I never forced you."
Kian's laugh had no joy in it. "You never had to."
Footsteps thudded toward the hallway. Ava ducked behind a wide marble pillar, her heart pounding in her ears. Kian swept past, his jaw clenched, his hands fisted like he needed somewhere to throw all that hurt.
She didn't move for a while.
Not until the door creaked again and Elian stepped out, expression unreadable. He looked right at her.
"How long have you been standing there?" he asked, flatly.
She swallowed. "I was looking for the bathroom."
A beat passed. He didn't press. Didn't accuse. Just turned away like it didn't matter.
But something in his shoulders… it had shifted. Tension—or weariness—curling up his spine.
Ava stepped back, giving him space. "You're not going to fire me?"
"I don't care enough to."
She tried to laugh, but it came out thinner than she meant. "Charming as ever."
He didn't respond.
He just walked past her, footsteps soft, disappearing around the corner without looking back.
And for some reason, that stung more than if he ha