Chapter 5 Old Wounds

By the third day, Olivia had memorized the way Alexander took his coffee-black, no sugar-and the exact way his jaw clenched when he was deep in thought. They'd fallen into a strange rhythm, half business, half... something else neither of them wanted to name.

But today, things shifted.

They were reviewing her supply chain proposal when Alexander paused mid-sentence, his brow furrowed. "You used to talk about this. Remember? Ethical sourcing, small batch, sustainable fashion... it was all you ever dreamed about."

She looked up from her notes. "I still do."

His voice lowered. "Then why did you leave it behind? Why did you leave me behind?"

The air changed.

Olivia froze. "We said we wouldn't talk about the past."

"You said that," he replied. "I never agreed."

She set the tablet down. "Because there's no point. You were building an empire, and I didn't fit into it."

Alexander moved closer, his voice like silk and steel. "That's not why you left."

Her heart thudded. "You think you know everything, Alex, but you don't know what it was like for me-watching you disappear into meetings, boardrooms, headlines. There was no space left for us."

He was close now, too close. "I would've made space if you'd told me you needed it."

"I didn't want to be a burden," she whispered.

Alexander reached up, gently brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear. His fingers lingered for a moment too long.

"You were never a burden, Olivia."

Her breath caught in her throat. For a second, neither moved-held in the weight of the past and the pull of something unfinished.

But then she stepped back. "We should get back to work."

Alexander nodded slowly, but the way he looked at her said this wasn't over.

Not even close.