Chapter 5 THE STORM WE DIDN'T SEE COMING

Maya's fingers hovered near the doorknob as the knocks echoed again, this time, it was slow and deliberate.

Every sound felt louder in the dark. The hum of her own breath, the creak of the floor, even the distant bark of a dog down the road.

She turned on the flashlight of her phone and stepped closer to the door.

"Who is it?" she asked, her voice was steady despite the thump in her chest.

A pause, Then:

"It's me, Damian."

She quietly opened the door. The flashlight shone on his face-wet from the rain, hair dripping, eyes carrying something between guilt and concern.

"What the hell are you here for?" she asked. "It's late already."

"There's a storm coming in. I didn't think you should be alone since there's no light."

She sighed. "I'm fine. You didn't have to come."

"I know," he said. "But I wanted to."

She stepped aside reluctantly and let him in. His shirt clung to him, soaked, then she tossed him a towel from the hallway cabinet without a word.

He took it and sat near the fireplace. "You have candles?"

"Yeah, Somewhere." She struck a match, lit one on the mantel, and the room got filled with a soft, amber glow.

"Nice," he murmured. "The feeling is out of this world."

"It feels like a mess," she said, her arms. "Like everything around me is moving out of control, And you're smack in the middle of it."

---

Damian ran a finger through his damp hair. "You're right."

"I don't need you to admit fault. I need to figure out how to move forward without my face showing up on blogs every other day."

"I'm shutting it all down," he said.

She looked at him, skeptical. "The company?"

He nodded. "Not overnight. But I started the process. Told Ivy this morning to begin the transition. I'll step down formally by the end of the month."

Maya blinked, caught off guard by the calm in his voice. "You're serious."

"I've been serious," he said. "That world... it gave me everything. But it also took more than I ever realized. It's not just about us. I'm trying to reclaim something I lost long before I met you."

Her expression softened. "What about your team? The people who depend on you?"

"I'm not walking away recklessly," he said. "I've built a path. And I'm redirecting a portion of my holdings toward building something better. Like the tech center."

Her eyes narrowed. "You did that."

He nodded. "Not for show. Not for the headlines. For the kids. For this town. For you."

"You should've asked me."

"I wanted it to be a gift, not a favor. I figured after everything, the least I could do was plant something good in your world without expecting anything back."

Maya stared at the flickering candle for a long moment. "I don't know how to trust you again."

He nodded. "I'll earn it. Slowly, if that's what it takes."

---

The rain intensified outside. Thunder rolled in the distance, and the wind began to howl through the gaps in the windowpanes.

Maya lit two more candles and set them between them on the floor.

"I used to sit here with my grandmother during storms," she said quietly. "We'd talk or read, pretend the rest of the world didn't exist."

Damian leaned back against the couch. "She sounded like someone who knew how to hold a place together."

"She was. Even when everything was falling apart." Maya glanced at him. "She would've seen through you in a second."

"I don't doubt that," he said, smiling faintly. "She probably would've chased me out with a broom."

"Or made you scrub every dish in the kitchen until you confessed who you really were."

He laughed. "That sounds about right."

The power didn't come back. The storm raged harder.

And slowly, the space between them softened-not fully, but enough.

---

By morning, the rain had died to a drizzle, but the damage was clear. Fallen branches littered the streets. The awning over Maya's café had partially collapsed under the wind. Water had leaked in through the back wall, soaking the floor and two of the shelves behind the counter.

Maya stood outside with her arms crossed, surveying the mess. "Unreal."

Damian stepped up beside her, holding two coffees from a nearby gas station. He handed one to her.

"You don't have to fix it," she said.

"I know," he replied. "But I can help."

She looked at him, eyes lingering longer this time. "We can't just pretend everything's okay."

"I'm not pretending," he said. "But I'm here."

She nodded once, quietly.

"Let's tarp the inside first," he said. "Then see if we can get someone to reinforce the wall before the next rain hits."

She didn't say thank you. But she didn't send him away either.

---

By midafternoon, they'd made some progress. A handyman named Joe-one of Maya's regulars-came by to help patch up the wall temporarily. The inside still smelled faintly of mildew, but the worst had been kept at bay.

They sat outside under the porch, exhausted.

Maya turned to Damian. "So what's next for you? Really."

He looked at her, honest and steady. "I stay. I help. I build. And I wait-for you. However long it takes."

She swallowed hard. "You might be waiting a while."

"I'll be here."

She looked away, but not before he caught the flicker of emotion in her eyes.

---

That evening, as the sun dipped below the clouds, a car pulled up in front of the café. A sleek, black sedan. The kind that didn't belong in their town.

Damian frowned.

From it stepped a sharply dressed woman in a tan trench coat and dark heels. Her sunglasses glinted as she took them off.

Maya stood up. "Do you know her?"

Damian's stomach dropped. "Yes. That's Ivy."

Maya glanced at him. "Your assistant?"

"Yeah. But she wouldn't be here unless-"

The woman approached, professional smile in place. "Mr. Cole. Miss Taylor."

Maya bristled. "You're the one helping him step down, right?"

Ivy nodded. "Correct. But I'm here because something urgent came up."

She handed Damian an envelope.

He opened it.

Inside was a photo. And a letter.

The photo showed a man in a boardroom-blurred, but unmistakably not Damian-taking a seat at the head of the table.

The letter?

A notice from the board: his resignation had been processed faster than expected.

And his replacement?

A rival who'd been waiting for his fall.

Damian stared at it for a long moment, then looked up.

Maya caught the look on his face and asked, "What is it?"

He closed the envelope slowly and said-

"I think I just lost everything."