Aleena
I woke up with a dull ache behind my eyes and the kind of tiredness that sat deep in my bones as the previous day had drained me in more ways than one.
My body still carried the residual tension from the party, from the late hours, from everything that had happened in the quiet of my room the night before.
Even after a full night in bed, my limbs felt heavy and my mind refused to settle, and for several minutes I simply lay there, staring at the ceiling, before I forced myself upright, as work was waiting and I didn’t have the luxury of calling in just because I felt wrecked.
I dressed without much care, pulled my hair into a low knot, and left the penthouse before anyone else was properly awake.
The early morning air outside was cool against my face.
I barely registered the drive to the office.
When I arrived, the space felt louder than usual, with screens glowing and phones ringing, and the usual morning chatter filing the open floor.
I sat at my desk, opened my laptop, and tried to focus on the sketches for Liam’s apartment but then the lines on the page appeared blurred, with my thoughts drifting sideways, pulling me back to the night before, to the wall, to the way everything had ended without resolution.
Every few minutes I caught myself staring at nothing, fingers still resting on the keyboard, the cursor blinking in the same spot as if mocking my lack of progress.
Tara appeared beside my desk mid-morning, she studied me for a long second, arms folded and with an expression unreadable but clearly assessing.
“You look exhausted,” she said.
“And you’ve been staring at the same screen for twenty minutes.
Go home.
Take the day.
You’re not useful like this.”
I opened my mouth to protest, the automatic defense already forming, then closed it again.
She was right, there was no point pretending otherwise.
I gathered my things slowly, mumbled a quiet thank-you, and left the building with the same heavy feeling still sitting in my chest.
The walk to the elevator felt longer than usual.
Outside, the city moved around me without interest, and I ordered a car home with the vague hope that sleep might finally take the edge off.
The penthouse was quiet as usual when I stepped inside. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
I set my bag down near the door and started toward the stairs, intending to go straight to my room and sleep until the tiredness finally loosened its grip.
Then I heard them, Meredith’s soft laugh coming from the living room.
I paused in the foyer, one hand still on the strap of my bag, I peeled through the open doorway where I could see them on the sofa, Ethan was leaning in close, one hand resting lightly on her knee while she spoke.
She tilted her face up toward him, smiling in a way I rarely saw directed at anyone else.
He brushed a strand of hair from her cheek with the kind of casual intimacy that made my stomach twist hard and sudden.
Jealousy hit me like a physical blow.
Hot, sharp, and immediate.
It rose so fast that it almost stole my breath.
I stood frozen for a second longer than I should have, watching the easy way they occupied the same space, the quiet comfort between them, the way his attention stayed fully on her, a contrast with the controlled distance he had kept with me the night before made something ugly and restless coil in my chest.
Every small gesture between them felt louder than it should have.
I turned around before either of them could notice me and walked straight back out the front door, the sound of the latch closing behind me sharper than it needed to be.
Outside, I pulled out my phone and called Sophia before I could second-guess myself.
My fingers felt slightly unsteady as I waited for the line to connect.
She answered on the third ring.
“Hey.
Is everything okay?”
“I need to come over,” I said.
My voice came out tighter than I intended.
“Can I hang out with you for a bit?
I just… I need to be somewhere else right now.”
There was a short pause on the other end.
“I’m not home right now.
I’m running a few errands.
I’ll text you the address of where I’ll be.
You can meet me there if you want.”
The address came through a minute later.
I didn’t fully recognize the street, but I didn’t question it.
I ordered a ride there and sat in the back with my arms crossed almost throughout the way there, still replaying the image of Ethan’s hand on my mother’s knee and the soft way she had looked at him.
The jealousy refused to settle.
It sat under my ribs like something alive, restless and insistent, refusing to quiet even as the city moved past the windows.
The building was a quiet mid-rise a few neighborhoods over, with a clean lobby, soft lighting, it was the kind of place that felt expensive without trying too hard.
I took the elevator up, found the correct door, and stood there for a second longer than necessary before I knocked once.
It opened almost immediately with Liam standing by the door .
For a second neither of us spoke but surprise flashed across his face, it was clear and unguarded.
He recovered quickly, but the air between us had already shifted into something tense and uncomfortable.
He looked different here, less polished than he did in the office, more relaxed in a way that made the situation feel even worse.
The soft sounds of the apartment behind him filtered into the hallway.
“Aleena,” he said.
“What are you looking for?”
Before I could answer, a soft sound came from deeper inside the apartment and not long after a woman appeared in the hallway behind him, still adjusting the belt of a thin robe.
The fabric had slipped open just enough to show the curve of her breasts before she pulled it closed with a quick, practiced motion.
Her hair was messy and her cheeks carried a faint flush.
She looked like someone who had only just gotten out of bed or perhaps hadn’t fully left it.
She stopped when she saw me.
“What the fuck?” I exclaimed in shock