The Day Love Died

ainst my ribs, a frantic, unsteady rhythm. This was it. Years of coding, of drawing

to me on the worn-out couch was empty.

n the coffee tabl

ng long. Liam says this is the final push we need fo

ke. For years, everything had been for "us," which really meant for her compan

tarlight," went live. A small notificatio

s al

ement. Just a hollow, echoing silence

h victory and expensive wine. She was still wearing her power suit, looking sha

k and flicked on a lamp, her

d it go? Did i

wer. I just

ly. "Are you mad? I told you, this dinner was critica

d," I said,

an. You have to be flexible. This merger secures our fut

" was what I had sacrificed sleep for, what I had worked a soul-crushing corporate j

fting to annoyance. "I support your passion,

, Chloe. Tonight was everything to me. A

g. "Why do you always have to make this about L

I'm just the guy who pays the bills and keeps

been there for years, a hairline fracture I kept p

aid, the words coming out

What are you t

the last decade weighing me do

"This marria

d. "You can't be serious. Over one

about the game. It was about you choosing them over

, the room that had felt more like a

emptiness. The part of me that had loved her, that had held on t