Chapter Five

Lily’s POV

I returned on the fifth evening with nothing left to negotiate.

The executive floor was silent except for the low hum of the climate system. My heels struck the marble with deliberate clarity as I walked the final stretch of corridor. No folder. No carefully prepared arguments. Only the decision I had already made in the sleepless hours after he sent me away. The glass door to Thomas’s office stood closed, the lamp behind it still burning. I knocked once and waited.

“Come in.”

I stepped inside and shut the door behind me. The soft click of the lock sounded louder than it should have. Thomas...