There was a kind of silence that screamed louder than words.
And as Elijah sat across from Luca in that glass-walled conference room, silence was the only thing keeping his composure from cracking.
Luca's fingers drummed lazily on the mahogany table, those same fingers Elijah remembered from nights long ago—wrapped around a whiskey glass, or tangled in his hair, or brushing down his spine like a lie.
"You've grown colder," Luca finally said, breaking the silence like it was nothing. "I liked you better when you smiled more."
"And I liked you better when you hadn't stabbed me in the back," Elijah replied, eyes sharp.
A small smirk played at Luca's lips. "Ah, still bitter."
"No. Just remembering."
Every goddamn thing.
---
Flashback – Six Years Ago
Elijah was 19. He was naive, foolish, and in love—with the wrong man.
Luca Veltran, 24, the charming, dangerous heir of Veltran Corp. He had taken Elijah under his wing, pretending to mentor him. Pretending to care. Pretending to love.
And Elijah? He fell for it all.
He remembered nights on the rooftop, arms tangled, breathless confessions under neon city lights.
"If I lose everything tomorrow," Elijah once whispered, "will you still be here?"
"I'd burn the world before I lost you," Luca had said.
Lies. Every word.
Because days later, Luca executed a hostile takeover of Reyes Enterprises. Elijah's father collapsed from stress. The media went wild. And Luca?
Gone. Disappeared into luxury and silence.
---
Present
Now, Elijah was no longer the broken boy crying in the dark. He was a man with a sharp tongue, a steel heart, and revenge as his fuel.
"I assume you're here for the merger," Luca said, adjusting his cuffs. "Funny. You hated business."
"I hated your business," Elijah snapped. "But now? I own Reyes Global. And I'm buying out Veltran's majority shares. You don't run this game anymore."
Luca raised an eyebrow. "So the little prince became a king."
"No," Elijah said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I became the storm."
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Luca stood. Walked over. Leaned close.
Elijah didn't flinch, but his heart betrayed him, thudding wildly in his chest.
"You're still so easy to read," Luca whispered, eyes boring into him. "Still trembling when I'm near."
"I'm trembling," Elijah hissed, "from the effort not to punch you."
"Then punch me," Luca said lowly, voice dangerously close to tender. "Do something, Elijah. Because this distance you're putting between us? It's fake. Just like your hate."
A long pause. Elijah's breath caught.
"You don't know what hate is," Elijah said, his voice cracking like old glass.
Luca's eyes softened—just for a second.
And that was what made it worse.
---
Later That Night
Elijah stared at the skyline from his penthouse window. The city lights flickered like dying stars.
He hated Luca.
He hated how his voice still echoed in his head.
He hated how his touch haunted his skin.
He hated how he wanted to pull him closer even now.
"Why?" he whispered to the night. "Why did you come back?"
His phone buzzed.
1 New Message: Unknown Number
> You didn't ask why I left.
Maybe you're not ready to know the answer.
Elijah's chest tightened.
Was that Luca?
He blocked the number.
Then turned off the lights, climbed into bed, and stared at the ceiling like it held the past.
Because revenge was easy.
It was the feelings buried beneath that would kill him.