The tension snapped the following night. Amaya overheard Adrian on a phone call, his voice sharp.
"Keep the merger quiet. She can't know."
Her blood turned to ice. Another secret. Another betrayal.
She stormed into his office, slamming the door. "Still lying to me?"
Adrian froze, lowering the phone. "Amaya—"
"Don't." Her voice trembled, raw and broken. "You said you regretted what you did. You said you couldn't let me go. But you never stopped scheming, did you?"
His eyes blazed. "I did it for us—"
"There is no us!" she cried.
Her words hit him like a blow. For the first time, Adrian looked wounded, stripped of his armor.
But Amaya didn't stay to see it. She turned and walked away, her chest shattering with every step.
And for the first time, Adrian didn't follow.