Darius became more and more obsessed with Alina.
It was like sinking in a black hole.
Every morning began the same way. Before he even left his bed, he reached for his phone and searched the latest financial news. White Clover Capital. White Clover's newest investment. White Clover's latest interview. Analysts discussing White Clover's next move. He convinced himself it was necessary, that every article contained information Voss Corporation could use.
He barely slept and followed news about White Clover obsessively.
Dark circles had begun forming beneath his eyes. Coffee replaced proper meals, and nights blurred into mornings without him noticing where the hours had gone.
He told himself it was only to prevent another defeat for himself and Voss Corporation.
It sounded reasonable. Professional. Even responsible.
Deep down, he knew he was drowning.
The realization became impossible to ignore. It was ridiculous.
The truth was, he was more aware with Alina ever since she received their divorce so calmly when he asked for it, more than two years ago.
He had expected tears.
Anger. Desperation. Anything.
Instead, she had accepted it with a composure that unsettled him more than any argument could have.
At the time, he had mistaken that calmness for indifference.
He thought she was boring, then she disappeared from his life entirely, showing him that she didn't need him at all.
Looking back, that was the moment everything had begun.
She had simply… walked away.
Without trying to keep him.
Without begging him to stay.
Without making herself small for the sake of their marriage.
She moved to Eze, started 1992 restaurant remotely (which was so brilliant it still made him shook his head sometimes,) and built a new life there.
Every achievement she made after leaving him felt impossible.
Every success forced him to acknowledge that the woman he had underestimated had never been ordinary.
She got a new man, new friends.
She even bought a house there.
Every report his investigators submitted had somehow made things worse instead of better.
She hadn't been surviving.
She had been flourishing.
Then she returned to New York and smashed him in his own game, like he was a helpless creature she could trample with her high heels.
The image haunted him.
The confident way she walked into boardrooms.
The respect she commanded from investors.
The quiet certainty in every decision she made.
The same woman he once believed would forever remain in his shadow had become someone the financial world eagerly followed.
He had spent years believing he was always three steps ahead of everyone else.
Somehow, without him noticing, Alina had overtaken him completely.
He rubbed his tired eyes.
When had admiration become obsession?
When had curiosity become longing?
He no longer knew.
And in the depths of his near collapse of exhaustion, he admitted that he had fallen for his own ex wife.
The words sounded almost absurd inside his own mind.
How could he not admit that?
Every thought eventually returned to her.
Every article.
Every meeting.
Every sleepless night.
He was staring at the ceiling of her old bedroom in his apartment.
He had been sleeping there ever since he managed to make him lose a part of his authority in his own goddamn corporation.
The room still carried faint traces of a life that no longer existed.
A shelf she had once organized.
The curtains she had chosen.
Small details he had never paid attention to until she was gone.
He put his arm over his eyes, laughing bitterly at himself.
"I was blind. I was an idiot and a jerk. Guess I deserve all of this."
His silent apartment gave him no answers.
*****
Darius's name usually meant perfection and flawless decision making.
For years, investors had trusted him almost instinctively. His board respected him, competitors feared him, and financial journalists often described him as one of the most disciplined executives in New York.
Every meeting began on time. Every report had already been read before anyone else entered the room. Every decision appeared calculated months in advance.
These days, his impeccable reputation began to falter.
The changes were small. It was almost invisible.
But to those who had worked beside him for years, they were impossible to miss.
During one executive meeting, Darius asked for last quarter's projections.
Silence filled the conference room.
One vice president cautiously replied, "Mr. Voss… we discussed those ten minutes ago."
Darius looked down at the documents before him.
He had.
He simply hadn't remembered.
"My apologies," he said calmly before moving the meeting forward as if nothing had happened.
Nobody questioned him.
Still, several executives exchanged brief glances.
Later that afternoon, he signed the wrong page of an acquisition contract.
Fortunately, Chloe caught the mistake before the documents left the building.
"Mr. Voss."
He looked up from another report.
"You signed Appendix C."
He frowned.
"The signature belongs on Appendix D."
For a brief second, confusion crossed his face.
Then he nodded.
"Thank you."
He corrected it immediately.
Anyone else could have made the same mistake.
Darius Voss almost never did.
Chloe had stopped counting how many nights he remained in the office until nearly midnight.
She quietly placed dinner on the corner of his desk every evening.
Most mornings, she found it untouched.
Coffee cups accumulated instead.
Three before noon.
Another two before evening.
His sleeping schedule had become almost nonexistent.
She noticed something else.
Every time the communications department compiled media reports, Darius requested one specific folder first.
White Clover Capital.
He read everything.
Not only the major headlines.
He read analyst opinions.
Investment breakdowns.
Photographs from charity galas.
Interviews with institutional investors.
Profiles discussing White Clover's leadership.
He told himself it was competitive intelligence.
The reports should have helped him understand their investment strategy.
Instead…
His eyes lingered elsewhere.
The way Alina smiled during interviews.
The dresses she wore to charity events.
The people standing beside her.
How relaxed she appeared.
How confident.
How completely different she seemed from the woman he had once lived with.
One afternoon, another article appeared.
L'Azur Chef Luc Fournier Accompanies Wall Street Queen at Literary Foundation Gala.
Darius opened it immediately.
There were photographs.
Luc stood beside Alina naturally. So comfortably.
Neither of them looked like they were trying to impress anyone.
They simply…Belonged beside each other.
Darius stared at one photograph much longer than he intended.
What was Luc Fournier planning?
Would they get married soon?
Would they marry in New York or in Eze?
Would Alina move permanently to Eze or Venice?
Or would Luc move to New York?
Manage and expand 1992, maybe?
The questions came one after another.
He hated himself for caring.
He should have been reviewing market projections.
Instead, he was wondering where another man planned to build a future with his ex-wife.
He closed the article.
Five minutes later…
He opened it again.
Another report appeared two days later.
This time, Daniel Kim stood beside Alina during a White Clover conference.
The accompanying article praised Daniel's negotiation skills and described him as one of White Clover's brightest executives.
Several photographs captured them laughing together.
Again, Darius clicked.
Again, he read every paragraph.
Or what about Daniel Kim?
They seemed to have amazing chemistry.
Would Alina break up with Luc and be with Daniel who understood her own language in the finance world?
The thought irritated him far more than it should have.
He shut his laptop harder than necessary.
Chloe was terribly worried.
She wondered what should she do.
She had worked for Darius long enough to know when something truly wasn't right.
This wasn't ordinary work stress.
He forgot meetings, skipped meals and barely slept.
His concentration fractured every time White Clover entered the conversation.
Should she contact Miss Alina and ask her to do something?
The idea crossed her mind more than once.
Immediately afterward, she rejected it.
Miss Alina was no longer part of Mr. Voss's life.
She had every right to remain far away from this situation.
Even so…
Watching Darius slowly exhaust himself became more painful each passing week.
His mother noticed it too, on one of their monthly gatherings.
"You've lost weight."
"I'm fine."
"You look tired."
"Work has been busy."
She studied her son for a long moment.
The answer sounded practiced, almost rehearsed.
She wanted to ask another question.
Instead, she simply reached across the table and squeezed his hand.
"Take care of yourself."
"I will."
Neither of them believed it.
He didn't even drink.
He avoided Evelyn's messages for days.
Every notification from her remained unanswered for hours before he finally sent brief replies that ended every conversation almost immediately.
Work became his excuse.
Fatigue became his shield.
When he's home from work, he only sat in his living room, staring at the TV without really watching it, trying to avoid thinking about Alina again.
News anchors spoke. Commercials played. Entire television episodes ended.
He couldn't remember a single thing he had watched.
His thoughts always wandered somewhere else.
Eventually, the silence inside the apartment became unbearable.
He walked through rooms that had once felt completely ordinary.
The kitchen, the dining room, the balcony and the living room.
Only now did he notice how empty everything felt.
There had once been fresh flowers on the dining table.
Someone reading quietly on the sofa.
Morning coffee already prepared before he left for work.
Soft music playing somewhere in the background.
Small moments.
Nothing big.
Nothing extraordinary.
Back then…
He had barely noticed them.
Now they returned one after another without invitation.
He eventually found himself standing outside another room.
Alina's old bedroom.
Without consciously deciding to…
He opened the door.
And slept there again.
Several times, he caught himself making comparisons he immediately hated.
Evelyn recommended a restaurant.
For one brief second, he thought…
Alina would have chosen somewhere quieter.
He closed his eyes.
The comparison had appeared so naturally that it frightened him.
It wasn't fair to Evelyn.
She deserved someone whose thoughts belonged entirely to her.
Instead…His own mind continued returning to someone who no longer belonged in his life.
Across Manhattan…
Alina wondered what happened.
She scrolled through @WallStreetWhisper before putting her tablet aside.
Why was there no photos of Evelyn and Darius that week?
Has he moved on to another woman?
The thought lasted only a few seconds before she returned to work.
Whatever happened inside Darius's personal life no longer concerned her.
She had responsibilities of her own.
Tomorrow's schedule occupied her attention completely.
Meanwhile, she and her staff were preparing for White Clover Executive Retreat.
Conference materials were being finalized.
Presentations reviewed.
Five-year projections printed.
Benjamin discussed investment opportunities with Victor.
Sofia coordinated logistics. Eleanor couldn't go to White Clover office that week, but she said she already prepared what she wanted to discuss.
Richard finalized acquisition reports.
Daniel prepared negotiation summaries.
Helena reviewed the agenda one final time.
The atmosphere inside White Clover was energetic and purposeful.
Everyone knew exactly why they were there.
Everyone respected one another enough to disagree openly without damaging relationships.
There was excitement about the future.
There were optimistic and confident.
The complete opposite of the atmosphere slowly forming inside Voss Corporation.
Late that night, Darius opened White Clover's official website one last time. Another interview. Another article. Another photograph of Alina.
He stared at the screen for several long moments before finally closing the laptop.
The room became silent again.
He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his exhausted eyes.
Tomorrow, while he continued losing sleep over White Clover…
…the people inside White Clover would spend a day planning the next five years.
*****