Grace's POV
Grace's hands won't stop shaking.
She grips the steering wheel tighter as she drives to her office but the shaking doesn't stop. It gets worse. By the time she parks in the underground garage, her whole body is vibrating like she's been hit by electricity.
She sits in the car for five minutes and breathes. In through her nose. Out through her mouth. The technique she learned in therapy five years ago when she was learning how to survive. It's supposed to calm her down. It's not working.
Ryan is getting divorced.
He said it so quietly. So simply. Like it wasn't the biggest thing she's heard since she saw him at the gala. He said it like it was a promise. He said it like he meant it.
Grace wants to believe him. That's the problem. She wants to believe that he's actually changed. She wants to believe that he's finally choosing her. She wants to believe that five years of suffering have somehow led to something real.
But wanting to believe something is different from actually believing it.
She gets out of the car and takes the elevator to her office. The office is quiet. Most people haven't arrived yet. She's always the first one there. She's always the one working before everyone else shows up and leaves after everyone else goes home.
Her office is small compared to other senators but it's hers. There's a photo on her desk of her and Claire from two years ago. There's another photo of her giving a speech that changed environmental policy. There's a photo of her shaking hands with the governor. These are the things that matter. These are the things she built.
Grace sits at her desk and opens her laptop. She has bills to read. She has a committee meeting at 2 PM. She has constituent emails that need responses. She has work that actually means something. Work that will make her reputation stronger. Work that will prove she's more than just a woman who had a wedding disaster.
She doesn't have time for Ryan Steel.
She can't have time for Ryan Steel.
If she lets him back into her life, she'll be letting someone destroy her again. Even if he doesn't mean to. Even if he's genuinely trying to change. The fact is that being with him is a risk. And Grace doesn't do risks anymore. Grace does security. Grace does control. Grace does things that are safe and measured and protect her.
She buries herself in work.
By noon she's read three bills completely. She's made notes on each one. She's prepared for her committee meeting. She's answered a dozen emails. She's done everything except think about the fact that Ryan is right now probably talking to lawyers about ending his marriage.
At 1:30 PM she heads to the committee room. The meeting lasts two hours. She asks pointed questions about budget allocations for healthcare. She challenges a senator about regulations he's trying to push through. She does what she does best. She finds the holes in the arguments. She finds the truth hiding under the words.
By the time the meeting ends, she's exhausted but her mind is clearer. Work does that for her. Work centers her. Work reminds her of who she is. Not the jilted bride. Not the girl who got left at the altar. Just Grace Williams. State Senator. Powerful. Respected. Alone.
The alone part doesn't hurt as much when she's working.
She gets back to her office at 4:15 PM. Marcus, her assistant, is waiting with a stack of papers that need signatures. She signs them without reading them because she trusts Marcus and she knows he wouldn't bring her anything that needed careful attention.
The evening light is coming through her office windows. It's a nice sunset. Golden and soft. It makes everything look better than it is.
Her phone buzzes on her desk.
It's a news notification. Grace usually doesn't read these but something makes her pick up the phone this time. Something makes her click on the alert.
The photo appears on her screen and her heart stops.
It's her and Ryan from two days ago. They're in a hallway at the congressional building. They're standing close together. Her hand is on his arm. His hand is near her waist. They're looking at each other with intensity that's unmistakable even in a grainy photo.
The headline beneath the photo reads: "State Senator Grace Williams and Billionaire Ryan Steel. Old Flames Reunite?"
Below that it says: "Sources suggest the two have been meeting privately. Is their relationship affecting Grace's political decisions?"
Grace's entire office goes cold.
She reads the article. It doesn't say anything specific. It just raises questions. It just plants doubt. It just suggests that maybe the senator's vote on environmental regulations is connected to her personal relationship with Ryan Steel instead of being based on actual policy.
It's a lie. But it's a powerful lie.
Her phone starts buzzing. Calls from reporters. Messages from fellow senators. An email from the Senate leadership asking if there's anything they need to know about her personal life affecting her professional decisions.
Grace's hands are shaking again.
This is what happens when you let someone back into your life. This is what happens when you're not careful enough. This is what happens when you let your guard down for five seconds and the entire world takes a photo and creates a narrative around it.
She's being destroyed again. Not by Ryan this time. But because of Ryan. Because she was stupid enough to meet with him. Because she was weak enough to let him affect her.
Grace stands up and closes her office door. She doesn't cry. She doesn't scream. She just stands at her window and looks out at the city and realizes that the five years she spent rebuilding herself were just a temporary break from the universe punishing her for wanting something she can't have.
Marcus knocks on the door. "Senator, there are reporters asking for a statement about the photo."
"No statement," Grace says. "Tell them I have no comment."
"They're saying it's already trending," Marcus says carefully. "It's national news now."
Grace doesn't respond. She just stands at the window and watches the sun finish setting. She watches the city lights come on. She watches the world keep moving while her world falls apart.
The thing she can't control is what other people do. The thing she can't control is how the media interprets a photo. The thing she can't control is that Ryan Steel exists in the same city as her and sometimes their paths cross and sometimes a photographer is there to catch it.
But the thing she also can't control is her own heart.
Because even now, even looking at that photo of her and Ryan standing close together, even seeing the headline that suggests she's compromised and conflicted and unprofessional, some part of her is thinking about his voice at the coffee shop when he said he's getting divorced.
Some part of her is thinking that maybe it's possible. Maybe he's really changing. Maybe they could actually figure this out.
And that's the most dangerous thought of all.
Because if she lets herself believe in him, she's setting herself up to be destroyed. And Grace has survived being destroyed once. She's not sure she can do it again.
Her phone buzzes again. This time it's a text from an unknown number.
The text says: I saw the news. I'm sorry. I should have been more careful.
It's from Ryan.
Grace stares at the message for a long time. She doesn't respond. She just turns off her phone and sits in the dark office and realizes that she's back to where she started five years ago.
She's back to being defined by her connection to Ryan Steel.
She's back to being the girl everyone is talking about.
And this time she's not sure if she has the strength to disappear again.