Riya’s voice sharpened. "Look at ." She gestured at herself. "This is what you’ve done to . How am I supposed to go to the shoot tomorrow? I can barely sit."
A tremor ran through her as the mory of each blow replayed in her mind. "In this condition, how will I work? I was supposed to et an important client tomorrow, but with these marks all over , I can’t even show up. I could lose an endorsent deal. Isn’t that enough punishnt? What else do you want?"
Zachary’s expression remained the sa, unreadable, as though her pain was nothing more than background noise. "Complete this task, and you’ll be rewarded. Don’t worry about the endorsent deal—I’ll take care of it. But for that, you have to do this job."
She tilted her head. "What job?" she asked suspiciously.
He reached into his jacket and drew out a cigar. Striking a lighter, he set the tip aglow, the scent of tobacco curling into the air. Holding it between his lips, he spoke around it. "Nathaniel is about to sign an important deal. I want that project."
He took a slow drag, then exhaled a ribbon of smoke. "Help get his tender."
At Nathaniel’s Villa...
It was late. As everyone went to sleep, thick silence settled in the house. But Nathaniel was still working, his eyes darting from one file to another. The faint tap of keys and the rustle of papers were the only sounds that broke the silence.
His sharp features glowed from the desk lamp, his eyes skimming one docunt after another, his fingers moving swiftly over the keyboard.
Knock-Knock...
A gentle knock interrupted his focus. He stilled, glancing toward the door with a faint crease between his brows. Only one person had the habit of showing up at this hour with coffee in hand.
"Co in," he called.
Sure enough, Zara stepped inside with a steaming cup of coffee in her hand. She stood for a mont before walking toward him.
"Why are you still awake?" Nathaniel asked, leaning back in his chair.
She lowered her gaze to the cup she carried, then lifted it with a small smile. "You’ve been working for hours. I thought this might help."
Setting the cup in front of him, she stepped back. He lifted the cup to his lips and took a sip.
"Thanks," he murmured. "I needed this."
His attention drifted back to the laptop screen.
Zara lingered by the desk, fidgeting with her fingers. Her lips pressed together as she studied him, her heartbeat quickening. She had entered the study brimming with resolve, ready to bare her feelings to him. But the confidence she had felt on her way to the study had vanished the mont her eyes t his. The confession she had rehearsed seed to refuse to co out of her mouth.
Doubt and anxiety mingled in her mind. ’What if he doesn’t feel the sa?’
Nathaniel glanced up, noticing she hadn’t moved. "Do you want to say sothing?"
Her heart gave a startled jump. "Uh... no." The answer ca too quickly. She hesitated, biting her lip.
"What is it?" he pressed. "If you have sothing to say, say it."
She looked at him, the words perched on the tip of her tongue, but her courage faltered.
"Zara?"
"I—I actually..."
He raised a hand, cutting her off. "I still have work to finish. It’ll take so ti. You should get so sleep."
Her smile thinned, and the faint spark in her eyes dimd. "Alright... I’ll go. I won’t bother you."
Turning away, she exited the room quickly and closed the door behind her.
Nathaniel sat still, staring at the closed door, a pang of regret weighing down on his chest.
’Did I make a mistake? Did I just push her away again?’
He rubbed his brow, exhaling a long breath. He could tell she had wanted to say sothing, but he had shut her down.
His thoughts were tangled in the work still unfinished, could barely think of anything else. This deal was important to him, and failure wasn’t an option.
"Once this is done," he murmured, "I’ll make it up to you."
He forced his attention back to the screen.
Zara slipped back into her room. A faint heaviness settled in her chest. She had gone to his study, imagining having a conversation with him, picturing herself finally saying what had been on her mind. But nothing had happened as she had thought.
’He is busy,’ she told herself, trying to smooth over the sting.
She rembered him saying about the client being unusually demanding. ’It must be an important deal. I shouldn’t get in his way.’
Drawing in a slow breath, she pushed the disappointnt aside and thought of talking to him later.
Kicking off her slippers, she climbed onto the bed. Her hand reached for the nightlamp switch, but she paused, her eyes catching on the wooden chest resting on the side table. She had placed it there absentmindedly, planning to read the torn pages from Nora’s journal tucked inside. But she got busy and forgot about it.
Now, with Nathaniel still buried in work, the temptation to know what had Nora kept hidden returned with full force. Maybe he might finish his work and co to bed by the ti she was done. Then maybe they could curl up together under the blanket.
Leaving the light on, she settled against the headboard and drew the worn pages from the chest.
She started reading eagerly.
’Our first day at the new school felt like stepping into another world—a new city, a new neighborhood, a new house—and now this new classroom. I was overwheld the mont I walked in, every pair of eyes fixed on us as if we had landed from another planet. Thankfully, Zara was by my side. While I was a bundle of nerves, she carried herself with her usual calm... so very typical of her.’
A soft smile tugged at Zara’s lips. The mory felt like it belonged to another lifeti.
She thought back to the ti when her father had decided to start a business and her mother had stood firmly beside him. Her mother had sold every bit of her inheritance from the countryside to make it happen, pouring every ounce of her energy into building sothing from scratch.
That decision had changed everything for them. The move to the city marked the beginning of a new Chapter, and it was in that new school where Zara first t Nathaniel.
She rembered the mont vividly—in that single mont, he had captured her heart completely.
But life had other plans. Fate had turned her story on its head, drawing Nathaniel’s heart toward her sister instead, leaving Zara to watch from the sidelines, her feelings locked away.
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