er fingertips, but she barely noticed. The city had been her battleground for years, each skyscraper a testament to her relentle
o's company. Their company, once. Her heart tightened at the thought, but she quickly
broke her reverie, and she turned to see her assist
in fifteen minutes," Julia said, her voice
of her latest venture. But in the back of her mind, one thought lingered. Leo. Their marriage had been slipping a
ess meetings-it was all consuming. And Leo? He was fading. His presence, once a constant, had become more of a shadow than a par
pushed h
," Evelyn said, her voice colder than she intended. Julia nod
d it. The message from Leo was stil
n recent weeks. The tension between them was palpable, and no matter how many times Evelyn tried to focus on work,
ey needed to have would change everything. They had drifted so far a
dn't ignore
ced at the clock on the wall-it was already late afternoon. Leo would be at their apartment by now, waiting f
hat she was capable of standing on her own. But now, the price of that success seemed too high. She could feel the weight of it all-the
buzzed again. Another message from Leo. She almost d
k tonight. It's
de her stomach lurch. She had known this day was comin
silence in the car oppressive. When they reached the apartment building, Evelyn took a deep breath before stepping ou
the room. She took off her heels and set her bag down, her heart pounding in her chest. She coul
g the room for him. She found him sittin
she said, her voice co
looked tired, older somehow, but there was a stren
softly. "We need t
her chest as she walked
uth that you've been pushing me away for months. T
en it came to Leo. But she couldn't deny that what he was saying was true. They had changed. Their marria
eo," Evelyn said, her voice trembling
mination in his eyes. "I want you to stop preten
phone buzzed again-this time,
t do this right now," she said, her v
istened to the voice on the other end, she couldn't shake the feeling that everyt
d for a brief moment, their eyes met. The unspoken words hung in the air between th
ut warning, the
skipped a beat. Who co
e could ask, he muttered under his breat