A Home Left Empty
The world stood still as breaking news dominated every screen, billboard, and digital platform across C Country and beyond. The unthinkable had happened, Eve Group has merged with TGM Group.
For last two decades, Eve Group had been a global titan, once holding the position of the wealthiest company in the world. But unlike other corporate empires built on old money and inheritance, Eve Group was different. It had not been passed down through generations. It had not been handed to her on a silver platter.
It was Evelyn Rayner who had built it from nothing.
Brick by brick, she had carved out its success with her own hands. A self-made empire, born from ambition, sacrifice, and an unrelenting drive that had once made her one of the most formidable figures in the business world.
Yet, now, that empire had crumbled. Swallowed whole by TGM Group.
The stock market reeled from the unexpected announcement. Investors scrambled to make sense of the sudden shift. Some rejoiced at the merger, their fortunes multiplying overnight, while others were left seething, watching their investments plummet. Amidst the chaos, inside the grand media hall of TGM Group's headquarters, a man stood at the podium, his presence commanding silence.
He was Lucas Thornton.
In his late thirties, he carried an air of cold authority. His tailored suit fit him to perfection, every detail carefully curated. His piercing eyes, sharp as steel, scanned the crowd with an unwavering gaze. There was no emotion on his face, no flicker of regret, only sheer dominance.
"Eve Group has now been merged with TGM Group."
No explanations. No justifications. A single, devastating statement before he turned on his heel and strode out of the hall, leaving his subordinates to deal with the aftermath. The chaos he had unleashed did not seem to concern him. It was as though this decision, this act of destruction, was nothing more than another move in a game only he knew how to play.
Elsewhere, in a once-lively villa now reduced to a ghost of its former self, a woman stood frozen, her slender frame trembling as she stared at the news on her phone screen. The headline burned into her vision, the words flashing like a cruel reminder of everything she, Evelyn Rayner had lost.
The phone slipped from her grasp, clattering onto the cold floor, but she did not react. Instead, with mechanical steps, she walked deeper into the silent house, her once graceful movements now devoid of life. The emptiness of the grand estate mirrored the hollowness inside her.
She ascended the staircase, moving like a phantom, until she reached her bedroom. Beyond it, the bathroom door stood ajar, revealing a bathtub filled to the brim, water sloshing over the edges. The room was eerily silent, save for the faint drip of water.
A quiet sigh escaped her lips as she stepped forward, still fully clothed, and lowered herself into the tub. The coldness of the water seeped into her skin, but she didn't flinch. She simply let it consume her.
As her body sank further, memories flooded her mind.
Her childhood, spent in warmth, showered with the love of doting parents and protective elder brothers. The friendships, built in the walls of the boarding school that had once been their sanctuary. The unwavering trust, given freely to people who had once meant the world to her.
And then, the betrayal.
One by one, she saw their faces. The people who had believed in her, loved her, trusted her, now gone. She had failed them. She had destroyed them.
She had trusted the wrong person. She had loved the wrong person.
A bitter laugh escaped her lips, bubbles rising as she exhaled underwater. Of all people, it had to be him.
Lucas Thornton.
The man she had once let into her life. The man she had unknowingly invited into the world of the people she cherished. The man who had systematically ripped her world apart, piece by piece, until nothing remained.
She slid further down, the water now covering her mouth, her nose. Her lungs burned. But this pain, this suffocating agony was nothing compared to the weight she had carried in her heart for so long.
She let herself sink.
The suffocation was no longer terrifying. It was almost… peaceful.
As her mind drifted into darkness, a single memory surfaced, one last, fleeting image.
A man, standing under the golden rays of the evening sun, his dark eyes filled with warmth. His lips curled into a soft, knowing smile, the kind of smile that had always made her feel safe, the kind of smile that spoke of unshaken trust.
A smile she had once taken for granted.
A smile she would never see again.
A fresh wave of pain slammed into her, cutting deeper than the lack of oxygen ever could.
She had lost everything, but nothing hurt more than losing him.
Her heart ached with a desperation so raw, so unbearable, that she wanted to claw her way back, just for one more moment, just for one last glimpse of that smile.
But she couldn't.
The weight of her choices, the gravity of her regrets, they were drowning her faster than the water.
And as the world faded into oblivion, her final thought was not of her empire. Not of her betrayal. Not of Lucas Thornton.
It was of him.
And how much she wished, desperately, painfully wished she could see that smile just one last time.