Ryder’s pov ;
I sat in my office, the dim light casting long shadows across the room. The bottle of whiskey on my desk was nearly empty, the amber liquid swirling in the glass as I took another slow sip. The burn did little to dull the pain, to drown out the constant noise in my head.
Aubrey’s face kept flashing before my eyes—her pain, her anger. The way she looked at me when I tried to explain…like I was nothing. Like I wasn’t worth her time anymore.
I deserved it. All of it.
The truth had come out, but it was too late. I should’ve listened to her three years ago. I should’ve believed her when she told me something was wrong. Instead, I let my arrogance, my doubt, destroy everything we had. Everything we could have been. And now, I've lost her.
I exhaled sharply, the sound bitter in the silence of the office. The door creaked open behind me, and I didn’t bother to turn around. I already knew who it was. Her perfume filled the air—sweet, cloying, nauseating.