Chapter 47 — Silence Always Wins
Morning came grey and merciless.
The city outside the penthouse windows blurred behind a thin veil of rain.
Muted.
Indifferent.
Serena woke on the couch,
clothes wrinkled,
makeup smudged.
Her mouth tasted like ash and regret.
She sat up slowly,
the pounding in her head matching the hollow thud of her heart.
For a few minutes, she just sat there,
watching the rain streak down the windows.
The world was moving without her.
It always had been.
But something stubborn twisted inside her.
Something reckless.
Something desperate.
Maybe it wasn't too late.
Maybe if she explained—
if she showed him she still cared—
Malik would remember who they had been before the world fell apart.
Before she ruined it.
Before Landon.
Her fingers trembled as she typed:
Malik. Please.
I need to talk to you.
Just once.
She stared at the screen, thumb hovering over "Send."
Sent it anyway.
Nothing.
She tried again.
A second text.
A third.
Each one smaller, sadder, more raw.
Nothing.
By noon, she pulled herself together.
Showered.
Dressed in her best coat.
Tied her hair back neatly,
as if she could polish away the smell of desperation clinging to her skin.
She took a car to Malik's office building —
the towering, sleek monolith that had once felt like part of her world.
Now it loomed like a fortress.
The receptionist barely looked up when Serena approached.
Smiled tightly.
"Do you have an appointment?"
Serena swallowed the thick knot rising in her throat.
"Tell him Serena's here.
He'll want to see me."
The receptionist tapped on her keyboard, eyes flickering to the screen.
Then back to Serena —
pity softening the corporate polish for just a moment.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Calvert.
Mr. Graves isn't available."
The finality in her voice left no room for arguments.
No window for hope.
"I'll wait," Serena said, smiling tightly.
"I'm sorry," the receptionist repeated gently.
"Mr. Graves' schedule is full.
He won't be available today."
Or tomorrow.
Or ever.
The unspoken words hung heavy in the air between them.
Serena stood there for a moment longer,
frozen in the polished lobby,
a relic no one wanted to claim.
Around her, the world moved.
Assistants rushed by with tablets and portfolios.
Executives chatted over coffee.
Security guards shifted at their posts.
No one looked at her twice.
She turned finally,
heels clicking too loud against the marble floor,
each step sounding like another nail in the coffin of what once was.
Outside, the rain had slowed to a fine mist.
The city was grey and endless.
The future stretched in front of her —
wide, empty, merciless.
She pulled out her phone again.
Checked it compulsively.
Still nothing.
No reply.
No missed call.
No second chance.
Just silence.
Heavy.
Final.
Complete.
Serena slid the phone into her pocket,
lifted her chin,
and walked into the mist.
Not because she still believed.
But because there was nothing else to do.