Late Return, Gazing at Stars

Outside the headquarters of Carl’s Group, Olivia stood staring up.

The office tower loomed, impossibly tall, its peak lost in the low-hanging clouds. She’d looked up at buildings like this so many times before. Carl used to say that once he finally made it, he’d take her all the way to the top—to look down on the city they’d conquer together.

Now, she couldn’t even get past the front door.

Shoved back by security for what felt like the hundredth time, Olivia stumbled and fell to the pavement. A wave of utter helplessness washed over her.

Into her line of sight stepped a pair of designer heels. Pamela stood over her, perfectly sculpted brows furrowed in distaste.

“Olivia. Still clinging to him like a bad smell?”

Olivia pushed herself up, unsteady. “I need to see Carl.”

“You want to see him? Does he want to see *you*?” Pamela’s voice dripped scorn. “He wishes you’d vanished off the face of the earth! Just the thought of the disgusting things you did makes him sick.”

She leaned in slightly. “If I were you, I’d have taken that million and crawled away with my tail between my legs.”

Olivia’s hand shot out before the last word faded. The crack of her palm against Pamela’s cheek echoed across the plaza.

“Pamela,” Olivia said, her voice low and shaking. “Anyone else can judge me. But *you*? You don’t have the right.”

A moment later, a powerful shove sent Olivia sprawling backward.

Carl stood there now, shielding Pamela, looking down at Olivia with icy contempt.

“I gave you the money,” he said, each word a shard of ice. “What more do you want?”

Olivia’s gaze fixed on their intertwined fingers, her own face pale as chalk. She took a deep, ragged breath.

“You secured a donor heart, didn’t you? Carl, that heart… it’s actually—”

“Don’t tell me,” Carl cut in, his voice thick with mockery. “You’re going to claim you have a heart condition too? That you need a transplant, just like Pamela? Olivia, do you really think I’d fall for such a cheap trick?”

Pamela nestled closer against his chest. “It’s true, Olivia. What are the odds? Carl just secured the heart for me last night, and here you are today… Still bitter that I have him now? Trying to get back at me? But you were the one who betrayed him!”

“That’s not true!” Olivia’s control snapped. She pointed a trembling finger at Pamela. “You know it was—”

“Olivia!”

Carl’s voice lashed out again, his eyes filled with undisguised revulsion. “What will it take? What will it take for you to disappear from my life *forever*?”

The fiery anger in Olivia’s chest cooled, hardening into a cold, heavy stone.

She knew it then. He would never give up that heart.

“Money,” she said, meeting his gaze squarely, enunciating each word. “I want money.”

A cold laugh escaped him. “Greedy to the core. A million wasn’t enough to buy your silence?”

“It’s not enough, Carl. A million isn’t enough!” Her voice broke. “Four years. From sixteen to twenty. I suffered with you through all of it. How could a million ever be enough?”

She steadied herself. “Give me another million. This time, I promise you. I will vanish. Permanently.”

Then, with bitter clarity: “Two million, for a lifetime of peace. For you, Mr. Carl, that’s just a drop in the bucket, isn’t it?”

For a fleeting moment, she thought she saw something shift in his eyes—a faint light flickering out.

A crack of thunder split the sky. The bright afternoon plunged into gloom.

Carl’s voice, colder than the coming rain, cut through the air.

“I’ll give you the money.”

“But today, you laid a hand on my fiancée. You will get on your knees. And you will apologize to her.”

Olivia agreed without hesitation.

“Fine.”

Then she knelt. The impact of her knees on the hard ground was a dull, heavy thud.

Pamela’s lips curled into a sneer.

“Olivia. Dignity and self-respect really mean nothing to you, do they?”

“As long as I get the money, dignity means nothing. You taught me that, Pamela. Or have you forgotten?”

Pamela’s face blanched. “You—! You’re lying! I never said any such thing!”

Ignoring her, Olivia looked up at Carl.

“I’m kneeling. Is this enough?”

Carl tightened his arm around Pamela’s waist, his face an emotionless mask as he began to walk past her. “Of course not. If you want the money, you stay right there. On your knees.”

“For how long?” Olivia called after him.

He paused, glancing back over his shoulder. His eyes were utterly devoid of warmth.

“Until I’m satisfied.”

They disappeared into the gleaming tower, leaving Olivia alone on the rain-darkened pavement.

The first fat drops hit her face. Then the sky opened up, the rain falling in a relentless, drenching curtain.

Pedestrians hurried past under umbrellas, their glances—curious, pitying, scornful—flickering over her hunched form.

She knelt there, her slender frame trembling violently in the biting wind, her face so pale she seemed ready to collapse at any second. She slumped over more than once, only to force herself upright again each time.

She wanted to live.

Even if it meant grinding her dignity into dust, she wanted to live.

Now, her only gamble was on the faint, fading chance of Carl’s mercy.

Finally, after an eternity, the rain stopped pelting her head. A black umbrella shielded her.

Wiping the water from her eyes, she looked up.

Carl stood before her, his jaw clenched tight. “How much? Just tell me—how much money will it take for you to stop degrading yourself like this?!”

The shattered heartache in his eyes burned through her, so intense she almost blurted out everything: the desperation, the truth.

She didn’t.

The coppery taste of blood where she’d bitten her tongue forced her mind back into focus.

“What’s wrong, Carl?” she asked, her voice unnaturally light. “Feeling sorry for me?”

“If you want me to stop, it’s simple. Just promise to take care of me. For the rest of my life.”

Carl’s eyes reddened. His breathing grew ragged, fury and agony warring in his gaze.

Suddenly, he flung the umbrella aside. His hand shot out, closing around her throat with bruising force.

“Olivia,” he ground out, his voice raw. “Do you even have a heart?”

“Five years! Have you felt even a shred of remorse for what you did? And you dare… you dare to put a price on what we had?”

Olivia started to laugh, the sound bubbling up hysterically, tears mingling with the rain on her face.

“I knew you hadn’t forgotten me. You want my affection? Fine. Same deal, Carl. Show me the money, and I’m yours. Your mistress. Your dirty secret.”

The pressure on her throat increased. He looked like he wanted to squeeze the life out of her right there.

“Loving you,” he choked out, “was the biggest mistake of my life.”

Olivia didn’t answer. She closed her eyes, her heart turning to ash within her.

She was grateful for the storm. It hid her tears. It hid… the love for him that had never, not for a single day, truly died.

“Stop! What are you doing?!”

Carol’s terrified scream cut through the downpour. She rushed forward, beating her fists against Carl’s arm. “Let her go! You’ll kill her!”

“You only see her asking for money! Do you have any idea why she needs it?!” Carol’s voice cracked with urgency. “She’s sick! If she doesn’t get a heart transplant within a month, she’ll die!”

She glared at him, tears streaking her face. “The first million would have been enough! But you took the heart that was meant to save her! *You* are the one who pushed her to this!”