Chloe's apartment felt quieter than usual that evening.
Not peaceful.
Just still.
The kind of stillness that made every small sound feel louder than it should have been—the kettle clicking off, a distant car passing outside, Lillian's uneven breathing that she was trying very hard to control.
She was sitting on the edge of the couch again.
Same place as before.
Like she hadn't moved properly since the moment the test result changed everything.
Her hands rested loosely in her lap.
Too still.
Too careful.
Chloe stood near the kitchen counter for a moment, watching her.
Not pressing.
Not rushing.
Just observing the way Lillian kept blinking slowly, like she was trying to convince herself this was still something she could wake up from.
Finally, Chloe walked over and sat beside her.
"Talk to me," she said gently.
Lillian didn't answer right away.
Her gaze stayed fixed on nothing in particular.
Then quietly:
"I keep thinking I'm going to feel something different."
Chloe frowned slightly.
"In what way?"
Lillian swallowed.
"I don't know. Shock. Relief. Panic. Something clear."
A pause.
"But it's just… noise."
Her voice cracked slightly on the last word.
Chloe softened immediately.
"That's normal."
Lillian shook her head once.
"It doesn't feel normal."
Silence settled between them again.
This time heavier.
Because the truth sitting between them didn't need to be spoken anymore.
It was already there.
Lillian's fingers curled slightly into her palm.
"I keep thinking about him," she admitted quietly.
Chloe didn't respond immediately.
She just listened.
Lillian let out a slow breath.
"And I hate that I don't know what he would say."
Her voice lowered further.
"He's not… the same anymore."
Chloe's expression tightened slightly at that.
Lillian finally looked at her.
And for the first time since everything started—
she didn't look composed.
She looked tired.
Not physically tired.
Emotionally worn down to the point of breaking.
"He calls me Miss Parker," she repeated softly.
A pause.
"That sounds stupid to care about, but it… it feels like I lost him completely when he started doing that."
Chloe's voice stayed steady.
"It doesn't sound stupid."
Lillian shook her head again, faster this time.
"It's like he erased everything between us on purpose."
Her breath wavered.
"And now I don't even know how to exist around him anymore."
The words finally caught in her throat.
And something inside her cracked quietly.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
Just enough.
Her shoulders dipped slightly as she covered her face with her hand.
At first it was just a breath.
Then another.
Then it stopped being controlled at all.
Lillian broke.
It wasn't graceful.
It wasn't contained.
It was the kind of crying that came after holding everything in for too long—messy, uneven, shaking through her whole body as she finally let go of weeks of pressure she hadn't realized she was carrying.
"I don't know what I'm supposed to do," she whispered brokenly.
Her voice barely held together.
"I don't know how to do this."
Chloe didn't hesitate.
She moved closer immediately and pulled Lillian into her arms.
No hesitation.
No space.
Just steady warmth.
"It's okay," Chloe said quietly.
"It's okay."
Lillian tried to speak again, but it dissolved into another breathless sound instead.
Her grip tightened slightly on Chloe's sleeve as if she was trying to anchor herself to something real.
"I didn't plan for this," she managed.
"I know."
"I don't even know how to tell him—if I should tell him—he won't even—."
Her voice broke again.
Chloe held her firmly.
"Hey," she said softly.
"You don't have to solve anything right now."
Lillian shook her head against her shoulder.
"But I do. It's his too. It's not just—."
Her words failed again.
And that was what made it worse.
Because it was true.
Chloe's hand rested gently on the back of her head, steadying her.
"One step at a time," she said.
"Not all of it at once."
Lillian's breathing slowly started to break into smaller, uneven pulls instead of full sobs.
Still crying.
But less sharp now.
More exhausted.
Like her body was finally letting go of the weight it had been holding for days.
After a while, she leaned back slightly, wiping her face quickly as if embarrassed by how much she'd lost control.
Chloe didn't let her pull away completely.
She stayed close.
"You're allowed to fall apart," Chloe said softly.
Lillian gave a weak, broken laugh.
"That doesn't feel very functional."
"It doesn't have to be."
Silence again.
But softer this time.
Chloe studied her for a moment, then spoke more carefully.
"You're not going into work tomorrow."
Lillian blinked slowly.
"I can't just—."
"You can," Chloe interrupted gently.
"And you are."
Lillian shook her head faintly.
"There's too much happening. Sovereign, Sebastian—."
"That's exactly why you're not going."
Lillian looked at her.
Still fragile.
Still shaken.
Chloe's voice stayed firm, but not harsh.
"You need time," she said.
"Not meetings. Not pretending. Not sitting across from him while everything inside you is breaking."
Lillian hesitated.
"But what if—."
Chloe softened slightly.
"What if nothing changes in two days?" she asked.
"Or a week? Or tomorrow? You can't survive that like this."
That landed heavier than anything else so far.
Because it was true.
Lillian's shoulders slumped slightly.
"I don't know how to stop thinking about him," she admitted quietly.
Chloe nodded.
"You don't have to stop right now."
A pause.
"You just have to breathe without collapsing."
Lillian looked down at her hands again.
Still trembling slightly.
"I feel like everything is slipping," she whispered.
Chloe stayed close.
"It's not," she said gently.
"It just feels like it is."
Outside, the city moved on as usual.
Lights, traffic, life continuing without pause.
Inside the apartment, time felt completely different.
Slower.
Heavier.
More personal.
After a long moment, Chloe spoke again.
"You're taking the rest of the week off," she said firmly.
Lillian didn't respond immediately.
Then, quietly:
"…Okay."
Chloe studied her carefully.
"Good."
Silence settled again, but this time it wasn't empty.
It was just quiet.
Shared.
Lillian leaned back slightly against the couch, still close enough to Chloe that she didn't feel alone anymore.
But her thoughts didn't leave him.
They couldn't.
Somewhere across the city, Sebastian Wolfe continued to exist in his controlled silence, completely unaware that the world he had emotionally stepped away from was no longer just about distance anymore.
And Lillian, still shaking slightly as she breathed, realized something she hadn't fully accepted yet.
This wasn't just something she had to handle alone.
It was something that had already changed everything—whether they were ready or not.