The next morning arrived quietly.
For a few brief seconds after waking up, Lillian didn't remember where she was.
Then reality returned.
Chloe's guest room.
The breakup.
The pregnancy.
Everything.
Lillian stared at the ceiling above her bed for a long moment.
The room was comfortable.
Warm.
Chloe had done everything she could to make her feel welcome.
Yet it still wasn't home.
A lump formed in her throat immediately.
Because home had been the Wolfe mansion.
Home had been waking up beside Sebastian.
Home had been hearing him move around the bedroom while she got ready for work.
Now she was sleeping in a guest room.
And Sebastian was sleeping alone.
The thought hurt.
Lillian slowly sat up.
A wave of nausea rolled through her stomach.
She closed her eyes briefly until it passed.
Then reached for her phone on the bedside table.
Before she could stop herself, her eyes searched the screen.
Messages.
Missed calls.
Anything.
Nothing.
There was no message from Sebastian.
No missed calls.
No notifications.
Just silence.
Lillian lowered the phone slowly.
She shouldn't have expected anything.
After all, she had been the one who ended the relationship.
Still—
the disappointment settled heavily in her chest.
A soft knock sounded against the bedroom door.
"Lillian?"
Chloe.
"Come in."
The door opened.
Chloe stepped inside carrying two mugs of tea.
She took one look at Lillian's expression and immediately understood.
"You checked your phone."
Lillian gave a weak laugh.
"Am I that obvious?"
"Unfortunately."
Chloe handed her one of the mugs before sitting on the edge of the bed.
Neither woman spoke for a moment.
Then quietly, Lillian admitted:
"He didn't call."
Chloe's expression softened.
"No."
Lillian stared into the tea.
"I know he doesn't owe me anything."
A pause.
"But part of me still thought..."
She couldn't finish the sentence.
Because she wasn't sure what she'd expected.
For Sebastian to call?
To ask if she was alright?
To show up at Chloe's apartment?
Those things belonged to the version of Sebastian that had existed before she broke his heart.
And she knew that.
Yet it still hurt.
At Sovereign, Sebastian stepped out of the elevator precisely at seven-thirty.
As always.
The executive floor immediately became busier.
Employees greeted him.
Assistants hurried past.
Meetings were already being prepared.
Everything appeared normal.
Only Sebastian knew how much effort it took to maintain that appearance now.
He walked toward his office.
Then his gaze landed on the empty desk outside it.
Lillian's desk.
The sight hit him instantly.
No organized schedule waiting for him.
No coffee.
No familiar presence.
Just an empty chair.
His jaw tightened slightly.
Then he continued walking.
Inside his office, he immediately buried himself in work.
Emails.
Contracts.
Reports.
Anything that required concentration.
A knock sounded against the door.
"Come in."
One of the assistants entered.
"Good morning, Mr. Wolfe."
Sebastian looked up briefly.
"What is it?"
"Miss Parker has officially requested leave for the remainder of the week."
Something tightened unexpectedly inside his chest.
A week.
An entire week.
His expression remained unchanged.
"Understood."
The assistant waited.
When no further response came, she nodded.
"I'll update the schedule."
"Do that."
The door closed behind her.
Silence returned.
Sebastian looked down at the report in front of him.
But he wasn't reading it anymore.
A week.
The memory of yesterday returned immediately.
Lillian rushing from the conference room.
Her pale face.
The fear in her eyes.
Not embarrassment.
Fear.
Something had clearly been wrong.
Had she gone to a doctor?
Was she still sick?
Was she resting?
The questions surfaced automatically.
Just as they always would.
Because no matter how hurt he was—
he still cared.
That was the problem.
Sebastian leaned back slightly in his chair.
His expression darkening.
Because caring hurt now.
Caring reminded him that she had left.
That after everything they'd shared—
she had walked away.
The old wound surfaced immediately.
The familiar one.
The one he'd carried since childhood.
The certainty that eventually people left.
That eventually he wasn't enough.
His hand clenched slightly around his pen.
Then he forced himself back to work.
Whatever was happening with Lillian—
it wasn't his responsibility anymore.
That was what he kept telling himself.
Even if part of him still worried.
Back at Chloe's apartment, the morning moved slowly.
Lillian sat at the kitchen table while Chloe worked remotely from her laptop nearby.
Every few minutes, Chloe glanced toward her.
Checking on her.
Making sure she was eating.
Making sure she was drinking enough water.
The care made Lillian's chest ache.
Around lunchtime, Chloe finally closed her laptop.
"We need to book a doctor's appointment."
The words immediately made Lillian tense.
Her stomach twisted.
Because hearing it aloud somehow made everything more real.
More permanent.
Chloe noticed her reaction.
"You need confirmation from a doctor."
"I know."
But her voice sounded small.
Overwhelmed.
Lillian looked down at her hands.
"The test already felt real enough."
A pause.
Then quietly:
"A doctor's appointment means this is actually happening."
Chloe's expression softened.
"Yeah."
Neither woman spoke for a moment.
Because there wasn't really anything else to say.
The pregnancy was real.
The future was real.
And Sebastian still didn't know.
At Sovereign, Sebastian's mood steadily worsened throughout the day.
By noon, everyone on the executive floor had noticed.
Nobody mentioned it.
Nobody was brave enough.
One executive arrived unprepared to a meeting.
Sebastian dismissed him within five minutes.
Another tried presenting incomplete figures.
The presentation didn't last much longer.
By late afternoon, even Chloe's absence felt noticeable.
Everything felt off.
Sebastian exited another meeting and headed back toward his office.
Then stopped.
His gaze settled on Lillian's desk again.
This time he noticed something sitting near the corner.
A notebook.
One she used regularly.
She must have left it behind the day she rushed out of the conference room.
Sebastian stared at it.
A simple notebook.
Nothing important.
Yet suddenly memories surfaced anyway.
Lillian writing notes during meetings.
Cross-checking schedules.
Organizing his day before he even asked.
Looking up whenever he left his office.
The memory hurt more than expected.
His jaw tightened.
Without thinking, he walked over.
Picked up the notebook.
Held it briefly.
Then quietly placed it inside one of the desk drawers.
Out of sight.
Safe.
Professional.
Done.
Yet somehow the empty desk looked even lonelier afterward.
That evening, Lillian stood by the window in Chloe's guest room.
The city lights glowed outside.
The room was quiet.
Peaceful.
But she couldn't stop thinking.
Her hand drifted unconsciously toward her stomach again.
She froze.
Then slowly rested it there.
The gesture felt strange.
Natural.
Terrifying.
All at once.
Her thoughts immediately drifted toward Sebastian.
Despite everything.
Despite how much it hurt.
She remembered how gentle he'd been during his vulnerable moments.
How fiercely protective he could become.
How much he loved in actions even when he couldn't say the words.
Would he want this child?
The question made tears sting her eyes immediately.
Because she genuinely didn't know anymore.
Not after the breakup.
Not after the distance.
Not after watching him become so cold.
A tear slipped down her cheek.
Then another.
Lillian quickly wiped them away.
But the ache remained.
Across the city, Sebastian sat alone in his office at the mansion.
The room was dark except for the desk lamp.
A glass of whiskey rested beside him.
Untouched for once.
He stared blankly at documents he hadn't read in nearly ten minutes.
His thoughts kept drifting.
Back to her.
Back to the empty desk.
Back to the week-long leave.
Back to the expression on her face yesterday.
He hated it.
Hated that he still worried.
Hated that he still cared.
Hated that part of him wanted to know if she was alright.
Because every concerned thought was followed by the same painful reminder.
She left.
And somehow that hurt even more because he had genuinely believed she wouldn't.
Sebastian closed his eyes briefly.
The familiar ache settled heavily in his chest.
Love hadn't disappeared.
Neither had the hurt.
And somewhere across New York, lying awake in Chloe's guest room, Lillian couldn't stop thinking about him either.
The distance between them felt impossible.
Yet neither of them had truly let go.
Not yet.