Chapter 16

Back in the luxurious hotel suite, Alexander dropped heavily onto the couch. Outside, the city glowed in a haze of brilliant lights, yet none of it could pierce the darkness clouding his eyes. He did not sleep that night. The same images replayed in his mind again and again. Eleanor's calm, unblinking gaze behind her sunglasses, as she looked past him as if he were no one. The effortless intimacy between her and Luke, so natural it hurt to watch. And that final, mocking lift of Luke's brow. Every detail felt like a needle dipped in poison, piercing his nerves one after another, sending waves of unbearable pain, and yes, panic through him. It was a kind of panic he had never known before, cold and suffocating, rising like a silent tide that swallowed him whole. He could not stand the way Eleanor had looked at him, nor could he bear the sight of another man standing at her side—someone who seemed so perfectly suited to her and who might already have a place in her heart. The unfa