Chapter 18

Back in her office, Maria finally let her emotions spill over. Both hands planted firmly on the desk, her chest heaved as she struggled to catch her breath. Her head hung low, gasping for air like she was trying to hold herself together with every shaky inhale. That scene between James and Amelia played on a constant loop in her mind, tormenting her more with each replay. She’d imagined this scenario countless times in her head, thought she could handle it. But reality hit her like a punch straight to the gut. The moment she saw him again, she knew it—she hadn’t moved on. Not really. She even secretly wished things could go back to how they were. So all her calm and snarky attitude earlier? Just armor. Just her way of faking strength to protect herself. But now that James was about to get engaged to Amelia, whatever tiny hope she had left was pointless. From now on, they’d be complete strangers—well, coworkers at best, and even that sounded cold. She slumped into her chair, leaned back