Chapter 196: Chapter 196

Violet

The office had emptied hours ago, but I stayed.

It had become a habit now, something close to instinct, to sit in that same chair long after everyone had left. The silence that remained wasn’t peaceful, not really, but I was slowly coming to terms with it.

I stared at the screen, at the lines and curves that were beginning to blur together despite my best efforts to stay focused. The light above blipped again.

My eyes burned faintly, but I ignored it, zooming in, adjusting a detail that probably didn’t even need adjusting, just to keep my hands moving.

“You’re still here?”

The voice was gentle, almost amused, and so out of place in the stillness that it made me look up immediately.

Dane stood a few steps away, his hands tucked casually into his pockets, his expression soft but observant.

I straightened slightly, instinctively closing a few tabs before turning the screen toward him.

“I lost track of time,” I answered.

His gaze lingered on me for a second longer than necessary, taking in the faint shadows under my eyes, the stiffness in my posture, the way my fingers hovered just a little too tightly over the stylus.

“Hmm,” he hummed softly, stepping closer. “That’s one way to put it.”

“I had a few things to finish,” I added, already reaching to save my work.

He didn’t argue with that. He just watched me for a moment, his head tilting slightly as if trying to piece something together.

“Something’s changed,” he said finally.

I paused, my fingers stilling over the keyboard.

“What do you mean?” I asked, not looking at him.

“The way you carry yourself,” he replied, his tone thoughtful rather than accusing. “The way you work. It’s… different.”

I forced a small shrug. “I’m just trying to get back on schedule.”

“Maybe,” he said, unconvinced, but he didn’t push.

Instead, he straightened and gestured lightly toward the door. “Come on. I’ll drop you home.”

“Thanks but you don’t need to,” I said immediately, shaking my head. “I have my car.”

“And I have more patience than you do right now,” he replied easily. “You look like you might fall asleep at the wheel.”

“I’m fine,” I insisted.

“I’m sure you are,” he said with a small smile. “Which is exactly why I’m insisting.”

I hesitated for a moment, the instinct to refuse was still strong, but something in his calm and unhurried tone made it harder to push back.

“Okay,” I said finally, shutting down my laptop.

The drive was quiet at first.

Dane drove the way he did everything else, smooth, controlled, unhurried. There was no sudden acceleration, no sharp turns, no restless energy bleeding into the movement of the car.

Nothing like…

No. Don’t go there.

I turned my gaze toward the window, focusing on the passing lights.

“Did you mean it by the way?”  Dane said after a while, breaking the silence.

“Mean what?” I asked.

“Us being friends. You saved me from getting in a nasty deal with your ex, remember?”

I hated how my mind didn’t immediately think of Nate but somebody else entirely.

“I did. You do treat me like a friend, not an employee” I answered automatically.

He smiled. “That’s because you are more like a friend than an employee,” he said. “So if you ever want to talk, I’ll listen. No pressure.”

“The wedding was a mess,” I said after a moment. I wasn’t even sure why I was telling him that. Maybe for him to stop with his guesswork.

He glanced at me then, surprised. “Really?”

I nodded faintly.

“That’s not what the media says,” he added. “They’ve been unusually quiet about it. Just a brief report that it was called off because Lady Aurelia fell ill.”

But after having spent a month in the manor, I could guess that Alpha Alaric would never let something like that leak. Not after the spectacle it had turned into.

Money could silence a lot of things.

“I guess that’s the official version,” I said.

Dane let out a soft breath. “I know what it feels like,” he said after a pause, his voice quieter now, “to be blindsided by people you trust.”

I didn’t respond but he continued anyway. “Honestly, I’m surprised you managed to stay in the same place as Nate for an entire month. If I were in your position, I would have probably killed him.”

A small, unwilling smile tugged at my lips.

“Tempting,” I murmured.

He chuckled lightly, glancing at me again. “There it is.”

“What?” I asked, a little confused.

“That smile,” he said. “First one I’ve seen on your face since you got back.”

The realization hit me a second later. Had I really forgotten how to smile?

I looked away, the smile fading just as quickly as it had come.

“And just like that the smile has been replaced by that look.”

I frowned slightly, glancing at him. “What look?”

He didn’t look at me immediately, his attention still on the road. “The one you have right now. The one where you’re trying very hard not to think about something.”

My fingers curled slightly in my lap.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lied.

He huffed out a quiet laugh. “Fair enough. But I also know what it looks like when someone tries to run away from something by drowning themselves in work.”

My chest tightened just a fraction.

“And I know it,” he continued, “because I did the same thing a long time ago. Believe me, I’ve been there.”