“I don’t know anymore, Henry,” he said quietly. His voice was rough, stripped of the CEO mask he always wore. “I thought I did. For years, I thought I did.”
He looked down at his hands, at the empty ring finger where Ellie’s ring used to sit.
“But the person I can’t breathe without… the person whose silence feels louder than any noise in this office… is Ellie.”
The last word came out barely a whisper.
Henry didn’t laugh this time. He didn’t make a joke.
He just nodded slowly, eyes softer than Damian had seen in years.
“Yeah,” Henry said. “I figured.”
Damian leaned back in his chair, rubbing a hand over his face.
“I messed up both of them, didn’t I?”
Henry stood and walked to him, clapping a heavy hand on his shoulder.
“You messed up, bro. But gold doesn’t stop shining just b
