TWO WOUNDED HEART

Forced Proximity

Chapter 5:

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‎​​Friday’s board presentation had gone impeccably well. The executive partners had signed off on the initial expansion phase without a single objection, praising Victoria and Bryan's seamless pitch. But whatever professional victory they had achieved that morning did nothing to dissipate the heavy storm lingering between them.

‎​By Tuesday night, a brutal late-summer downpour had paralyzed Canary Wharf. Thunder echoed off the glass monoliths of the financial district, while torrential rain lashed the thirty-second floor windows of Vance & Sterling.

‎​It was 9:30 PM. The floor was long deserted, save for the single glass office illuminated on the north corner.

‎​Victoria leaned back against her leather chair, rubbing her temples. Her eyes burned from hours of analyzing raw data for the upcoming Scandinavian client rollout. Opposite her, Bryan was quietly typing away, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, his dark tie loosened at the collar.

‎​A sudden, sharp flash of lightning illuminated the room, followed almost instantly by a deep, vibrating boom of thunder.

‎​The overhead fluorescent lights flickered once, twice, and then vanished entirely.

‎​The entire floor was plunged into darkness, save for the soft blue glow of their laptop screens and the distant, dreary ambient light of the London skyline. A low click signaled the central security locks engaging—a standard building protocol during severe power drops to protect sensitive servers.

‎​"Power grid must have taken a direct strike," Bryan’s calm voice cut through the shadows.

‎​Victoria let out a controlled sigh, closing her laptop screen slightly to save battery. "The emergency generators should kick in within ten minutes. In the meantime, the floor doors are electronically locked."

‎​"So we're trapped," Bryan said quietly.

‎​"Temporarily detained," Victoria corrected dryly, crossing her arms over her chest. "There's a difference."

‎​Silence fell over the room once more—heavy, thick, and suffocating. Without the constant hum of keyboards and cooling fans to mask it, the tension between them became unbearable.

‎​Victoria stared out into the rain-streaked darkness, trying desperately to ignore the quiet cadence of Bryan’s breathing just three feet away. But the forced proximity, combined with the isolation of the dark office, was tearing through her carefully constructed defenses.

‎​"How have you been, Victoria?"

‎​The question was low, soft, and completely devoid of corporate formality.

‎​Victoria’s jaw tightened. "I am fine, Mr. Walter. And as I mentioned on Monday, our personal lives are not open for discussion."

‎​"There are no board members here, Victoria," Bryan said, his chair creaking as he stood up. He walked around the table, stopping a few feet away, resting his hand against the glass wall as he looked down at her. "No David. No clients. Just us. You don't have to keep pretending I’m a complete stranger."

‎​Victoria snapped. The emotional exhaustion of the past week, the sleepless nights, and three years of buried anger exploded to the surface in a single, volatile instant.

‎​She stood up abruptly, knocking her chair back slightly, her eyes blazing in the dim light as she rounded on him.

‎​"Pretending?" she laughed bitterly, her voice trembling with raw venom. "I am not pretending anything, Bryan! You are a stranger. The man I knew three years ago wouldn't have lied to my face. He wouldn't have met someone else behind my back, shattered my trust, and then packed his bags for Scotland like a coward!"

‎​Bryan didn't flinch. He absorbed every sharp word, his dark eyes fixed on her with absolute, unwavering focus.

‎​"I know," he said softly, his voice thick with a pain that matched her own. "I know I ruined everything. I know I broke your trust in the most pathetic, weak way possible. And not a single day in Edinburgh passed where I didn't hate myself for it."

‎​"Then why come back?!" Victoria demanded, stepping into his space, her chest heaving as tears of anger finally threatened her eyes. "Why come to London? Why invade the one place where I had finally built a life without you? Was breaking my heart three years ago not enough?"

‎​"Because running away was the biggest mistake of my life!" Bryan shouted back gently, his voice cracked with emotion. He stepped closer, his hands rising as if to reach for her, though he caught himself and held them still. "I thought staying away would let you heal. I thought I was doing you a favor by leaving. But all I did was run like a coward from the worst thing I’d ever done."

‎​"You cheated on me, Bryan!" Victoria choked out, her voice breaking as the pain of that devastating night rushed back like fresh salt on an open wound. "You looked me in the eye and lied!"

‎​"I made a catastrophic, unforgivable mistake," Bryan admitted, his eyes shining with unshed tears in the shadows. "It was one night of senseless, stupid vulnerability during a dark personal spiral, and it cost me the only woman I have ever truly loved. I didn't come back to demand your forgiveness, Victoria. I know I don't deserve it. But I couldn't spend the rest of my life letting you believe that you meant so little to me that I could just walk away forever."

‎​Victoria stood frozen, her breath coming in ragged hitches.

‎​The raw, unfiltered remorse in his voice was terrifying because it was real. There was no corporate polish, no smooth excuses—just Bryan, completely exposed, carrying the weight of his past sin.

‎​Before she could process the storm of feelings crashing inside her, a loud hum vibrated through the floorboards.

‎​The emergency backup generators sputtered to life. Overhead, the soft ambient lights flickered back on, illuminating the small office in a warm, pale glow. The heavy electronic lock on the office door clicked open.

‎​The spell was broken.

‎​Victoria took a quick, shuddering step backward, creating distance between them once more. She wiped a stray tear from her cheek with the back of her hand, pulling her professional armor back around her shattered composure with desperate speed.

‎​Bryan stood where he was, his head bowed, his hands resting heavily on his hips as he let her retreat.

‎​"The power is back," Victoria whispered, her voice tight and completely drained of energy. She picked up her bag and laptop, refusing to look him in the eye. "I'm going home."

‎​"Victoria," Bryan called out softly as she reached the door.

‎​She paused, her hand resting on the cold handle, but she didn't turn around.

‎​"I am so sorry," he said quietly from the shadows. "For everything."

‎​Victoria closed her eyes, swallowed the lump in her throat, and stepped out into the empty, brightly lit hallway, leaving him alone in the quiet office.

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