XAVIER’S POV
The pen left a final scratch across the paper. That was it.
Done. Signed. Over.
The conference room felt emptier the moment Melissa pushed back her chair and walked out without so much as glancing in my direction. The sound of her heels clicking against the floor still echoed in my ears long after she disappeared down the hallway.
I sat there, staring at the stack of documents that had just severed the only thing tethering us together. It wasn’t just a fake contract anymore. It had been my excuse to see her, to stay close to her, to be in her orbit. And now… I had agreed to cut myself off.
Marco shifted uncomfortably in his seat, flipping through papers that didn’t need flipping. “Well,” he muttered, voice strained, “that’s that, I suppose.”
I barely heard him. My chest
