BONDS UNBROKEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Chapter Fifteen

Briella hadn’t stepped out of her apartment since the day she walked out of Marcellus’s office.

At first, she told herself it was only for a few days—a short break to cool her head, to think. But days had blurred into weeks, and the curtains of her living room had barely been drawn.

Papers and unopened mail littered the coffee table. Empty cups, untouched books, and her abandoned laptop sat in corners like silent witnesses. She wore the same oversized hoodie for days at a stretch, her hair tied in a careless bun that fell apart more often than not.

She wasn’t ill. She wasn’t even exhausted. She was simply empty.

Every time she closed her eyes, she saw him—the way he had looked at her with that cold expression, the way his voice had cut through her in front of others, the way he had left her standing alone on the rooftop that night.

Flashback –

Briella laughing breathlessly as Marcellus chased her across the park twelve years ago, Genevieve clapping her hands on the sidelines. He had caught her around the waist, spun her, both of them collapsing on the grass in fits of laughter. “Promise me,” he had said between laughs, “we’ll always stay together.”

Flashback ends.

The memory stung. Briella hugged her knees tighter against her chest. “Why did you change, Marci?” she whispered into the empty room.

Across the city, Marcellus sat in the corner booth of an exclusive club with Christopher. The noise of clinking glasses and muted music filled the air, but his thoughts were elsewhere.

“She hasn’t left her apartment,” Christopher said, his tone edged with worry. “Annabel checked in. Briella’s not even going to the office. She looks… broken, Marc.”

Marcellus’s hands clenched into fists on the table. “Because of me,” he muttered.

Christopher leaned forward. “Then do something. You’re her Chairman, yes, but you’re also Marcellus Cedric—the boy who promised her a lifetime of friendship. Stop hiding behind that cold mask. You came back for her. So fight for her.”

Marcellus exhaled, long and heavy, his jaw tightening. The guilt of the past sat like lead in his chest. He wanted to fix it, but could he?

And then, quietly, almost like an afterthought, he asked, “Chris… what about Genevieve? I haven’t heard from her. Not once since I came back.”

Christopher froze, his expression shadowed.

Marcellus was in his car, driving through the city streets like a man possessed. The steering wheel bit into his palms as he pressed harder on the accelerator, guilt chewing at every corner of his mind.

He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t think. The only thing that mattered was getting to her.

When he reached Briella’s building, he rang the bell once. Then again. Then over and over, each press more frantic than the last.

The door finally creaked open.

And there she was.

....

✨ End of Chapter Fifteen ✨