Link Between Us

Chapter 3 - Colliding Worlds

First-Person POV: Marcus

The following morning, the house felt even more suffocating. Breakfast was a quiet affair, the kind of quiet that wasn’t peaceful but tense, like everyone was waiting for someone else to crack. My father was buried in the day’s papers, pretending the rest of us didn’t exist. Pyson was on his phone, probably lining up another deal. My mom tried to start a conversation, but it fizzled out under the weight of our collective silence.

Ryna hadn’t shown up, which didn’t surprise me. She always had a way of making herself scarce when things got uncomfortable, a skill I envied more than I cared to admit.

After breakfast, Hendrick dragged me out of the house. “Come on,” he said. “You’re not just gonna sit here all day, are you? Let’s go into town. You’ve been gone for four years—you probably don’t even remember what the city looks like.”

---

We ended up at one of our old hangouts, a small café tucked away in a quiet corner of the city. It was the kind of place we used to sneak off to as teenagers, pretending we were adults as we sipped cheap coffee and planned our futures.

“So,” Hendrick said, leaning back in his chair. “What’s the deal with you and Ryna?”

I frowned, stirring my coffee. “There is no deal.”

“Come on, man,” he said, smirking. “You’re telling me you two spent your entire childhood at each other’s throats, and now you’re back, living under the same roof, and nothing’s going on?”

“Exactly,” I said.

He shook his head, clearly unconvinced. “You know, for someone who’s supposed to be good at reading people, you’re terrible at understanding yourself.”

I didn’t respond. There was no point in arguing with Hendrick when he got like this.

---

When we returned to the estate, the first thing I noticed was the sound of raised voices coming from the garden.

“That’s Ryna,” Hendrick said, his expression shifting to something between amusement and concern.

I followed the sound, finding her locked in an argument with my father. They were standing face-to-face, their words sharp and cutting.

“You can’t keep running things like this,” Ryna was saying, her voice laced with frustration. “We’re not going to survive another year if you don’t change the way you’re doing business.”

“And what do you suggest, Ryna?” my father replied, his tone dismissive. “That we hand over control to you? You think you know better than men who’ve been doing this for decades?”

“Yes, I do,” she said, not backing down.

I should’ve walked away. It wasn’t my fight, and I had no interest in getting involved. But something about the way she stood there, so defiant, so certain, made it impossible to turn away.

“What’s going on?” I asked, stepping into the fray.

Both of them turned to look at me, their expressions equally annoyed.

“Your friend here thinks she knows how to run the business better than the people who built it,” my father said, gesturing toward Ryna.

“I don’t think,” Ryna shot back. “I know. And so would you if you bothered to listen for once.”

I looked between the two of them, trying to decide whose side I was supposed to take. On one hand, my father was an expert at digging his heels in and refusing to admit when he was wrong. On the other hand, Ryna had a habit of pushing people too far, too fast.

“Maybe she’s right,” I said finally, surprising even myself.

Ryna blinked, clearly not expecting me to take her side. My father, however, looked like I’d just betrayed him.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, his voice cold. “You’ve been gone for four years, Marcus. You don’t get to walk back in here and tell me how to run things.”

“I’m not telling you how to run things,” I said, keeping my tone calm. “I’m just saying maybe it’s time to try something different.”

He shook his head, clearly done with the conversation. “You two deserve each other,” he muttered, storming off.

---

After he was gone, Ryna turned to me, her expression unreadable.

“Thanks,” she said, though it didn’t sound like she meant it.

“Don’t mention it,” I replied.

She sighed, running a hand through her hair. “He’s impossible.”

“You’re not exactly easy to deal with, either,” I said, smirking.

She rolled her eyes. “You’re one to talk.”

For a moment, we just stood there, the tension between us lingering like the heat in the air.

“You really think you can fix this mess?” I asked finally.

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “But someone has to try.”

There was something in her voice, something vulnerable, that caught me off guard. For all her bravado, Ryna wasn’t as invincible as she wanted everyone to believe.

“Well,” I said, my smirk softening into a small smile. “Good luck with that.”

She narrowed her eyes at me, clearly unimpressed. “You’re not off the hook, Marcus. If I’m going down, I’m taking you with me.”

I laughed, shaking my head. “Fair enough.”

As I walked away, I couldn’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, coming back home wouldn’t be as bad as I’d thought.