POV: Xavier
Her question was a blade, turned inward. It didn't draw blood; it dissected, laying bare the pulsing, contradictory mess beneath the steel and Savile Row.
The man who lies about me, or the one who watches me sleep?
In the suffocating silence of the sealed car, the words echoed. They were a verdict, a final diagnosis of a sickness he’d refused to name. He’d been living a split existence. By day, he was the CEO, a sovereign of cold calculus, building walls of denial to protect his throne. By night, in the quiet corners of his memory, he was just a man, undone by the sight of a sleeping woman and the sound of her truth. He’d tried to be both, to rule a kingdom and nurture a secret, fragile heart. The lie had shattered her. The truth had shattered him. He was failing at everythi
