Chapter Four: Unfinished Conversations

(Ariadne Asselina Ildelfonso's POV)

I had spent years mastering control.

Control over my emotions. Over my reactions. Over the way my past dictated my present.

And yet, Gavyn Del Herrera had a way of slipping through the cracks.

His presence had unsettled me more than I cared to admit.

But I wouldn’t let him see it.

I wouldn’t let him win.

So the next morning, I arrived at the office with my head held high, my heels clicking sharply against the floor.

The project was my priority.

Not him.

Not the past.

As I stepped into the conference room, the air was already thick with conversation.

Bella and Ahsirt were chatting near the coffee machine, while Alexa scrolled through her phone, lazily sipping her drink.

But the moment I entered, Bella’s eyes lit up.

"Yannie!" she called, waving me over. "We were just talking about you."

I sighed, setting my laptop on the table. "Should I be concerned?"

"Actually, yes," Ahsirt said, smirking. "Because someone left this on your desk earlier."

She handed me a small envelope.

My fingers hesitated before taking it.

It was unmarked, the flap neatly sealed.

I tore it open.

Inside was a single note.

Meet me at the rooftop.

I stiffened.

I knew who it was before I even had to ask.

Gavyn.

Ahsirt leaned closer, reading my reaction. "So? Who’s it from?"

I folded the paper, sliding it into my pocket. "No one important."

Alexa snorted. "That face says otherwise."

I ignored them, checking my emails instead. "We have a meeting in fifteen minutes. Focus."

Bella rolled her eyes but let it go.

I exhaled quietly.

There was no point in meeting him.

I had said all I needed to say.

And yet…

Something in me itched to know why.

I told myself I was only going for closure.

That was the lie I clung to as I stepped onto the rooftop, the wind pulling at my blouse.

Gavyn stood near the railing, hands in his pockets, gazing at the city skyline.

He didn’t turn when I approached.

"I wasn’t sure if you’d come," he said finally.

I crossed my arms. "Make it quick."

He exhaled, finally facing me. "Still impatient, I see."

I didn’t humor the small talk. "What do you want, Gavyn?"

His gaze searched mine, unreadable.

"You never asked me why I took this job," he said.

I tensed.

"Because it’s not my business," I replied.

"That’s a lie."

I bristled. "Excuse me?"

His lips curled, but there was no humor in it. "You always hated unanswered questions. And yet, you refuse to ask me the one thing that’s been nagging at you since I arrived."

I clenched my fists. "Fine. Why did you take this job?"

He leaned back slightly, as if he had been waiting for that question all along.

"Because I wanted to see you again."

The words struck like a bullet.

I swallowed. "Don’t lie."

"I’m not."

I forced a laugh. "Right. Because after all these years, after everything you did, I’m suddenly important again?"

"You were never unimportant, Ariadne."

I flinched.

His voice was too steady. Too sure.

But it didn’t erase the years of silence.

The years I had spent alone, picking up the pieces.

"Then why didn’t you come after me?" I whispered, hating the vulnerability in my voice.

Gavyn’s jaw tightened.

"I did," he murmured.

I blinked.

"What?"

His gaze darkened. "I searched for you. I tried to find you, but you disappeared."

A bitter scoff escaped me. "And whose fault was that?"

He didn’t answer right away.

Instead, he reached into his pocket and pulled out something small.

A key.

Familiar.

Painfully so.

I stared at it, my heart lurching.

"Why do you have that?" I demanded.

Gavyn’s fingers curled around it. "Because you left it behind."

I felt sick.

That key…

It was mine.

The one to my old apartment.

The one I had tossed away when I vanished from his life.

"I kept it," he admitted. "Even when I told myself I shouldn’t."

My breath hitched.

The Gavyn I remembered had never been sentimental.

Never been the type to hold on to things without reason.

So why?

Why now?

"Is this some kind of joke?" I asked, voice shaking.

Gavyn exhaled sharply. "Do you really think I’d waste my time playing games with you?"

I didn’t know what to believe anymore.

I stepped back, shaking my head.

"This doesn’t change anything," I said.

"I know," he murmured.

"But you’re still here."

I turned sharply. "Not for you."

A humorless chuckle. "If that were true, you would’ve thrown that note away."

Damn him.

Damn the way he still knew how to get under my skin.

I forced myself to walk away.

But as I reached the door, his voice stopped me one last time.

"I regret it, Ariadne."

The air turned suffocating.

I didn’t turn around.

I didn’t let him see my expression.

Because if I did—

I might not have been able to leave.

I buried myself in work for the rest of the day.

Meetings. Reports. Deadlines.

Anything to drown out the storm in my head.

But even as the hours passed, Gavyn’s words clung to me like a ghost.

"I regret it."

Too little, too late.

That night, I sat in my apartment, a glass of wine untouched on the table.

The city lights flickered beyond my window, distant and cold.

I had moved on.

Hadn’t I?

Then why did my chest feel so goddamn heavy?

I reached for my phone before I could stop myself.

My fingers hovered over Shaun’s name.

The man who had chosen someone else.

The man who had shattered what little trust I had left.

I exhaled and deleted his number.

I wasn’t that desperate.

But the ache in my chest didn’t fade.

I curled up on the couch, staring at the ceiling.

Gavyn had no right to say those words.

To regret things now.

Not when I had been the one left bleeding.

Not when I had been the one who had to pick up the pieces alone.

But even as I told myself that—

I couldn’t forget the way he had looked at me.

Like I was still the only thing that mattered.

And that terrified me more than anything.

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