Chapter 5: Boundaries We Pretend Exist

Emma didn’t speak right away.

Jamie was standing so close. Too close. His presence was overwhelming—scent, heat, tension. Her body remembered what it felt like to be wrapped in his arms, breath tangled, skin against skin. She hated how easily her walls started to crumble when he was near.

“You want to keep this a secret?” she asked, her voice tight.

Jamie nodded once. “It’s not ideal. But I’d rather have you in secret than not at all.”

“That’s not romantic. That’s selfish.”

He didn’t flinch. “I know.”

Emma looked away. Her heart was beating too fast, and her thoughts were a whirlwind of warnings and what-ifs.

“This will ruin us,” she said.

Jamie stepped closer until his fingers were brushing her waist. “No, it will save me.”

She closed her eyes. “Don’t say things like that.”

“Why? Because they’re true?”

Emma opened her eyes, met his, and saw something raw there—desperation maybe, or obsession, or love twisted into something harder and darker.

“I’m not your savior, Jamie.”

“Then be my sin.”

She should have left.

She should have pushed him away, thrown the folder at him, and walked out of his condo for good.

But instead, her lips met his like a match striking dry wood.

They didn’t speak as they stumbled toward the living room. She unbuttoned his shirt with shaking hands. He pushed her blazer off her shoulders. Her hair fell free, and his mouth was on her neck, her collarbone, her chest.

It was fast. It was hungry.

They sank into the couch, limbs tangled, breaths broken. His fingers gripped her thighs like he was anchoring himself to reality. Her nails raked across his back, and he groaned her name like a curse.

Later, when the storm passed, they lay on the living room rug, her head on his chest.

His fingers traced slow patterns on her back.

“We shouldn’t do this again,” she whispered.

He kissed the top of her head. “We will.”

She didn’t respond.

Because she knew he was right.

---

By Monday morning, Emma had learned how to fake calm. She walked into the office with her chin high, her blouse buttoned to her throat, and her lips a neutral pink instead of red.

Jamie was already in his office. He didn’t look at her once.

And that was harder than the staring.

Because she wanted him to look. To acknowledge what they’d done again and again—on his couch, his counter, even against his hallway wall. But he didn’t.

Not once during the weekly executive meeting. Not during lunch when he walked past her desk without pausing.

It was like he’d flipped a switch.

And Emma, who’d once begged for space, now found herself suffocating in silence.

---

Lucas appeared around 3 PM.

“Hey,” he said, handing her a coffee from her favorite café—exact order, almond milk and light sugar. “You looked like you could use one.”

Emma blinked. “You remembered?”

He grinned. “You looked exhausted the first time we met. I figured caffeine was your life force.”

She laughed, and it felt good. Real.

Jamie glanced up from his office just then. Their eyes met briefly.

And Emma smiled at Lucas.

Let him see, she thought. Let him burn the way he makes me burn.

“You’re not just here to be charming, are you?” she teased.

“Guilty,” Lucas replied. “But also, I need your help with a few budget files. Got a minute?”

“Sure. Conference room?”

He nodded.

They walked down the hallway, and Emma didn’t have to look back to feel Jamie’s eyes tracking every step.

---

In the conference room, Lucas spread out the files. But before they started, he leaned against the table and studied her.

“You and Jamie,” he said.

Emma’s stomach clenched. “What about us?”

Lucas’s voice was soft. “You two have a history, don’t you?”

She hesitated. “A long time ago.”

Lucas smiled gently. “I see the way he looks at you.”

Emma didn’t answer.

Lucas leaned in slightly. “He’s not the only one who sees you, Emma.”

That made her breath hitch.

“I’m not trying to make anything messy,” he added. “But if he’s hurting you... I just want you to know you have other options.”

Emma looked at him, stunned.

No one had said anything like that to her in years. Not since Jamie.

“Thank you,” she said, voice quiet.

Lucas nodded. “Come on. Let’s bury ourselves in spreadsheets. That’s way sexier than office drama.”

She laughed, tension breaking just a little.

And in that moment, she wondered what her life would’ve looked like if she’d met Lucas first.

---

That night, Emma didn’t sleep.

She thought about Jamie.

And Lucas.

And herself, torn between desire and destruction.

At 1:03 AM, her phone buzzed.

Jamie: Are you with him?

Her heart stopped.

Then she typed back:

No. But maybe I should be.

Three dots appeared.

Then disappeared.

Then appeared again.

Jamie: Don’t.

She stared at the screen, fingers hovering. Then she turned the phone face down.

Let him feel powerless for once.

---

The next morning, Jamie was already waiting at her desk when she arrived. His jaw was tight, his posture tense.

“We need to talk,” he said.

“I’m busy,” she replied, brushing past him.

He grabbed her wrist—not roughly, but firm enough to stop her.

“I’m serious.”

“So am I.”

“Emma—”

“I told you this would get messy,” she said, loud enough for no one else to hear but quiet enough to be dangerous. “And now it is.”

His eyes searched hers. “What are you trying to prove?”

“I’m not trying to prove anything. I’m trying to survive you.”

He let her go slowly. “Meet me tonight.”

“I’m not your property.”

“No,” he said darkly. “But you’re not his, either.”

Emma said nothing.

Just walked to her desk with her head high, but her heart cracked wide open.

Episodes
1 Chapter 1: The Elevator Ride
2 Like He Never Forgot
3 Chapter 3: Paper Walls, Glass Hearts
4 Chapter 4: Unspoken Contracts
5 Chapter 5: Boundaries We Pretend Exist
6 Chapter 6: What Hurts More Than Silence
7 Chapter 7: The Cost of Wanting You
8 Chapter 8: Torn Between Two Fires
9 Chapter 9: Shadows Between Us
10 Chapter 10: Almost Love
11 Chapter 11: The Middle of Us
12 Chapter 12: The Things We Hide
13 Chapter 13: Tasted Like a Mistake
14 Chapter 14: Something Like Peace
15 Chapter 15: No More Maybes
16 Chapter 16: Heat Beneath the Surface
17 Chapter 17: The Edge of Control
18 Chapter 18: A Quiet Undoing
19 Chapter 19: This Love, Unwritten
20 Chapter 20: The Distance Between Want and Need
21 Chapter 21: The Storm Beneath Still Waters
22 Chapter 22: What Quiet Love Looks Like
23 Chapter 23: The Collapse and the Choice
24 Chapter 24: The Men Who Wait
25 Chapter 25: Things We Don’t Say
26 Chapter 26: Shadows and Silver Linings
27 Chapter 27: Unwritten Letters
28 Chapter 28: Tremors
29 Chapter 29: The Night We Forgot the World
30 Chapter 30: Fractures
31 Chapter 31: Crossroads
32 Chapter 32: Unfinished Truths
33 Chapter 33: The Edge of Revelation
34 Chapter 34: The Quiet Threat
35 Chapter 35: The Stranger Among Us
36 Chapter 36: The Godfather’s Silence
37 Chapter 37: Scandal in the Blood
38 Chapter 38: The Reckoning Begins
39 Chapter 39: Lines in the Sand
40 Chapter 40: The Ghost We Buried
41 Chapter 41: Fault Lines
42 Chapter 42: The House That Hurt Built
43 Chapter 43: Echoes of the Past
44 Chapter 44: Blood and Lies
45 Chapter 45: Sin and Silence
46 Chapter 46: Burning Bridges
47 Chapter 47: What’s Left Behind
48 Chapter 48: Final Moves
49 Chapter 49: The Breaking Point
50 Chapter 50: The Full Circle
Episodes

Updated 50 Episodes

1
Chapter 1: The Elevator Ride
2
Like He Never Forgot
3
Chapter 3: Paper Walls, Glass Hearts
4
Chapter 4: Unspoken Contracts
5
Chapter 5: Boundaries We Pretend Exist
6
Chapter 6: What Hurts More Than Silence
7
Chapter 7: The Cost of Wanting You
8
Chapter 8: Torn Between Two Fires
9
Chapter 9: Shadows Between Us
10
Chapter 10: Almost Love
11
Chapter 11: The Middle of Us
12
Chapter 12: The Things We Hide
13
Chapter 13: Tasted Like a Mistake
14
Chapter 14: Something Like Peace
15
Chapter 15: No More Maybes
16
Chapter 16: Heat Beneath the Surface
17
Chapter 17: The Edge of Control
18
Chapter 18: A Quiet Undoing
19
Chapter 19: This Love, Unwritten
20
Chapter 20: The Distance Between Want and Need
21
Chapter 21: The Storm Beneath Still Waters
22
Chapter 22: What Quiet Love Looks Like
23
Chapter 23: The Collapse and the Choice
24
Chapter 24: The Men Who Wait
25
Chapter 25: Things We Don’t Say
26
Chapter 26: Shadows and Silver Linings
27
Chapter 27: Unwritten Letters
28
Chapter 28: Tremors
29
Chapter 29: The Night We Forgot the World
30
Chapter 30: Fractures
31
Chapter 31: Crossroads
32
Chapter 32: Unfinished Truths
33
Chapter 33: The Edge of Revelation
34
Chapter 34: The Quiet Threat
35
Chapter 35: The Stranger Among Us
36
Chapter 36: The Godfather’s Silence
37
Chapter 37: Scandal in the Blood
38
Chapter 38: The Reckoning Begins
39
Chapter 39: Lines in the Sand
40
Chapter 40: The Ghost We Buried
41
Chapter 41: Fault Lines
42
Chapter 42: The House That Hurt Built
43
Chapter 43: Echoes of the Past
44
Chapter 44: Blood and Lies
45
Chapter 45: Sin and Silence
46
Chapter 46: Burning Bridges
47
Chapter 47: What’s Left Behind
48
Chapter 48: Final Moves
49
Chapter 49: The Breaking Point
50
Chapter 50: The Full Circle

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