Chapter 3 A PAINFUL REJECTION

Lucien's POV

Valentina Hayes stood across from my desk, looking at me as though she were still trying to understand the man she had spent three years dating. Her eyes were red, her hands clasped tightly in front of her as if she was trying to hold herself together.

"Why are you so cold to me, Lucien?" she asked, her voice trembling. "We've been together for three years. Does that mean nothing to you? Tell me it meant something."

I closed the file in front of me slowly, keeping my expression neutral. "Three years doesn't change why we got together in the first place, Valentina. You know that."

Her expression shifted, hurt turning quickly into frustration. "Our families wanted us together. That doesn't mean we couldn't have made it work. We did make it work, Lucien. For three years, we made it work."

"Maybe you could have convinced yourself of that," I said. "I never wanted this relationship. I was clear about that from the beginning. You chose to ignore it."

She stared at me, wounded, as if hearing it for the first time. Before she could respond, my attention returned to the confidential technology project that had occupied my team for months. Information about the project had been leaked to a competing company, and every trace of evidence had led me directly to her.

"Did you leak the information about Project Nexora?" I asked directly, watching her face carefully for any reaction.

Valentina's face lost its colour instantly, her composure breaking. "Lucien, please. Let me explain. It's not what you think it is."

"There's nothing to explain, Valentina. I have the access logs, the forwarded emails. I just want to hear you say it yourself."

"It was a mistake! I never thought it would go this far, I swear," she cried, tears now spilling over. "They told me it was just for market comparison. I didn't know they would use it to undercut us."

I watched her carefully, my jaw tight. She had known exactly what she was doing, even if she hadn't fully understood the consequences it would bring. That was the part she refused to admit, even to herself.

"You betrayed my trust," I said quietly but firmly, my voice cold. "Not just as a partner, but as someone I allowed into my company. We're finished. Professionally and personally."

She reached for my hand across the desk, her fingers trembling. "Lucien, please don't do this. We can fix this. I can talk to them, I can fix the leak."

I pulled my hand away before she could touch me. "Don't come looking for me again, Valentina. And don't contact my team."

I walked out, leaving her standing alone in my office, the silence heavy behind me. For the first time in three years, I was finally free of a relationship I'd never wanted, free of an arrangement that had felt like a chain. So why did it feel as though something inside me had just broken?

Eliana's POV

The library was almost empty when I finally found the courage to approach Darian Blake. For three years, I had carried my feelings for him quietly, hiding them behind friendship and shy smiles. I had admired his kindness, his intelligence, and the way he helped struggling students without ever making them feel inferior.

I had imagined this moment so many times that I had lost count of all the versions in my head. Some ended happily with him smiling, some ended badly, but none of them felt as terrifyingly real as this moment.

"Darian," I called softly, my voice barely above a whisper. He looked up from his book, his expression warm and familiar, the same look that had made me fall for him.

"Eliana? Is everything okay? You look nervous," he said with a small, concerned smile.

I nodded, though my hands were trembling so badly I had to hide them behind my back. "There's something I've wanted to tell you for a long time. I've been keeping it to myself because I was scared."

He closed his book and gave me his full attention, which only made my heart beat faster. "Of course. You can tell me anything, Eliana. You know that."

I took a deep breath to steady myself. "I like you, Darian. I've liked you for three years. I know this might be unexpected, but I couldn't keep pretending my feelings didn't exist anymore. I had to be honest."

For a moment, he said nothing. The silence was so loud I could hear my own heartbeat echoing in my ears. Then his expression softened, but not in the way I had desperately hoped it would.

"Eliana, you're a wonderful person. Truly wonderful, and anyone would be lucky to have you," he said gently. "But I don't feel the same way. I see you as a dear friend, nothing more. I'm so sorry."

My heart sank, and I felt my eyes sting with tears I was trying desperately to hold back. "I understand," I whispered, even though I didn't understand at all. I didn't understand how three years could mean nothing.

"I don't want to give you false hope. That would be cruel to you, and you don't deserve that," he added sincerely.

I forced myself to ask the question that had been haunting me for months, the question I dreaded most but needed to know. "Is there someone else? Is that why?"

He hesitated before answering, looking away for a second, guilt crossing his face. "Yes. There is someone else."

I swallowed painfully, my throat dry and tight. "Who is she?

"I'm sorry. I can't tell you that right now," he said, his voice low with guilt. "It's complicated, and it's not my place to say yet.

I nodded, fighting back tears with everything I had left. I had wanted honesty, and he had given it to me. I had no right to demand anything more from him, even if it felt like my world was collapsing.

I left the library before he could see me break, pushing the door open quickly and rushing out. Outside, rain poured from the dark sky in heavy sheets. I ran across the campus, barely noticing where I was going, until I reached an empty field far from the lights.

Then I stopped pretending to be strong. The tears came freely, hot against my cold skin, as I sank into the loneliness I had tried so hard to avoid. Three years of hoping, imagining, and believing that perhaps one day he would choose me. And now, in a few minutes, it was over.

Lucien's POV

The rain battered my windscreen as I drove away from everything I wanted to forget. Valentina's betrayal had left me angry, but underneath that anger was something harder to name, something heavier and colder that sat in my chest.

I turned onto a quieter road near campus to avoid traffic when I noticed someone standing alone in the middle of the field. A girl, soaked completely, her shoulders shaking violently as though she had forgotten the world around her.

I stopped the car without thinking, my headlights illuminating her small figure in the rain. For a moment, I considered driving away. Her pain was none of my business, and I had enough problems of my own to carry tonight.

But something about the way she stood there, completely alone and broken, made me reach for the umbrella in the back seat. I stepped into the rain and walked towards her, my shoes sinking into the wet grass, the rain soaking me instantly.

She didn't seem to notice me until I held the umbrella above her head, blocking the downpour. Her tear-filled eyes lifted to mine, surprised and confused, as if she couldn't understand why anyone would stop.

I said nothing, and neither did she. I simply stood there, shielding a stranger from the storm, while the rain soaked through my clothes and ran down my face, washing away the anger of the night.

And for the first time that night, standing in the middle of that empty field with a stranger crying beside me, I wasn't standing alone in the rain.