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The scent of burnt tobacco lingered in the air, mixing with the faint hum of the air conditioner. I’d lost count of how many minutes I’d been staring at the same document without reading a single line. My pen rested uselessly on the paper, the ink smudged from my fingers.

No matter how much I tried to focus, the image of Alice kept creeping back into my mind.

Her voice. Her defiant stare. The way she’d looked at me this morning before walking away—cold, indifferent, and proud.

That wasn’t the Alice I used to know. The woman who once blushed under my gaze now looked at me as though I were a stranger. Maybe I never really knew her at all.

I sighed deeply and pressed my fingertips to my temple. “Damn it.”

The cigarette smoke curled upward as I stubbed it out in the ashtray. The silence in my office only made her voice louder in my head.

“Don’t act so pathetic. It’s disgusting.”

Her words had struck harder than I expected. They clung to me long after she’d left.

How could three seconds of her voice undo hours of pretending I didn’t care?

I scoffed at myself quietly. Maybe she was jealous. Maybe that was why she acted this way. But even that thought didn’t ease the strange ache in my chest.

---

“Mr. Markston?” My secretary’s voice cut into my thoughts.

I straightened my back, adjusting my tie. “What is it?”

He stepped closer, holding a tablet. “Your schedule for today, sir. You have a meeting with the ambassadors from China in an hour, a private session with Mr. Yamamoto, and a lunch reservation at Moon Bay Restaurant. Miss Lilian made the reservation personally.”

Lilian again.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. The sound of her name irritated me more than it should have.

“Cancel everything,” I said flatly.

The secretary froze. “Pardon?”

I looked up sharply. “You heard me. Cancel everything.”

He blinked. “Even the meeting with—?”

“All of it.” My tone was final.

He swallowed hard. “Yes, Mr. CEO.”

As soon as the door closed behind him, I leaned back in my chair. The quiet returned, but peace didn’t.

What was I doing? I’d canceled a full day’s work because of one woman—one woman who probably hated my guts by now.

Still, before I could stop myself, I pulled out my phone.

Her name stared back at me on the screen.

I hesitated for a second, then hit call.

When she picked up, I didn’t let her speak first. “Alice, there’s a problem with one of your designs. I need you to come to the office immediately.”

A lie.

I knew if I told her the truth—that I just wanted to see her—she’d hang up before I even finished my sentence.

But this… this would bring her here.

I let out a low laugh, shaking my head at myself. “You’ve really lost it, Vincent,” I muttered. “The almighty CEO reduced to lying just to see his own wife.”

---

It didn’t take long.

Within thirty minutes, Alice arrived—breathless, slightly flushed, her hair loose around her shoulders. She looked tired, but stunning all the same.

She didn’t even spare me a glance before demanding, “What do you mean my design’s missing?”

Straight to business. No greeting. No warmth.

I stood up slowly, adjusting my cuffs. “Let’s go.”

Her brows furrowed. “Go? Where?”

“Just follow me.”

“Vincent,” she started, her tone cautious. “If this is another of your games—”

“It’s not.”

Her skepticism was written all over her face, but she followed anyway.

We took the private elevator. Neither of us spoke during the short descent. The hum of the elevator filled the silence between us. I could feel her tension, the way she kept her distance from me as if proximity itself might burn her.

When the doors slid open, my driver was already waiting.

“Sir?” he asked.

“To the restaurant,” I ordered.

Alice blinked. “Restaurant?”

I ignored the question and got into the car. She hesitated for a second, then reluctantly joined me.

---

The drive was silent except for the faint sound of the engine. Alice’s gaze was fixed on the passing city through the tinted glass, her expression unreadable.

I wanted to speak—to ask her if she’d eaten, if she was feeling well—but the words got stuck somewhere in my throat.

Instead, I found myself watching the way she held herself—poised yet guarded, as though she’d built walls around every part of her being.

When the car stopped in front of Crystal Restaurant, she finally turned to me.

“What are we doing here?”

I opened the door and gestured for her to step out. “You’ll see.”

Her confusion only deepened, but she followed.

---

Inside, the restaurant glowed with soft lighting and muted elegance. Gentle piano music played in the background, the clinking of cutlery blending with the low hum of conversation.

I led her to a reserved table near the window, overlooking the city.

Alice’s eyes darted around, uneasy. “Vincent, I asked you something.”

I waited for her to sit before answering. “We’re on a date.”

She froze. “A what?”

“A date,” I repeated calmly. “That’s what couples do, isn’t it?”

Her lips parted in disbelief. “You tricked me into coming here… for a date?”

I gave a slight smirk. “Would you have come if I told you the truth?”

Her silence was answer enough.

“I thought so.”

She exhaled heavily, sitting back in her chair. “You’re unbelievable.”

“Thank you.”

“That wasn’t a compliment.”

I leaned forward. “Then tell me, Alice. What would make you stay without a lie?”

She looked at me, eyes dark with emotion I couldn’t decipher. “Nothing, Vincent. Nothing would make me stay.”

The words cut deeper than I expected. I clenched my fists under the table.

---

The waiter arrived to take our order. Alice barely looked at the menu. “Just water.”

“You need to eat,” I said.

“I’m not hungry.”

I met her eyes, unblinking. “You should eat anyway.”

Her jaw tightened, but she didn’t argue. She ordered something light—a salad, nothing more.

When the waiter left, silence settled again.

She spoke first this time, her voice steady but cold. “You can drop the act, Vincent. You don’t have to pretend we’re some happy couple in front of your employees or your… friends.”

I frowned. “Who said I’m pretending?”

“You don’t even like me.”

My heart thudded once, hard. “That’s not true.”

“Isn’t it?” she asked quietly. “You’ve made it clear where your heart belongs. With her.”

Lilian.

Her name hung between us, invisible but suffocating.

I swallowed. “Lilian and I—”

“I don’t want to hear it.” Alice’s voice trembled slightly, betraying the calm she tried to hold. “You brought me here to what? Show off? Prove something?”

I exhaled slowly. “No. I brought you here because I wanted to spend time with you. Just you.”

She laughed bitterly. “And you had to lie to do that?”

I didn’t answer. Because she was right.

---

She ate in silence, her movements mechanical. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Every flicker of her expression told a story I wasn’t sure I had the right to read anymore.

When she finally looked up, our eyes met. For a moment, the years between us disappeared.

“Why now?” she asked .

“ We can try to live,in peace together ‘

She shook her head. “You don’t get it, Vincent. Some things, once broken, can’t be fixed.”

Her voice was steady, but her hands trembled slightly where they rested on her lap.

I wanted to reach across the table, to hold her hand, to tell her I didn’t want things to end this way. But I didn’t. Because I’d lost that right.

---

Half an hour later, she pushed her plate away. “I’m done.”

I nodded slowly. “Let me take you home.”

She stood. “No. I’ll manage.”

I followed her out anyway. “Alice—”

“Don’t,” she said sharply, spinning to face me. “Don’t act like a husband now.”

Her eyes glistened. The sight of her like that—hurt but refusing to break—made something twist painfully inside me.

“Alice,” I said quietly, “I never wanted to hurt you.”

“But you did,” she whispered. “And you keep doing it.”

The air between us felt heavy.

A cab pulled up at the curb. She opened the door without looking back.

“Goodbye, Vincent.”

I didn’t try to stop her this time.

---

Back inside the car, I leaned back and closed my eyes. Her voice echoed in my head—sharp, angry, trembling.

“Don’t act so pathetic. It’s disgusting.”

I laughed under my breath, though it didn’t sound like laughter.

Maybe she was right. Maybe I was pathetic.

I’d lied just to see her. And yet, all I managed to do was make her hate me more.

But even as I sat there, staring out the window, I knew I’d do it again. Every lie. Every desperate attempt.

Because no matter how much she pushed me away…

I still couldn’t stop wanting her.