Pregnant.
High-profile.
Dangerous combination.
Madison, however, wasn’t concerned.
She sat in Alexander’s office, legs crossed elegantly, flipping through a fashion magazine as if the world wasn’t unraveling around them.
“She’ll come back,” Madison said lightly. “Women like her always do.”
Alexander didn’t respond.
He stood by the window, staring at the skyline he once ruled effortlessly.
Something felt… off.
For the first time in years, the city didn’t look like something he owned.
It looked distant.
Unreachable.
“You should focus on the company,” Madison continued, standing and walking toward him. “The media cycle will pass. It always does.”
She reached for his arm.
Alexander pulled away.
Subtly.
But enough.
Madison’s smile flickered.
That night, Alexander sat alone in the penthouse.
The silence was louder now.
He noticed things he had never paid attention to before.
The absence of Olivia’s soft music in the mornings.
The missing scent of her candles.
The way the space felt colder without her quiet presence.
He walked into the nursery.
Half-finished.
A pale blue wall.
A small wooden crib still in its packaging.
Olivia had been working on it herself.
He stared at it for a long time.
Something twisted in his chest.
Unfamiliar.
Uncomfortable.
