The rain had been falling for hours.
Emma stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Blackwood Corporation, watching the city disappear behind the sheets of rain. Her fingers tightened around the small velvet box in her hand.
Tonight was supposed to be perfect.
For three years, she had loved Alexander Black.
Three years of late-night conversations, stolen smiles, promises, and dreams about a future together.
And tonight, she had finally decided to tell him the truth.
She opened the velvet box.
Inside was a simple silver ring.
Not an engagement ring.
Not yet.
It was a promise—a promise that she hoped would eventually become forever.
Emma smiled nervously.
"Alexander will love it."
She turned toward the private office door.
Before she could knock, she heard voices.
She froze.
Alexander's voice came from inside.
Cold. Distant.
"You're telling me the merger is ready?"
"Yes, Mr. Black. Everything is prepared."
Emma's smile slowly disappeared.
She knew that voice.
It was Alexander's assistant, Daniel.
She waited for the conversation to end, but then she heard another voice.
A woman's voice.
"Alexander, are you really going to marry her?"
Emma's heart stopped.
She recognized the voice.
Sophia.
Alexander's childhood friend.
The woman who had always been too close to him.
There was silence.
Then Alexander spoke.
"Emma?"
His voice sounded almost amused.
"She's temporary."
The velvet box slipped from Emma's fingers.
It hit the floor.
Click.
Silence filled the hallway.
Emma couldn't breathe.
Temporary?
She pressed one hand against her chest as if she could somehow stop the pain spreading through it.
Inside the office, the conversation suddenly stopped.
The door opened.
Alexander stood there.
Tall, perfectly dressed in a black suit, his expression changing the moment he saw her.
"Emma."
She looked at him.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then her eyes fell to Sophia standing behind him.
Sophia smiled.
A small, victorious smile.
Emma bent down and picked up the ring box.
Her hands were shaking.
"How long?" she whispered.
Alexander's jaw tightened.
"You shouldn't have heard that."
Emma laughed bitterly.
"That's your answer?"
"Emma, listen to me."
"No."
She stepped backward.
"Don't tell me to listen."
Her eyes filled with tears, but she refused to let them fall.
"I loved you."
Alexander stared at her.
"And you knew that."
"I know."
"Then why?"
He didn't answer.
That silence hurt more than any explanation could have.
Emma nodded slowly.
"I understand."
She turned around.
"Emma, wait."
She stopped.
Alexander walked toward her.
"I never said I didn't care about you."
She looked over her shoulder.
"Then what did you say?"
He remained silent.
Emma smiled through her tears.
"Exactly."
She walked away.
She didn't look back.
Not even once.
But as the elevator doors closed between them, Emma made herself a promise.
She would never again give her heart to Alexander Black.
And one day...
He would regret breaking it.