Chapter 29
The fight that changed everything started over something trivial–a missed dinner reservation–and escalated into five years of buried resentment exploding across our shared apartment.
This is the fourth fame this month, Felix I said, throwing my purse down on the kitchen counter with enough force to rattle the dishes. “Four times you’ve promised to be home for dinner, and four times I’ve sat alone at restaurants while you handle ‘urgent business.”
Felix loosened his the, exhaustion written across his features. “The Singapore deal is falling apart. I had to take the call.”
You always have to take the call. You always have something more important than spending time with the woman you supposedly love.”
“Supposedly? Felix’s voice rose sharply. “Drielle, everything I do is for us. Every contract, every deal, every sacrifice-”
“Every sacrifice? I laughed bitterly. “What exactly have you sacrificed, Felix? Because from where I’m standing, you got everything you wanted. The company, the success, the respect of your father. What did you give up?”
“I gave up the luxury of parsing research for its own sake. I gave up the comfortable illusion that good intentions matter more than results.” Felix’s eyes flashed with anger. “I grew up, Drielle. Maybe it’s time you did the same.”
The words hat like a slap. “Grew up? Is that what you call abandoning every principle you once claimed to have?”
“I call it taking responsibility. I call it building something that matters instead of hiding in academic ivory towers.”
“So our research didn’t matter? The five years we spent building this company together didn’t matter? I don’t matter?”
Felix ran his hands through his hair, a gesture that used to be endearing and now just looked frustrated. “Of course you matter. You’re my—”
Your what, Felix?” I stepped closer, my voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. “Your partner? Your equal? Or am I just another employee who happens to share your bed?”
“That’s not fair-
Tn’t it? When was the last time you asked my opinion on a major decision? When was the last time you treated me like your partner instead of your
Felix was quiet for a long moment, and his silence told me everything I needed to know.
“You know what the problem is?” I continued, my voice breaking slightly. “You’ve become exactly what you once criticized. You’ve become your father–a man who sees everything, including the people he supposedly loves, as assets to be managed.”
“Don’t.” Felix’s voice was low and warning. “Don’t bring my father into this.”
“Why not? It’s the truth. You’re so busy building his empire that you’ve forgotten who you used to be. Who we used to be.”
“We used to be naive! Felix exploded. “We used to think that good intentions and brilliant research were enough to change the world. Well, guess what, Drielle? The world doesn’t care about our intentions. It cares about results, about power, about who controls the resources to actually make change happen.”
“And you think that’s you?”
“I know it’s me. Reed Aerospace is worth twelve billion dollars, Drielle. Twelve billion. We employ thousands of people, we’re revolutionizing satellite technology, we’re making space exploration commercially viable for the first time in history. That’s not nothing.”
“And what did it cost you?” I asked quietly. “What did it cost us?”
Felix stared at me across the kitchen, and for a moment I saw something vulnerable in his expression. Something that looked almost like regret.
“It cost me you,” he said finally. “Didn’t it?”
The admission hung between us like a death sentence. All the fight drained out of me, leaving behind only exhaustion and heartbreak.
“I don’t know,” I whispered. “I honestly don’t know anymore.”
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Chapter 29
We stood in silence for what felt like hours, the weight of five years of choices settling around us like dust, Finally, Feliz stepped closer, his hand reaching tentatively for my face.
“Drielle, I never meant for it to happen like this, I never meant to lose you in the process of building everything else.”
His touch was warm and familiar, and despite everything, I found myself leaning into it. “Then don’t,” I said. “Don’t lose me,”
Felix’s lips found mine, desperate and searching, and I kissed him back with five years of longing and frustration and love that refused to die despite everything we’d done to kill it.
We made love that night with the frantic passion of people trying to find their way back to each other, trying to bridge the distance that success and ambition had carved between us. For a few hours, wrapped in Felix’s arms, I almost believed we could fix what had been broken
When I woke up the next morning, Felix was already gone. A note on his pillow explained he’d had to catch an early flight to Los Angeles for emergency meetings.
Eight weeks later, I was staring at a positive pregnancy test in the bathroom of Reed Aerospace, listening to Felix’s voice drift from his office as he discussed quarterly projections with someone I couldn’t see.
The irony wasn’t lost on me. After five years of losing myself in Felix’s empire, I was finally going to matter again.
Even if it was only because I was carrying his child.
