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Lilith wanted to slap herself. Hard.

Why hadn't she realized it sooner? How had she not realized who she was talking to? The weight of her mistake settled in her stomach like a stone. She whispered an embarrassed, "Oh."

For a second, she thought—maybe this wasn't so bad.

Valentinahadn't told her to leave the moment she saw her.

In fact, she had let her in, let her look around.

And now that she had revealed she was the CEO, it didn't seem like the worst thing in the world.

If anything, Lilith had half-expected someone in her position to be colder, harsher, but Valentina had played along for a while.

Maybe she wasn't as intimidating as she seemed.

Then Valentinaspoke again.

"So, tell me," her voice had lost that earlier playfulness, turning precise, cool—effortless authority settling into place. "What exactly are you doing here, wandering around like a lost puppy?"

The playful woman she'd thought she'd been dealing with was gone, replaced by the CEO—the one who didn't waste time on trivialities.

The shift was undeniable. A moment ago, she had convinced herself that this wasn't a big deal.

That maybe Valentina wasn't the kind of CEO who cared about things like this.

But now, faced with the weight of that steady, assessing gaze, she realized she might have been wrong.

The air between them felt heavier, colder. This wasn't just casual amusement anymore. It was a warning. A reminder of the power balance between them.

She swallowed, her voice coming out small. "I... I'm waiting for my brother." Regret washed over her. She should have just waited in the hall for Oscar.

One perfectly shaped brow lifted. "And who might that brother of yours be?"

Lilith swallowed, feeling absurdly small under Valentina's gaze. "Oscar."

That got woman's attention. Her sharp eyes flickered with something unreadable before she echoed, "Hawthorne?

" This time, she took a closer look, as if reassessing Lilith entirely.

Her gaze lingered on Lilith's blue eyes, as if she had seen them before.

Now, faced with the undeniable resemblance, the connection clicked into place.

Lilith nodded awkwardly. She never felt entirely at ease around people like Valentina —people with authority, presence, and confidence she could never quite reach.

The kind of people who always seemed so sure of themselves while she felt like she was constantly second-guessing her every move.

And now, standing under Valentina'sscrutinizing gaze, that familiar feeling of inadequacy settled over her.

"I should suggest to your brother that he needs to teach his sister not to wander around places she doesn't belong—especially my office." Valentina'swords were precise, clipped, each syllable hitting its mark.

Lilith prayed she wouldn't actually mention this to Oscar. She would never hear the end of it.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, barely above a whisper.

Valentina didn't respond. She merely lifted a hand and pointed towards the door.

She didn't even need words—just a single motion, and the command was clear.

Lilith knew that Valentinawas someone people obeyed without question.

It wasn't just her position; it was the way she carried herself, the way authority draped over her like a second skin.

Lilith turned quickly, eager to escape, but in her haste, her bag brushed against a nearby table. The motion sent a delicate vase crashing to the floor. The sound of shattering porcelain echoed through the office as water spilled onto the floor, deep red roses scattered in the mess.

Lilith froze, heart pounding.

Just when she thought things couldn't get any worse.

A slow breath left Valentina'slips, not shocked or angry, but undeniably exasperated.

Not because of the broken vase—something like that could be cleaned up in seconds—but because of the sheer inconvenience of it.

She didn't have time for small, irritating things like this.

Lilith could see it in the way her jaw tensed, the way her fingers twitched at her side as if resisting the urge to rub at her temples.

The last thing ValentinaSalvatore needed was some girl wasting even another second of her time.

Lilith dropped to her knees, hands hovering over the shards before carefully picking up the broken pieces.

The sharp edges dug into her soft fingertips, thin lines of red beading against her pale skin, but she barely registered the sting.

With her other hand, she gathered the roses, cradling them against her chest, their petals trembling from the unsteady grip of her fingers.

Water from the shattered vase soaked into the fabric of her sleeves.

It was almost pathetic—the way she scrambled to fix the mess, as if she could undo what had already happened.

As if gathering the broken pieces would somehow erase the fact that she had caused this in the first place.

"Stand up," The woman'svoice cut through the silence, firm, unwavering.

Lilith hesitated, fingers tightening around the stems before reluctantly obeying. She let the broken glass slip from her hands, the roses falling back onto the floor in a defeated heap. She didn't dare to meetValentina'sgaze.

And then—

A soft, deliberate crunch.

Lilith's breath hitched as she saw the sharp point of Valentina's expensive heel press down onto the scattered roses.

The delicate petals crumpled beneath her weight, their deep red bleeding into the floor like something lifeless, discarded.

The stem snapped under the pressure, its fragility no match for the effortless finality of the gesture.

She hadn't kicked them aside. She hadn't stepped over them. She had ground them into the floor—without hesitation, without care.

The sight struck Lilith harder than she expected. Just moments ago, she had wanted to slap herself, humiliated by her own obliviousness. Now, it felt like she had actually received that slap—not physically, but in a way that was probably much worse.

A slow, heavy silence settled between them beforethe womanexhaled sharply, as if exhausted by the entire exchange. "Just leave already."

?

The car ride was quiet.

Lilith sat stiffly in the passenger seat, staring out the window as the city lights blurred past. Oscar wasn't saying anything, but she could feel it—that quiet kind of tension, the way he kept glancing at her like he was waiting for her to speak first. She wasn't good at hiding things, not from the people who knew her well, and Oscar did know her well.

He just didn't always know what to do about it.

She always felt the weight of small things too deeply.

Embarrassment clung to her like a second skin, refusing to fade as quickly as it did for other people.

It was normal to have awkward moments, to say the wrong thing, to trip over your own feet in front of someone important.

Most people could shrug it off, laugh about it, move on.

But Lilith wasn't most people. For her, these moments burrowed under her skin, replaying in her mind like a punishment she couldn't escape.

She could never just let it go. She always had to do something—anything—to make herself forget, to drown out the feeling.

Some might call her dramatic, but to her, it was survival.

"You good?" Oscar finally said, not looking at her this time.

Lilith swallowed. She forced herself to nod, a small, dismissive movement. "Yeah. Just tired."

It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the truth either.

Humiliation sat heavy in her chest, pressing against her ribs, curling in her stomach like something she couldn't shake off. She could still hear Valentina's dismissive voice. Could still see the crushed roses, the broken glass, the way she had stood there, small and exposed.

And in moments like this, she missed Gabrielle.

Gabrielle couldn't always relate to the things Lilith struggled with—couldn't always understand why something so small could leave her feeling raw and exposed—but that never mattered.

Lilith felt comfort in just being with her, in existing beside someone who never made her feel like she had to explain herself.

She was probably her favorite person in the world.

But Gabrielle wasn't here.

And Lilith?

She wished she weren't either.

She could be at home, buried under her blankets, where the weight of embarrassment wouldn't feel so suffocating. Out losing herself in mindless conversations, making bad decisions—drinking too much, smoking until the edges of her thoughts blurred, anything to drown out the way she felt right now.

But instead, she was here, trapped in the car, heading to a family dinner she had no patience for, sitting beside the one person who could probably tell something was off, even if she refused to say a word about it.

?

The dinner was surprisingly going well, considering everything that had happened earlier. The conversations were light, nothing too heavy, just the usual banter. Her brother made a few jokes, her dad talked about work, Oscar's girlfriend was as lovely as always.

But then her dad's voice broke through the easy conversation.

"Your mother called," he said casually, looking up from his plate.

The words landed like a blow.

The moment they left his mouth, everything shifted.

It was like the weight of the entire day came crashing down on her at once.

The humiliation, the frustration, the nagging feeling that something was off—it all coalesced in that single sentence.

Hearing her mom's name, her mom's voice, felt like the breaking point of everything Lilith had tried to hold together.

Her father's words were the trigger, snapping the fragile thread she'd been holding onto all night.

The weight of the day, which had already felt heavy enough, suddenly grew unbearable.

She'd been awake for what felt like forever, fighting through hours at the university, pretending to have it together, navigating through that humiliating situation at the company—and now, here she was, trapped in yet another moment where she just had enough.

It was too much. She was too tired.

Exhausted in a way that felt deeper than just physical fatigue. It was the exhaustion of trying so hard to hold it all together, pretending everything was fine when it never quite was.

She felt drained, emotionally wrung out, and the worst part was that there was no real place to let all of it go. No one to talk to, no easy way to release it. All she had left was the same old routine she always turned to when things got hard.

Because whenever Lilith's mother called, it was never something good.