Chapter 20
November
This is my home
Colin
I’m on my way back from Jonathan’s office when raised voices catch my attention, Maya and Margaret.
Again. Ever since Margaret returned from medical leave last week, the tension between them has been constant.
Their approaches couldn’t be more different, and Maya—competent as she is—has never been known for backing down.
By the time I reach them, Maya is explaining, with pointed firmness, that Margaret is still entering data through the old system. Less efficient. Obsolete. Margaret doesn’t budge, arms crossed, jaw set.
“I already told you,” she mutters, “I don’t need shortcuts.”
I step in before the situation escalates any further. “Margaret, I’ll need you to start using the new system Maya implemented while you were away. It’s important we stay aligned.”
The displeasure on her face is clear, but I don’t engage it. I’ve learned that dwelling on resistance only feeds it. Instead, I turn to Maya. “Join me in my office for a moment.”
Once the door closes behind us, I take my seat and fold my hands on the desk. “All right. Have you finalized the preparations for the ADVTECH Silicon Valley 2025 convention next week in San Jose?”
She nods immediately and opens the folder in her hands. “Yes. Everything’s set. The hotel is close to the convention center—not the official one. It’s quieter, with less congestion. You won’t have to worry about traffic.”
She slides the itinerary across my desk. Color-coded. Tabbed. Impeccable. I skim it quickly.
“Good,” I say. “That will make things easier.”
Margaret hadn’t voiced any objection to my decision to take Maya on this trip instead of her. And frankly, she had no grounds to. Maya’s performance has been consistent, her growth undeniable.
Maya is almost out the door when she hesitates and turns back. “I received an email from Mrs. Montgomery. She invited me to lunch this Sunday. Should I accept?”
I meet her eyes and answer evenly. “Of course. The entire team will be there. You played a role in the acquisition—it would be difficult to justify your absence. Or any attempt to excuse yourself.”
She nods, a brief smile crossing her face, and slips out.
That damned lunch.
I still don’t know why I couldn’t convince Ceci to let it go. She insisted on celebrating the acquisition in Atlantic City, and when she looked at me with that soft, perfect smile, I didn’t stand a chance.
Almost two weeks ago, when she stopped by my office, I’d leaned in expecting nothing more than a quick peck.
Instead, her kiss had been pure surrender, quieting the relentless tension in my chest in an instant.
I’d spent the entire morning with a heavy sense of dread, convinced something was wrong, though I couldn’t name it.
The feeling vanished the moment she walked in, simply because she was there.
Because she hadn’t wanted to miss seeing me.
I left work on time that night. For once.
And came home to an empty house. Ceci and the kids out with Mark.
She’s been working a lot lately. Some nights, when I get home late, she’s already asleep. Other times, when I make it back earlier, she takes hours to come to bed, often long after I’ve drifted off.
More than once, I’ve woken in the middle of the night to find her curled on the far edge of the mattress. Only when I pull her into my arms does sleep finally come.
I miss making love to her. But I understand how exhausted she must be.
Once she finishes this article, I’ll make up for the time we’ve lost.
Cecily
My gaze drifts over the pool area. Laughter rises easily, glasses clink, conversations overlap. Everyone savoring one of those deceptively warm autumn afternoons before the cold settles in for good. I’d considered serving lunch indoors, but that would have been too much. I wouldn’t have lasted.
This isn’t easy.
But I need to do it.
I need to see how they move around each other. I need to understand… with my own eyes.
Colin is exactly where he belongs, circulating among the team that handled the Atlantic City acquisition, their families and partners scattered comfortably around him. He looks relaxed. At home in the role he’s built for himself.
Maya didn’t bring a date. What a surprise.
Or maybe not. Maybe the man she would have brought already lives in this house… and wears the ring I slid onto his finger.
The entire afternoon, Colin keeps his distance from her.
He doesn’t brush against her, doesn’t linger too close, doesn’t let his attention stray.
Maya, on the other hand, does her best to remain within the same conversational orbit—shifting subtly, recalibrating her position every time the circle changes.
I can almost see how it began. The stolen glances. The manufactured excuses to stay close. The slow, dangerous pull neither of them chose to resist.
And yet…
That doesn’t absolve him.
If anything, it makes it worse.
Harper pulls me from my thoughts, approaching with an extra glass of wine. Felicity and Oliver couldn’t make it, they’d already promised their kids a show they’d been looking forward to. My invitation was last-minute, and I can’t blame them.
What surprises me most is that Colin didn’t question my sudden urge to host a celebration for one of Montgomery Clifford’s many acquisitions.
In the early years, I did this often. I loved opening our home, playing hostess—even back when we lived in the Upper East Side penthouse his parents gave us.
But as the company grew, so did the number of deals worth celebrating, and eventually it all blurred together.
I haven’t hosted anything like this in years.
He even mentioned it wasn’t necessary.
I just smiled and said I insisted.
He didn’t argue. Didn’t probe. He simply accepted it. And I started sending emails.
My eyes drift across the pool to where Ethan and Alicia sit with my parents. I need them close today. It’s the only way I can keep breathing through the afternoon.
“Look at her,” Harper murmurs, tipping her chin toward Maya.
She’s holding court with three single men and a young couple who can’t be older than their late twenties.
“She can’t stop touching her tights, like she’s auditioning her legs for their own spotlight.
And honestly, a bodycon dress with short sleeves in this weather?
Add that laugh you can hear across the yard, and it’s a full performance. ”
“It’s sunny,” I say quietly. “And the dress isn’t short. Or particularly light.” My gaze lingers anyway. “Still… she is the kind of woman people notice the moment she walks into a room.”
“You’re being generous,” Harper scoffs. “She’s attractive, sure, but the effort leaks out of her, and it kills the charm. And she’s not getting nearly as much attention as she thinks. Half the men here—including your husband, mine, and several others—haven’t looked at her once.”
If only she knew.
The thought settles heavy and unsaid. I file it away with the others and shift the conversation to safer ground.
Colin
I can’t wait for this lunch to be over so I can have Ceci to myself.
Yesterday and today, she’s barely looked at me, completely absorbed in organizing every last detail of this celebration.
Lately, it feels like we don’t even have time to kiss.
Not quick pecks, not stolen moments—nothing that resembles a real one.
My gaze sweeps the pool area, searching for her.
Instead, I catch Maya. Her expression is oddly fixed in the direction of Ceci’s parents, who are speaking with Edmundo from the marketing team.
What is she looking at, Edmundo, or Ceci’s parents?
Edmundo, obviously. She’s only met Philipp once, and I’m not even sure she’s been introduced to Ellen today. Not that I’ve been paying her much attention. Not this afternoon. Not even when she kept trying to edge her way into the conversations around me.
Then I see Ceci, leaning down to kiss Alicia on the forehead.
The sight softens something in my chest, and I start toward them. But Alicia heads inside, and Ceci turns the other way.
My steps falter.
She’s walking straight toward Maya.
My pulse spikes, thoughts colliding all at once. What do I do?
They begin talking. Ceci’s expression is calm, unchanged. There’s nothing wrong in her demeanor. She’s simply being polite, treating Maya the way she would any other guest.
Maya won’t say anything. She knows better. And if I walk over now, it would only draw attention, make it look like I have something to hide.
So I stay where I am.
Watching. Every muscle tight.
Poised to step in at the first sign of trouble.
Maya
Look at him… grandfather of the year, parading his little grandson like a badge of honor. I take another slow sip of my wine.
“It’s Maya, isn’t it?”
Of course. Her timing is impeccable. I turn, schooling my expression into something pleasant, practiced.
“Yes, Mrs. Montgomery. Everything is lovely. Thank you for the invitation, your home is beautiful.”
“Thank you. You’re one of my husband’s assistants. Of course I would invite you.”
The way she says my husband. As if the words alone are meant to draw blood, to stake a claim.
It would be laughable if it weren’t so tedious.
She doesn’t even take proper care of him—if she did, he never would have come to me.
Colin needs a real woman. Someone who understands what he wants, what he needs, how to give it to him without hesitation.
“You seem quite young,” she continues, head tilting slightly as she studies me, a polite smile following the assessment. “You probably don’t have much experience yet. Still, Colin is an excellent professional. He must have seen something in you to trust you with such responsibility.”
This bitch.
Who does she think she is, talking down to me like that, dripping condescension? She doesn’t even have a real job.