After lunch, the walk back to the office felt heavier than the morning. Conversations from the restaurant still clung to the edges of Marian’s thoughts like cobwebs — fragile threads that soundlessly snapped every time she blinked. Elise walked beside them, calm, collected, her presence quiet.
The automatic glass doors parted. Cool air greeted them, along with the familiar hum of phones ringing and keyboards tapping — the everyday rhythm of a corporate battlefield. Marian steeled herself, letting professionalism cascade back over her like armor.
She had survived heartbreak.
She could certainly survive paperwork and polite smiles for two weeks.
But fate was merciless.
“Oh — your boyfriend and daughter are here, Elise,” Gary announced cheerfully, stopping just past reception.
Marian’s
