Delly's apartment

Ray stepped out of Delly’s apartment, his head pounding from both the hangover and the crushing weight of what had just happened. His entire body ached with regret, guilt swirling in his chest like a storm ready to tear him apart. He couldn’t believe what he had allowed to happen, what he had done. The cold morning air did little to clear the fog in his mind, the realization of his mistake bearing down on him like a physical weight.

As he hurried down the steps, pulling his phone from his jacket, Ray felt his heart race. The first person he thought of was Samira. Guilt knifed through him again as her face flashed in his mind—the woman he loved, the woman he had betrayed. He had to get home, had to find a way to fix this mess before it got any worse.

But as soon as he unlocked his phone, a barrage of missed calls and notifications lit up the screen. His stomach lurched. Most of them were from Mike and several other business contacts, but one message stood out—the one from Samira's pa