Creed's POVI barely got any sleep over the weekend. Every time I closed my eyes, Yuyu haunted my thoughts—her face, her lips, her damn voice. The way she screamed in victory kept replaying in my head, over and over again.Lying sprawled on my bed, I stared at the ceiling, frustration mounting. What the hell am I doing?I grabbed my laptop, hoping work would serve as a distraction. But the moment I opened it, an impulsive thought crept in. Before I could stop myself, I typed her name into Estergram.A dozen profiles popped up, but none of them were hers.Huh. For someone so extra, she wasn’t plastered all over social media? That surprised me. And yet, I shouldn’t even be looking.I shut my laptop. This is ridiculous.3:44 AM. No man should be lying awake at this hour, unable to sleep because of another human being.Still restless, I made my way to the in-house gym. Stripping off my shirt, I slid on my boxing gloves and started on the punching bag, each impact sending it swinging viole
Yuki’s POV"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Lily asked, grabbing her bag, her brows furrowed with concern.It was my fourth day working with Creed, and I officially couldn't feel my body.He had me organizing and reorganizing files, scheduling meetings, rescheduling them, preparing documents, answering emails, fetching coffee, booking flights, running errands that had nothing to do with work, sitting through his ridiculously long meetings, and—oh yeah—taking notes at the twelve meetings we had attended in the past four days.I just wanted to code. Was that really too much to ask?"Get some rest," Lily said, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "I'll come check on you tomorrow. It's Saturday, so you actually get to sleep in."I mumbled something incoherent, too exhausted to form actual words. My body sank deeper into the couch, and sleep claimed me within seconds.---The next time I opened my eyes, sunlight was trickling through the window.Morning.Shit.I jerked up so fast my
Creed’s POVI ran a hand through my hair as I watched her scan the living room. I had hired one of the best home decorators in New York—someone who worked with A-list celebrities—and yet, under Yuki’s scrutiny, I felt... judged.“Oh, all your billionaire houses, I might just pee my pants,” she said, tilting her head dramatically.I shoved my hands into my pockets and turned toward her. “Don’t you like it, Miss Roman?”She glanced at me before letting her gaze roam again.“Not like it? How could I not like it? This place is...” She trailed off, sighing before finishing, “...everything.”I barely resisted the smirk threatening to form. Of course, she would think that. This place looked like everything—sleek, modern, pristine. But to me, it was a prison. Empty. Lonely. A constant reminder of how broken I truly was.“Let’s get to work,” I said, pushing away the thoughts. “Do you want coffee?”“Oh, yes, please,” she answered instantly, dropping onto the sofa in the least graceful way possi
Creed’s POVI sent off the final email for Evan Tech and leaned back in my chair. That should wrap up my work for today.I glanced up from my screen and froze.Yuyu was asleep.Her head had fallen back against the couch, her lips slightly parted. One arm dangled loosely over the side, while the other was curled up near her chest. Her laptop had slid dangerously close to the edge of the coffee table, threatening to fall.I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck.I should wake her up.Instead, I found myself just… looking, admiring her features.she was not the basic Betty I'd tell you that,she looked feminine and yet masculine like a thin line waiting for one to cross over the other but now in her sleep she looked like a goddess that dropped from the sky She was usually so animated—smirking, arguing, rolling her eyes dramatically. But right now? She looked peaceful. Not annoying. Not stubborn. Just soft.I exhaled and moved closer, carefully reaching for her laptop. I saved her work and
Yuki’s POVThe second I stepped through the door, I stormed straight into my bedroom, kicking off my heels and ripping the wig off my head.My heart was still hammering. My pulse had barely settled, and yet—I groaned loudly, running both hands through my hair before making a beeline for the bathroom.Hot. I needed a hot shower. Now.The water was scalding as it ran down my skin, but it still wasn’t enough to wash away the mortifying memory of what just happened.Creed had a boner.A very, very big boner.And it was my fault.Fuck.My fingers dug into my scalp as I scrubbed at my hair, trying to erase the image burned into my brain.The thick outline pressing against his sweatpants. The sheer size of it. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fucking fair.I clenched my jaw, leaning forward to press my forehead against the cold tiles.Why did he have to be that big? What was he feeding that thing? Steroids? Black magic? It was almost the length of an arm—who the fuck walks around packing something
Creed’s POVBy the time I checked the time, it was already past three. I didn’t want to be late. Zara’s mother wasn’t the most patient woman, and I preferred to keep things smooth when it came to her.I slipped on my black button-down, pairing it with brown pants and a matching suit jacket. Simple, clean, respectable. Before heading out, I stopped by a florist and picked up a bouquet of roses. Mrs. Olive had a thing for flowers, and if I was going to sit through a dinner filled with her passive-aggressive comments, I might as well earn some points first.Zara had left early in the morning, probably to get ready. That woman could spend an entire day preparing for a dinner that would last barely two hours. It made me think back to the first time we met—there had barely been a proper introduction, just a passing glance, yet we had been tangled up in each other’s lives for over eight years now.When I arrived, I pushed open the huge white door. I had a key to this house—after all, I was t
Yuki’s POVI stormed into the office, my black pants hugging my legs comfortably and my oversized yellow sweater adding a pop of color. A little bumblebee pin gleamed near my collar. My outfit screamed I am a ray of sunshine, even though my mood was anything but.Today was my last day working with Creed, and honestly, I was dreading it. The last time we saw each other, things got… complicated.Memories flashed through my mind. I had confided in Lily about it, hoping for some deep, life-changing wisdom. Instead, she laughed until she had to clutch her stomach. Horrible girl pal.Still, I wasn’t about to let anything shake me. I straightened my back, put on my signature smile, and stepped inside."Good morning, boss!" I greeted, voice bright as always.Creed barely looked up from his computer. "Step out of that hideous yellow accident and get started on these folders."I blinked. "Excuse me?"He finally lifted his head, his sharp gaze locking onto mine with the intensity of a firing squ
Yuki’s POVI was determined to win.Jason and I were locked in a fierce battle—a high-stakes gaming bet where the loser had to go beg Madam Olive for a brand-new operating system.There was no way I was losing.The million-dollar system we had was slow as hell and could barely handle the million-dollar projects we worked on. My colleagues had spent the entire morning whining about it, and honestly, I wasn’t ready for another round of their endless complaints buzzing in my ear.Besides, I really didn’t have the energy to deal with Madam Olive, aka The Bull of Budgets.—I strutted into the office that morning, my outfit surprisingly toned down from my usual flashy Yuki style. Last night, I barely got any sleep.Creed was on my mind.What the hell had happened yesterday?What was so bad that it had ruined his mood for the entire day?I shook my head, focusing on the game in front of me. Jason was already grinning like a smug little gremlin.“You ready to lose, Yuyu?” he teased, cracking
Yuki's POVTwo weeks.That's 20,160 minutes. Twenty thousand, one hundred and sixty minutes of pure torture.I'd texted Creed so much. Too much, really. Sorrys I couldn't phrase correctly first, things I didn't have the courage to tell him out loud before, little things I knew he didn't want to hear. I texted anyway, hoping for a crumb of a reply.But there was nothing. No dot. No word. No fucking breath.So I made up my mind. I'd made it up the day everything went wrong—the day everything went in the opposite direction of my plans, like some sick cosmic joke. I was leaving New York. Done. Finito. Finished.Lily hadn't called me for two weeks either. It was as if my world had burst wide open, and I stood in the middle of a great emptiness. Grandpa Roman… two weeks of nothing from him too. Two weeks of not hearing his shaking, bewildered voice, of not chasing after him when he got me mixed up with my mother. Two weeks alone, tearing myself apart, living on my own regrets.I was complet
Creed's POVTwo weeks.Fourteen days.20,160 minutes.I knew because I counted them. Every goddamn one of them.It's ironic that you know exactly how you feel about someone after 20,160 minutes of silence. No calls. No texts. No presence. Nothing. Just a void where they used to be. The only sound was my own breathing and it had started to get under my skin. My house was worse than my head. Clothes scattered everywhere. Empty bottles. Shattered frames. A grime mountain I could barely bring myself to look at — and still, I hung around there, festering amidst it like some wounded beast.I hadn't left for the office in two weeks. Fourteen days. No one had tried calling anymore. No one knocked. Not since the third day when I ripped the doorbell off of the wall and hurled it out of the window. My stubble was heavy. I barely recognized the face staring back at me in the mirror the occasional time I made the mistake of looking.I flopped onto the bed, blankets that smelled like sweat and guil
Yuki's POVI did not know what to do with this. With him. With this. miserable life. Grandpa Roman was bleeding — his hand was slashed open, red spreading onto the floor and Lily's voice disintegrating in horror as she ran left and right. Everything appeared to be unfolding too fast and too slow all at once. The glass, the blood, Suzu's frantic barking, the aching in my chest. My head was an absolute, overwhelming void."Yuki! Grab the first aid kit, now!" Lily screamed.My legs barely worked. I was stuck there, agape, like my brain couldn't wrap around it. Like I couldn't wrap my head around how fast everything disintegrated. One second he was just standing there, screaming at my mother, the next glass was shrouding everything, blood on his wrist, and the fragile reality I was pretending to hold together had broken completely."Yuki!"I jumped and ran for the kit.Lily was pressing a towel over his palm, speaking reassuringly to him but he wouldn't stop struggling, calling out for la
Zara's POVI was furious. No — furious didn’t even begin to cover it. I was livid, seething, burning so hot I thought my skin might melt off my bones.After everything I did, after everything I exposed… Creed didn’t even react.I expected rage. I expected him to throw that lying, pathetic excuse of a human being out of the building. I expected him to grab me by the arm, pull me aside, demand to know how I found out, maybe even slap me, shake me, fire me, break something — anything.But nothing happened.He stood there, looking like a statue, his eyes void of any of the fire I’d always loved seeing in him. There was no anger, no betrayal, no disgust, not even pain. Just a flat, hollow emptiness.It made me sick.He should’ve done something.I stormed into my mother’s office, slamming the door so hard a frame rattled against the wall.“Mom,” I snapped, pacing the floor like a caged animal. “He didn’t even react.”My mother barely lifted her gaze from her tablet, calm as always. “What a
Yuki’s POVI felt heavy. So heavy.Like my whole chest had been filled with cement, and someone left me sinking at the bottom of some endless, dark ocean. I laid there, my back flat against my tiny mattress, staring up at the ceiling like it could explain why everything had gone so wrong. My mind was… nothing. A complete abyss. Blank.I couldn’t think.I couldn’t feel.I couldn’t even see properly — everything looked foggy, like my eyes had turned into glass.It felt like a dream.A dream I’d spent years carefully stacking, one fragile piece at a time, and today it just… cracked.Shattered.And in the fallout, I couldn’t even tell where my heart used to be.Why?Why did it have to go down like this?Why did I let it happen?I planned to run, to leave before anyone really got hurt.I never wanted to break anyone.Not him.But it hurt… it hurt so much because I saw it in his eyes — Creed, that mixture of confusion and betrayal and something way worse — like I wasn’t even human to him an
Creed’s POVHow could I be so goddamn stupid?The question kept looping in my head like a song you hate but can’t stop hearing. It was there in the way my stomach twisted, the tightness in my jaw, the way my fists clenched at my sides like I could punch the thought away.YuYu Roman.What a fucking joke.Except it wasn’t a joke. It was my life. My embarrassment. My shame.He wasn’t a she.Not even close.And the worst part wasn’t the lying — it was how it made me feel. How kissing him felt good. Too good.Soft lips, warm breath, the way my heart had stumbled in my chest like it didn’t know better. Like it wasn’t supposed to feel disgusted. And when his hand had brushed against my cheek — so light, so tender — something inside me had cracked open, a small flicker of warmth I didn’t think existed anymore.And now?Now it felt like filth under my skin.A goddamn stain.I could still feel it.Still taste it.I wanted to throw up.How could you be so blind? How could you be so easy? So… des
Lily's POVThe supermarket smelled of tomatoes, discount floor cleaner, and something sweet baking in the next aisle. I was supposed to be focusing — carrots, lettuce, and a little garlic for Grandpa Roman's soup — but my eyes kept drifting towards the ice cream aisle like a church sinner.I could almost feel the chill tub of chocolate fudge ripple in my hand. One. I could push it into the cart, under the pile of health food. No one would notice. No one had to know.But then my chest tightened.Grandpa.His face flashed before me — pale, confused, his eyes fogging over in those moments when he didn't even know my name. He was declining. The seven hours a day I could care for him between work, errands, and sleep were no longer enough. He needed constant care… and I was failing.I swallowed the guilt and picked up a bag of spinach when something sharp, something intimate hit my nose. A scent. New cologne, with something masculine and citrus notes. My airway stopped.It couldn't be.Not
Yuki's POVThe world shattered.Not figuratively. Not in some poetic, theoretical way. It shattered in hard, harsh, calculating pieces like a glass grenade primed to explode the moment I walked into that conference room.the screen kept flashing A video.My video.The one I made six years ago.Me.In a dirty little room, in front of a shattered mirror with my real voice.With my short hair.With my name.Yuki Roman.I felt my stomach cave in, my chest tightening like a vice. My heartbeat was loud — frantic, erratic, like it wanted to run out of my body without me.My secret — the one I’d carried like fine glass — was smashed wide open, spilled on the floor like blood.I couldn’t breathe.The silence in the room was a suffocating thing. Eyes. All of them. On me.Jacob’s grip on my elbow tightened. His glasses fogged up.Then a voice cut through.Creed.Cool. Commanding. Steady as steel.“Zara. You’ve done enough. Get out.”The whole room flinched.Even Zara stumbled, her confident mas
Creed's POVThe conference room gradually filled — a steady stream of confused, concerned, half-irked employees abandoning their workstations because of one woman's behavior. Zara's voice had echoed loudly through the intercom a few minutes prior, her voice crisp, authoritative, impossible to ignore:"Everyone, report to the conference room immediately. This concerns the integrity of the company and your future. Move."It was the kind of tone that would get your blood cold for a second — not because she was dominant, but because she sounded like she was going to burn the whole building down.I walked towards her, fighting through the growing crowd, my heart thudding against my flesh. Something made the air heavier, and tension wrapped around everyone's neck like a vine. And she was there — Zara, standing directly in front of the main presentation screen as if it belonged to her, her face pulled tight with that same self-satisfied smirk I remembered all too well."Zara," I stated my vo