"Delilah," I said. "I canāt change what I did. But I want to take care of you. Of the baby. I wonāt disappear. I wonāt run."
"You think you can just say that and itāll fix anything?"
"No," I said. "But I mean it. I want to be here. Whatever it costs."
"You sound like you think you can have everything," she said. "You want me and them. You want to keep all of it."
I didnāt answer right away. "Itās not about wanting everything," I said quietly. "Itās about not betraying the people who trust me."
Her tone hardened. "And what about betraying me?"
"I already did that," I said. "And Iāll regret it every day. But if I abandon them now, Iād be betraying them. Iād be betraying everything I stood for. Everything I said Iād protect."
"You call that loyalty?" she asked, disbelief heavy in her voice. "Sleeping with them? Lying to me?"
"Itās not loyalty to what Iāve done," I said. "Itās loyalty to who Iām trying to become. They depended on me. I canāt just throw them aside."
She exhaled, the sound sharp and weary. "You want to keep your little āharemā and have a family too? You think thatās something you can balance?"
"I donāt know," I said honestly. "But I can try. I can be here for you and the baby, and still be there for them. I canāt undo what Iāve built, but I can make it right."
Her laugh was thin and shaky. "Make it right. God, you really believe that, donāt you?"
"I have to," I said. "If I donāt believe I can make it right, then Iāve already failed."
The sound of her breathing was the only thing keeping me anchored.
"I hate that I still care," she whispered finally. "After everything youāve done, after everything I know, I still care. And I hate that more than anything."
"I know," I said. "You have every right to."
"You ruined me, Evan. You ruined what we had."
"I did," I said. "But Iām still here. And Iāll keep being here. You can scream at me, hate me, throw me out a hundred times, but Iāll still show up. Because you and that child deserve that much."
She was quiet for a long time. Then, almost too softly to hear, she said, "I donāt want to see you tonight."
"I understand."
"Come back tomorrow," she said after a moment. "Maybe Iāll talk to you then."
"Alright."
I pressed my palm against the door.
"Thank you."
She didnāt answer, but I heard the faintest sound, a small, uneven breath. Then a whisper that almost got lost in the rain.
"I donāt forgive you."
"I know," I said quietly. "But maybe one day."
Her reply came slower this time, tired but gentler. "Go, Evan."
I wasnāt talking out of my ass, these were my real thoughts. Leaving Delilah and going back to Jasmine and the others... that would... that would mean Iād be betraying her.
And, leaving Jasmine and the others for Delilah... that would mean Iād be betraying myself. Like Iād been luring these girls into darkness with a lantern full of false hopes, then leaving them just like that. Taking the light with me.
"Hmm."
I stood there a while longer, listening to the sound of her breathing on the other side. Then I turned and walked down the hall, my reflection trailing me in the dark glass of the window.
It wasnāt forgiveness. Not yet. But it was something.
A start.
āāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāā®
QUEST FAILED
====================
Title: Another one
Task: Persuade Delilah to join
in your harem
Reward: +1 LVL, 250c, 200 EXP
====================
Result: You ruined it all.
ā°āāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāÆ
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My first day at TechForge... and it was boring as hell. I sat behind a sleek reception desk in the executive wingās antechamber, greeting visitors as they filed into Nalaās office. My job? Booking her appointments, checking her calendar, making sure no one double-booked the CEO. It beat pumping gas in the summer heat, at least. The air-conditioning hummed softly, and the view through the floor-to-ceiling windows showed the city skyline glittering thirty stories below. Polished marble floors, abstract art on the walls, and the faint scent of expensive coffee from the break room down the hallāeverything screamed money.
Two men stepped out of the elevator and strode toward my desk. Marcus Hale and Victor Hale. Brothers, supposedly, but they looked nothing alike.
"Hey," Marcus flashed a practiced smile. "Nala in?"
"Yep," I answered, forcing my own grin. "Go right ahead."
"Thanks," Victor said. "Congrats on the gig, by the way."
"Yeah, thanks. Hope things keep climbing for the company."
"Sheās got big shoes to fill after Guy," Marcus added, eyes glinting.
Marcusāthe one gunning for the CEO chair himself. I wasnāt about to bite. Day one, no reason to get canned. I just leaned back and shrugged.
"I trust her."
"For real, brother," Victor laughed. "You stepped up knowing Nala was next in line?"
"I tried," Marcus shot back. "Unlike you, I didnāt tuck tail and wait for handouts."
"Shut up," Victor rolled his eyes. "Weāll give you a headache with this, Evan. Letās see Nala."
"Go for it. Tell her I said hi."
"Will do, coffee-shop guy," Victor grinned.
"She really told... everyone?" I muttered. "How does the whole building know where we met?"
"Gossipās the top sport here, Evan Henrik Marlowe," Victor said, locking eyes. "Thatās how you survive."
"How do you know my middle name?"
"I vet everyone." He tapped his temple. "Everyone."
"Paranoid?"
"Prepared."
"Respect."
"See you, Evan." He clapped Marcus on the shoulder. "Letās roll."
They knocked on Nalaās frosted-glass door and slipped inside. I leaned forward, catching a glimpse of frantic gestures and urgent voicesālike the companyās fate hung on every word. I exhaled, spun my chair back to the desk, and checked the clock. Eight more hours. This job was a godsend, honestly. But the people? Elite didnāt mean better. Just richer assholes with background checks.
Iād take dumb gas-station jerks over these any day.
"Ugh..."
I grabbed my phone and unlocked it, thumb hovering over Delilahās name. One ring. Two. Three. Four. Nothing.
I stared at the screen, the call dying in my hand. "Come on," I muttered. "Pick up."
She didnāt.
I tossed the phone onto the table, leaned back in the chair, and stared at the ceiling. My heartbeat was loud in my ears. Of course she wouldnāt answer. What was I expecting? She had every reason to block me forever.
But she was pregnant. With my kid.
The thought didnāt fit inside my head. It sat heavy, like a brick dropped on my chest. My best friendās mother. In Ivyās bed. The kind of mistake that eats you alive in slow motion.
I rubbed my face with both hands until I saw spots. There was no way to rewind it. No way to fix it. Iād been reckless, desperate for comfort, drowning in something that didnāt even feel like me anymore.
A few minutes later, both Hale walked out of one of the rooms. Both gave me a short nod before leaving for the elevator. I nodded back automatically, eyes still on my phone. The door closed behind them.
Silence. Only the hum of the city through the glass.
I called Delilah again. No answer. Straight to voicemail. I didnāt even wait for the tone before ending it.
"Evan?" Nalaās voice drifted from the hallway. "Could you come here for a second, please?"
I sighed and stood up. "Yeah, one sec."
She met me at the door of her office, holding it open with one hand. When I stepped inside, I had to pause for a moment.
The place didnāt look like an office so much as a designer showroom. The floor was polished dark wood, shining enough to catch the reflection of the city lights bleeding through the glass walls. A wide desk sat near the center, papers stacked neatly on one side, two monitors glowing a soft blue on the other. Behind her, the skyline stretched across the floor-to-ceiling window, blurred by rain and streaked with the neon glow from the streets below.
There was a faint smell of coffee and perfume in the air, something floral mixed with the scent of paper and ozone from the rain. A few framed photos lined the shelf, her and the team at some event, a group shot at the convention, one of her standing in front of a TechForge banner, smiling like she actually believed in the company back then.
Even the furniture looked like it cost more than my old apartment, minimal, clean, expensive. The kind of place meant to impress anyone who walked in. I felt like I shouldāve been wearing a suit just to stand there.
For a second I just stood there, not knowing where to put my hands. I didnāt belong in rooms like this.
Nala sat at the edge of a small table near the window, her posture straight but calm. "You seem to be out of it," she said. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah, just... you know, first day at work." I forced a smile. "A little anxious."
"Iāve seen you checking your phone every two minutes." She tilted her head. "You waiting for something?"
"Nah," I said, waving it off. "Just checking the news, you know?"
Her mouth quirked. "The girls told me you say āyou knowā a lot when you lie."
That made me pause. "They did?"
She nodded once. "Are you lying, Evan?"
Well... shit.