It’s edging past office hours—the time when most people have shut their laptops and gone home. But not me. I’m still here, because building a business doesn’t happen on a nine-to-five schedule.

Swatches sprawl across the design table, a few notes jotted in the margin of an open sketchpad. One more thing to finish before I can call it a day.

The bell over the front door jingles.

I glance up, not alarmed. The woman from the bakery next door often brings me an end-of-the-day treat after closing time. I hope it’s a cupcake today. Red velvet with cream-cheese icing would be great. Hers are the best.

“Back here,” I call out.

No reply.

I glance up—and freeze.

He’s standing inside the doorway, the light casting his features in shadow. The broad frame, the dark, tousled hair, the sheer size of him—too big to be anyone else.

My heart stutters in my chest, and I take a step back. “What are you doing here?”

He lifts his hands in a slow, disarming gesture. “I just want to talk. That’s all.”

“No, Tyson. You shouldn’t be here. You need to leave.”

His smile is tight. Wrong. “I’m not here to argue. I just… I miss you. I’ve been going crazy, Mags. You haven’t replied to my emails, my texts, or calls. I didn’t know what else to do.”

How about leave me alone?

“I don’t want to talk to you. This isn’t okay. You showing up here is not okay.”

He flinches but only for a second. Then his expression hardens. “So that’s it? You’re just done? After everything?”

“Everything?” I say, a brittle sound. “You mean the lies? The manipulation? The way you wrecked my life?”

His jaw clenches. “Sebring would’ve come sooner if he loved you. It took months.”

I move around the desk, putting the wide table between us. “I’m not doing this with you.”

“You were falling for me before he showed up.”

I stare at him, stunned for half a second before my voice finds its edge. “No. I opened myself up to the person I thought you were. But that version of you was a lie.”

His jaw tics. “Something was happening between us. Don’t pretend our relationship wasn’t real.”

“My perception of you was based on lies. You manipulated me, Tyson. You made me believe in something that never existed.”

“It wasn’t like that.”

“It was exactly like that. You lied… used me. And now you’re standing here trying to rewrite history like I didn’t learn the truth of who you are.”

He shakes his head, stepping toward me.

“Don’t come any closer.” My voice is firm despite the fear curling tight in my stomach.

“You can’t believe that I would hurt you.”