Part 2You Loved Her While I Slept

Half an hour later, Preston pushed through the front door, chest heaving.

He dropped to a crouch in front of the sofa where I sat, his eyes swimming with guilt and a jagged kind of agony. He stayed like that for a long time before his voice scraped through the quiet room.

"I'm so sorry, Margot. I..."

"After you got hurt, it was just too much. I couldn't breathe in this apartment. Every time I closed my eyes, I could see you standing in the kitchen, arguing with me over paint swatches."

He gently took my hands in his, then pulled me into his chest.

It sounded like a promise, but it felt like he was trying to convince himself.

"Tomorrow, I'll take you to the firm. I'm going to be with you, Margot. We'll get back the five years we lost. Together."

I buried my face in his collar. And then I smelled it. The faint, clinging scent of vanilla perfume.

It hit me then—this was the first time he had hugged me since I woke up.

The next morning, Preston drove us to the office, filling the silence with disjointed updates about how the business had grown.

His phone buzzed incessantly. He had shed every ounce of the green, idealistic kid I once knew, replaced by a man who could effortlessly navigate high-stakes calls and schmooze with anyone.

Preston and I had dominated our law school class, taking the top two spots for three consecutive years. After passing the bar, we scraped together everything we had with a few friends to start Apex Law.

Back then, we were crammed into a drafty, repurposed loft above a bakery. I had handwritten our firm’s name on a piece of cardstock for the door.

I remember how bright Preston's eyes were the day he taped that paper up. He had squeezed my hand and whispered, "We're going to go so far, Margot. I promise."

Now, I was standing in a gleaming, glass-walled skyscraper downtown, staring at a brushed steel logo and a sea of faces I didn't recognize.

I finally understood. Everyone had kept walking.

I was the only one still trapped in the past.

Preston ran a hand through my hair. "When we moved into this space, I kept an office entirely empty for you. I knew God wouldn't be that cruel to me. And I was right. You're back."

But as we turned the corner toward the corner office, the door was propped open, and three people were actively moving boxes inside. Preston’s face darkened.

"What the hell is going on in here?"

Lily, clutching an armful of case files, froze. A young, round-faced paralegal beside her chimed in defensively, "You told Lily she could have this office last week, Preston. Did you forget?"

Lily’s face drained of color. She looked at him with wide, wounded eyes.

Preston looked away from her, his voice turning to ice. "Margot is back. This office is hers."

Lily’s voice trembled, cracking with a suppressed sob. "But why? You promised me..."

"There is no why," Preston cut her off, his tone brutal. "You're the one who begged and scraped to stay at Apex, Lily. If you don't like how I run things, you can pack up and get the hell out."

Lily clapped a hand over her mouth and ran out of the office in tears. The young paralegal stamped her foot in outrage.

"You know what, boss? We all see how much Lily does for you. How much she cares. You cross the line sometimes. You break her heart for absolutely no reason."

The girl shot me a venomous glare, then chased after Lily.

I watched Preston’s body react. His foot shifted, an involuntary reflex to go after her. He forced himself to stay planted, but his right hand balled into a tight fist at his side.

The remaining strangers in the hallway stared at me, their eyes heavy with undisguised resentment.

They didn't say a word, but the silence screamed at me.

I dug my nails into my palms, fighting the urge to yell at them. I was just taking back what was rightfully mine. Why was I being looked at like a home-wrecker?

I looked up at Preston's tense, miserable face. "Where's Harper? And Nolan?"

The atmosphere in the hallway instantly plummeted. Preston’s jaw worked for a long moment before he answered.

"Harper and Nolan left Apex. They opened their own firm a while ago."

"I... I texted them that you're awake. We're all getting dinner tonight." He looked down at me, his eyes avoiding mine. "Stay in here and rest, Margot. I need to go handle something."

He turned and strode briskly down the hall in the direction Lily had run.

I stood alone in the center of the massive, beautiful office. I walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows and let out a bitter, hollow laugh.

No wonder Lily wanted this room so badly. The view was spectacular. So spectacular, in fact, that looking straight down into the rain-slicked plaza below, I had a perfect vantage point.

I could see a man and a woman down there, entangled in a desperate, emotional embrace.

They looked incredibly familiar.