Mason


    I sat in the quiet silence of my office, staring at the pile of documents and folders in front of me. My gaze was unfocused as my mind wandered to ces I wished they weren’t in. I blinked a few times, trying to focus, but the words swam together, useless. My fingers clenched around the pen in my hand, but I hadn’t written anything down in hours.


    A knock sounded at my office door but I ignored it, secretly hoping whoever was there would just go away. The door opened


    anyway.


    Daniel.


    “Sir, the investors-”


    “Cancel the meeting.” My voice was hoarse, like I hadn’t spoken in days..


    Daniel hesitated. “Sir Mason, this is important.” I exhaled sharply, rubbing a hand over my face. “I don’t care.”


    He didn’t move. “This is the third meeting you’ve cancelledst week.” I looked up at him slowly. “And?” Daniel’s jaw tightened as he stared at something or someone at the other side of the door and then back to me.


    After a long pause, he sighed. “I’ll reschedule it.” The door shut behind him, leaving me alone in the silence. I leaned back in my chair, enjoying the quiet once more.


    For the past few weeks, everything has been like this. I couldn’t focus. Couldn’t work. I couldn’t think about anything except her.


    Lydia.


    Her name was a constant echo in my mind, tormenting me with guilt. If I hadn’t sent her to jail, then… I tried to move on. I tried to bury myself in work.


    But nothing worked.


    She was dead.


    And I-


    I reached for the bottle of whiskey on my desk. The ss was already half-empty from earlier, but I poured another drink anyway. The burn in my throat was nothingpared to the ache in my chest. The inte buzzed suddenly, and I just wanted to groan loudly.


    I ignored it. A few minutester, the door swung open.


    “Enough.” My mother’s voice sliced through the room and I couldn’t help the way I ticked my jaw.


    I didn’t look up, even as her heels clicked against the floor as she approached my desk. “Drinking in the middle of the day? Is this what you’ve be?”


    I took another sip. “Not in the mood for a lecture.” She scoffed. “Clearly.”


    She exhaled, staring at me like I had something stupid on my face. I felt her staring at me intently, but I didn’t meet her


    gaze.


    “Do you even hear yourself, Mason?” she snapped. “You’re destroying yourself over… Lydia?! A poor orphaned woman who


    Chapter


    betrayed not only you but our family.” My grip tightened around the ss.


    “She got what she deserved.” My jaw clenched and unclenched, hearing her say all of those things about her.


    “Think Mason,” she urged.


    “Lydia was pregnant with my husband’s child,” she said firmly, like we already had a DNA test to believe that. “Do you even understand what that means? She was carrying his son, Mason. Your stepbrother. My husband’s bastard.”


    I swallowed hard, staring at the desk.


    She let out a bitterugh. “I lost my husband because of her, and then I found out that she was carrying his child?”


    I stayed quiet.


    She exhaled sharply. “I was the victim in all of this.” I mmed my ss down. “Were you?”


    She stiffened. “What is that supposed to mean?” I looked up, meeting her gaze. “You hated Lydia from the start.”


    “Because I knew what she was!” she shot back. “And I was right!” I didn’t respond as I had noebacks. She shook her head. “You’re mourning a woman who made a fool out of you.”


    I ran a hand through my hair. “I just-” My voice broke as I exhaled slowly. “I just can’t stop thinking about her.”


    She sighed, softening slightly. “You need to let her go, Mason. She’s dead. It’s over.”


    I closed my eyes, leaning back in my chair.


    Over.


    Over?!


    I didn’t realize I was shaking until my mother stepped closer, her hand resting on my shoulder.


    “I loved her,” I whispered. The words came out rough, like they had been wing at my throat for days.


    My mother didn’t say anything right away. She just stared at me. Maybe she was waiting for me to take it back, to pretend I hadn’t just admitted the one thing I’d been trying to bury since the fire.


    But I couldn’t take it back.


    Because it was true.


    I loved Lydia.


    Even after everything.


    Even after the betrayal.


    Even after knowing she was carrying another man’s-… my stepfather’s child.


    I let out a shaky breath, rubbing my hands over my face. “I loved her so much.” My mother clicked her tongue. “And look where that love got you, Mason.”


    1 flinched. “She used you,” she continued; this time, her tone was serious and hard. “She made you believe she was yours, but she was never yours to begin with.”


    1 shook my head. “She was my wife-”


    “She was lying to you.” My mother’s grip tightened on my shoulder. “She was carrying his child while living in your house.


    Does that sound like love?”


    I swallowed hard, my throat dry.


    “She didn’t deserve your love, Mason,” she whispered. “She never did.”


    She took a deep breath, her tone softening. “I know this hurts, but you need to move on.”


    I stared at my desk, my vision blurring again as tears welled up in my eyes. “You need to forget her,” she said. “Because she never loved you. And she never will. Not in death.”


    Her words dug into me like a de, but this time, I didn’t fight it. Because she was right. I can’t even defend Lydia because she’s guilty of everything.


    The next few days passed by quickly.


    I buried myself in work, pushing through meetings and projects like a machine. Daniel seemed relieved that I was finally getting back on track, but I could see the concern in his eyes every time he looked at me.


    I ignored it. I ignored everything and everyone. As promised, my mother introduced me to someone.


    Julia.


    I barely remembered her from childhood, but she acted like we had been the best of friends. She was polite, well-mannered, and exactly the kind of woman my mother would want me to be with.


    She’s beautiful but I didn’t feel anything for her. But I humoured my mother. We had dinner once. Then lunch another time. Then another dinner. I didn’t enjoy any of it, but it was easier than arguing with my mother.


    And for the first time in weeks, I didn’t feelpletely numb. I felt… distracted.


    That was good, right?


    It really was, until the news broke.


    I was in my office, reviewing a contract, when Daniel rushed in; his facial expression made me sigh. “What now?”


    “Sir,” he said, cing his tab on my desk. “You need to see this.” I frowned, ncing at the screen. I read the headline with lines on my forehead.


    “Young CEO and Billionaire Mason woods Moves On After Tragic Divorce-Possible Remarriage?”


    My grip on my pen tightened as I scrolled down. Lydia’s name was everywhere.


    “Lydia woods, the billionaire’s ex-wife, tragically lost in the prison fire weeks ago, was the centre of a scandal that rocked the woods family…”


    I clenched my jaw, continuing to read.


    Sources close to the wods family confirm that Mason has been spending time with an old friend, Julia Everett. Could this be the start of something new?


    A picture of me and Julia at dinner was stered below the article. From the angle where the picture was shot, it seemed like we were having a romantic moment when all that was happening was me listening to her bore me with her talks about shopping sprees in Paris.


    “Who leaked this?” I muttered. Daniel hesitated. “I-I don’t know.”


    I exhaled sharply, tossing the tab back on the desk. I already knew. There was only one person who would do this. My


    mother.


    I stared at the tab a bit longer, thinking. I sighed and whispered. “Whatever,”


    “Were you able to reach out to the investor?” I asked, and Daniel seemed to need a while to recover from his shock before he replied. “Sorry, uh-, yes, sir-… Yes, we got through to them, and they agree with us.”


    “Alright, that’s good. Schedule a meeting with them as soon as possible. We can’t lose this.” I said in all seriousness as I shifted my attention back to the huge stack of documents I had to go through.


    “Alright, sir, but….” I stared up at him again. “But what?”


    “Sir, I hope you don’t find my question intruding, but… Aren’t you going to make them pull down the news? Or at least try to find out who was behind it?” I stared at the tab for a while before responding


    “No, that’s a drag. At the same time, there was no fake news in that.” I replied, shocking Daniel.


    Yes, I am moving on from Lydia. I’vee to terms that she has died, and even though I’d give anything to see her onest time, it doesn’t change the fact that she betrayed me.


    I have to move on.


    I will move on.