Chapter 16
Since Ashley left, Max’s world had lost its color.
Yet, business didn’t stop. It couldn’t. Every day, he forced himself to smile, to work, to keep moving forward. Because when he was buried in meetings, strategies and deals, at least for a few hours, he could forget the ache of losing her.”
The nights, though, were unbearable.
He couldn’t drown his sorrows in alcohol–he wouldn’t give his competitors that kind of ammunition. He had to stay sharp, stay in control.
Lying in the cold, empty lounge of his office, the faint glow of his phone screen was the only sign Max was still awake. His arm hung limply over the side of the bed, exhaustion pressing down on him like a weight he couldn’t shake.
He didn’t understand. How had it come to this? Every message he sent to Ashley vanished into silence. No response. No acknowledgment.
Did she really hate him that much? He had explained everything. He had told her the truth. So why wouldn’t she say anything?
For the first time in his life, Max felt truly powerless. He was afraid to sleep.
Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her walking away–her back straight, her pace unwavering. No matter how loud he called her name, no matter how fast he ran, she never turned around. She never stopped.
She only got further and further away until she disappeared completely.”
With a heavy sigh, he pressed a hand to his forehead.
This silence. This emptiness. He couldn’t take it anymore.
Sometime past midnight, Max found himself driving aimlessly through the quiet streets before his hands took control, steering him toward the apartment they once shared.
Since that night–the night he orchestrated their breakup–he hadn’t returned. He had told himself it was for the best, that distance was necessary. But now, standing at the door, he realized how badly he had been lying to himself.
The moment he stepped inside, a familiar scent wrapped around him.”
Gardenia. Ashley’s favorite candle.
Everything was as they had left it. The furniture, the books, the little trinkets she loved collecting. The only thing missing was her. Dust had begun to settle, dulling the once–vibrant space.\
His chest ached as he walked deeper inside. He sat down at the desk, letting his head fall into his hands, his eyes burning with something he refused to acknowledge.”
Then, as he stood, his knee knocked over the small trash bin beside the desk.
A brown pill bottle rolled onto the floor. He froze.}
Bending down, he picked it up, his fingers trembling as he turned the label toward the dim light.
Sertraline.[
His breath hitched.
An antidepressant.
Why?
His mind fought against the implications, but his body moved on instinct. His hands dove into the overturned bin, frantically searching through the discarded contents until his fingers brushed against another bottle.
Paroxetine.
Max’s grip tightened, his knuckles turning ghostly white.”
A sharp, unbearable pressure settled in his chest.
How long had she been taking these? How had he not noticed? What else had he missed?”
“Find them. I want every single one of Ashley’s medical records.“}
The words on the pill bottle had already left his heart raw, each syllable cutting like a blade. But the report that landed on his desk the next morning? It detonated inside him like a bomb, ripping him apart, leaving nothing but wreckage.
His secretary’s voice barely registered in the ringing silence.
“Boss, just days before Ms. Vera left for Puerto Vendaval… she was hospitalized. She collapsed from respiratory failure.“% A deafening pulse pounded in Max’s temples. His fingers clenched into fists.”
No. No, no, no.
Max eyes locked onto Ahley’s admission date to the hospital. The same night he had forced his way into Ashley’s room. He could still remember it vividly–her cold, distant gaze. The way she barely even looked at him anymore.”
That night his desperation had spiraled out of control Drunk reckless and completely unraveling he had nushed too far
1233 AM N
That night, his desperation had spiraled out of control. Drunk, reckless and completely unraveling, he had pushed too far. Said things he shouldn’t have.
And the next morning–she was gone.N
Max stared at the report, his grip so tight the pages threatened to tear. All these years, he had carefully constructed his life, playing a dangerous game just to keep Ashley close.
He had dated women he didn’t love–mere test subjects to gauge his father’s reaction. Each time, the result had been the same: veiled threats, warnings, sometimes worse. One had even ended up in the hospital.
It had only cemented his decision. If he wanted Ashley to stay, he had to be careful. He had to be patient.
Yet in the end, despite all his careful planning–He had lost her anyway.”
A few weeks ago, Juan had started to suspect something about his relationship with Ashley. That was when Max made the decision to stage the breakup–to push her away before anyone else could.\
Looking back on those days, he realized something that made his chest tighten.”
He never saw the signs. He never noticed the signs. Never realized that Ashley’s anxiety had worsened into something far more serious.
The girl who once cried and laughed so freely–when had she stopped showing her emotions around him?
She had always seemed composed, rational and self–controlled. Max had thought it was just part of growing up, a sign of maturity. It had never even crossed his mind that she was suffering.”
Knowing the truth, every cruel word he had said, every time he had pushed her away, came back to haunt him like a knife to the gut.
She left because of him. His hands trembled as he closed the medical report, his breathing unsteady.
These words on a page weren’t enough. They barely scratched the surface of what she had been through.
He needed to see for himself. Grabbing his coat, Max walked out the door.”
Ashley was his. And as the man who loved her, he had the right–the responsibility–to know everything.”
