of days began to all merge into one. After Nyla had landed back in New York, the first thing she'd done was crack open a bottle of the most expensive white wine in her collection— the Domaine Leflaive Batard Montrachet. Although the price tag of six-thousand dollars did little to make her feel better, the hints of lemon and hazelnut did get her drunk. She'd long shut off her phone after receiving multiple calls from Darius and a couple of more texts—she had nothing left to say to him.

She'd barred her soul, loved him more than anyone in her life, trusted him more than anyone in her life and it had all been for nothing. He didn't give a shit about her, didn't respect her enough as a businesswoman to cut a deal in front of her. Instead, he used dirty tactics to manipulate her to get what he wanted. As she stumbled into the bar stool, still wearing the gorgeous Elli Saab dress she'd worn five hours prior she suddenly couldn't stand the dress.

A sense of itchiness crawled out of her body and she was having a hard time breathing. She needed to get out of the dress. The zipper was in the back and so she struggled but nothing was happening. Nyla opened the cabinet and took the kitchen shears before she hysterically began cutting way the dress.

The dress slipped from her body and strands of midnight silk fell to the ground. Nyla watched as tears soaked the fabric and she reached her hand to brush away the tears. She didn't know when she starred crying, but the tears began to flow uncontrollably. She slipped to the ground, wearing only the black lingerie she'd brought earlier, hoping to show Darius later on.

Clutching her chest, she continued crying. Her heart hurt, it fucking felt as though it was broken. Nyla had never experienced such pain before. She would never see Darius smile, or feel his sweet kisses. She wouldn't get to argue with him about the best stocks to invest in or watch him love his cat. It was all gone, in the blink of an eye.

She laid on the cool marble floor and closed her eyes. Sleep came faster to her then she expected.

♠♠♠♠♠♠

The pair of sunglasses did little to hide the redness of Nyla's eyes. Nevertheless, she stepped onto the C-suite floor and we immediately approached by Hyeon.

"I thought you were in Houston for a couple of more days."

Nyla took a large sip of her green tea before answering. "I was," she smiled tightly. "But I decided to come earlier."

Hyeon looked at her for a heartbeat longer before she began listing the things that they'd done in her absence. It seemed like everything had gone smoothly.

"Did you receive the signed documents for the PR release?"

Hyeon nodded. "The PR team was going to put it out today—"

"Just tell them to hold it on a bit longer." Nyla responded, swinging open the door to her office.

"There is a meeting at G-Health today. George was supposed to go, but I'm assuming that you're going to take his place?"

Nyla paused mid-sentence. Her throat clenched at the sound of Darius' company. "No, I have some catching up to do. Tell George to just come visit me when he's back."

Hyeon looked at her a bit longer, opening her mouth to say something but then shut it once again. As she approached the door, she swung back around, "Is everything okay? Something seems off about you."

Nyla didn't both looking up from her computer screen. She knew Hyeon would be able to read her relatively well.

"Everything okay," she didn't say more.

Hyeon waited a few seconds by the door before shutting it close. Nyla ignored the pounding headache she had. Drinking late at night obviously wasn't her best choice of action and she should have stayed home. However, Nyla knew that if she had, she would be wasting her time thinking of Darius.

She had a successful company to run—there was no time for heartbreak.

For the next few hours Nyla was absorbed in her work. She was overlooking the plans for the carnival which was supposed to be held two weeks later. Her heart ached as she remembered that is what brought them together in the first place. But she also knew that this was for the kids, and to give them memories that would last them a lifetime.

A loud knock disturbed her from the floors plans and she called out come in absentmindedly.

"What happened with Darius?"

Nyla looked up from her computer screen to see George standing at the door impatiently tapping his foot.

"Nothing happened." It wasn't the truth, but Nyla wasn't exactly rushing to share her heartbreak with the entire world.

"Then why was he staring at the door the entire meeting, expecting someone else to show up after I did."

Nyla shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe he was waiting for one of his assistants to bring a report or something."

George's eye's bore into her. "He also cornered me after the meeting to ask me to pass on a message."

Nyla's heart leaped but she maintained her face. "Which is?"

"To answer his calls so he can get an explanation from you. Apparently, Joseph didn't tell him much."

Nyla internally smiled. She knew she liked Joseph from the moment she met him and for him to keep her secret was a big deal. He was the only one who'd been at the mansion when she'd arrive and began stuffing things into her luggage. To his credit, he merely asked her if she was sure and when she'd given him a sad nod, he'd handled the rest—even giving her another bag of the sweet lemon drops she'd received before.

George still stood at her doorway waiting for her to answer.

"Tell him I'll answer the phone when I need to. I don't have time to be associating with certain individuals."

George looked extremely annoyed at her response. "I don't have time to play messenger between the two of you."

"Then don't."

George watched her expression for a moment before his tone soften a notch. "I just hope that whatever the two of you are fighting about, it doesn't come into the workplace. There's a reason why they say not to mix pleasure and business together."

Nyla clenched her jaws. "It won't," she responded. "I'm not an idiot George, have some faith in me. Iron clad contracts have been signed to ensure that no party thinks about walking away."

"Good," George responded. He didn't say more, choosing to leave her office instead.

♠♠♠♠♠♠

Just as Nyla finished brushing her teeth, her phone beeped once more. She spit out the minty toothpaste before gently washing her skin with warm water and applying a night serum. The glow from her phone refused to go and so when she climbed into her bed, she pressed her voicemail button.

Her voicemail was full.

Darius had clogged it up with his messages and because Nyla hadn't deleted or listened to any of them, she could not longer receive any messages and that was a problem. Often there were times where Nyla missed a call from an important supplier or distributor and so she needed to listen back to the messages.

Her phone lay in her hands and before Nyla could stop herself, she pressed the play button.

"Where are you Nyla? Why aren't you answering your phone? I saw you a few minutes ago talking to Marcus and you haven't come back to the hall. Dinner is starting soon, and your chair is still empty. Please tell me where you are."

Nyla deleted the message. It had been four days since she'd heard Darius' voice and it hurt to hear the smooth butter voice that had whispered sweet words to her. She wanted to throw her phone across the wall and not hear the rest, but she needed her mailbox empty. She didn't want to delete his messages either.

"I talked to Marcus, he told me what the two of you were discussion. Fuck Nyla, I'm sorry. I didn't know you then so I did what I could do get the deal. Just come back, my mother is asking questions now."

Nyla deleted that message as well. She wasn't as hurt about him going behind her back as much as she was about him continuing to lie about it. He did everything he could to stay away from Marcus so she wouldn't figure it out. Also, she doubted that Darius' mother cared about where she was that night. That women did not like her, and it didn't take a psychic to figure that out.

Suddenly, Nyla didn't have the strength to listen to the rest of the voicemails. What more could Darius say to convince her that he was sorry? Was he even sorry? The vitamin line was turning out to be the most profitable line in the business and so she was sure that monetary value it presented was much more important to him.

Delete the rest of his voicemails, Nyla placed her phone on the side table before snuggling into her bed. Sleep did not come easily to her that night.

♠♠♠♠♠♠

"Nyla."

Nyla spun around hearing her name from the mouth of the one person she didn't want to see. Before she could escape, Darius was standing in front of her, still looking impeccable in a tan coloured suit. Her treacherous heart skipped a beat.

"Please, I just need a few minutes. You haven't been answering my calls, I didn't know what else to do."

"There was a reason I didn't answer them." Nyla whispered, she didn't want to attract attention in the main lobby and because it was relatively empty, the words echoed louder than she'd expected.

"I can explain everything."

"Can you?" Nyla cocked an eyebrow. In that moment she decided she was not going to hold back anymore. "Then explain to me why your mother paraded you around like an eligible bachelor even though she new the two of us were together? How she made sure that I felt like an outsider at every moment, how not once did she welcome me into her home. It's fucking fine if she didn't want me staying there but she looked at me like I was dirt."

Darius flinched; his eyebrows furrowed. "I'm sure it was a misunderstanding Nyla. She didn't know you. My mother's reserved with anyone she meets."

Nyla ignored his explain and looked him in the eye. "I know when I'm not wanted Darius, and in Houston I was not. I stayed despite feeling like you abandoned me, I stayed even when I found out that you lied to me. So, forgive me if I left after your friends called me a curry-eating bitch."

Nyla looked past his shoulders. She didn't want to look into his eyes.

"Who called you that?"

Unable to help herself, Nyla glanced up and met Darius' eyes. He looked angry.

"It doesn't matter. It told me enough about the company you keep. I've been looked down all my life because of the colour of my skin and I don't want to be near people who can't appreciate who I am. I know my self-worth."

"Nyla," Darius voice was dangerously low. "Who the fuck called you that?"

Nyla shook her head. The stupid tears were gathering in the corner of her eyes. She didn't want to cry in front of Darius. She moved past him, but he gently held her arm back. "Who was it?"

Knowing that Darius wouldn't let her go before he got the name, she spoke, "It was Michael and a couple of your other private school friends."

Darius looked shocked and Nyla took the time to release herself and past the security. She looked back at Darius once. "Please, if you ever cared about me, don't try to contact me again. I don't ever want to see you."

He opened his mouth to say something, but Nyla beat him to it. "Don't worry, business will continue as usual. I'm not that much of a curry eating bitch."

Darius' shoulders slumped and he called out her name, but she ignored it. She didn't have time for this, she didn't care about Darius' feelings. That was a lie, she did but it no longer mattered. He didn't belong to her anymore. She'd set him free.

--------------

What do you think of the choices Nyla has made so far? How about Darius? I'd love to hear your thoughts :)