And the fucked-up part is… I don’t even blame her for asking it. I’ve given her the doubts with my own two hands.
I squeeze my eyes shut and lean back in the chair, exhaustion pressing into my skull. “I want it removed now,” I say flatly. “Not in two years.”
Jasper sighs through his nose. Hayes’s expression tightens slightly.
“That’s not realistically possible, Levi. Not to mention extremely risky,” Jasper says carefully. “It’s highly unlikely that the board would vote you back in under current circumstances.”
Meaning the scandal tainting the Astor name.
The headlines.
The public unraveling of Cece.
My jaw clenches so hard it hurts. Because somehow the woman I love has become a liability on paper.
And I fucking hate myself for allowing it to get this far. Allowing my family to leash my love for her.
Silence settles heavily across the room.
Then Jasper softens slightly. “Levi… right now, stability is your strongest play.”
Stability.
The word nearly makes me laugh.
Because Cece is slipping through my fingers by the second, and I’m sitting here discussing optics like that’s somehow more urgent than the look in her eyes when she had asked what happens next.
I push back from the table abruptly.
Both men look up.
“I’m done for today,” I mutter.
“Mr. Astor—”
“I said I’m done.” My voice comes out sharp and borderline rude, but I can’t bring myself to care.
I grab my blazer, disconnect Taewon from the line, and head for the door before either of them can stop me.
The thought of being anywhere except beside her feels unbearable, unreasonable.
And for the first time in my life, Astor Holdings doesn’t feel like the thing I’m terrified of losing.
Cece does.
TWENTY-FIVE
Levi
“Cece?”
I call out the second I step into my penthouse.
What I wouldn’t give to call itours.
But Cece isn’t there yet. Maybe she never will be.
When no answer comes, I move farther into the silence, swallowing the living room whole. The kitchen is empty. No dishes. No music. No sign of her.
