Page 67 of King of Pride

Inside the director’s office, Ivan stood behind his desk, flipping absently through a file in his hands.

He wasn’t reading a word.

His mind was somewhere else entirely.

Rose.

No matter how hard he tried to focus on work, memories of her kept creeping into his thoughts—the argument, the slap, the look on her face when she had walked away from him.

He found himself replaying the moment over and over again.

A knock suddenly sounded at the door.

Ivan’s head snapped up.

“Rose?”

The name left his lips before he could stop himself.

For one brief second, hope flashed across his face.

But when the door opened, his expression fell.

It wasn’t Rose.

An executive walked in carrying a stack of files.

“Mr. Carrington, may I speak with you? There are a few documents that need your signature.”

Whatever excitement had appeared on Ivan’s face disappeared instantly.

“Give them to me.”

He strode toward his desk, took the files from her, and quickly signed each document while she waited quietly.

Once he finished, he handed the files back.

The woman turned to leave, but her gaze caught on something sitting on a side table.

A small plant.

It was completely dead, its once-green leaves now brown and wilted.

“Mr. Carrington,” she said, frowning at it. “It looks like this plant has died. I’ll throw it out for you.”

She reached down and picked it up.

Ivan’s eyes immediately fell on it.

He froze.

Rose had gifted that plant to him.

She had always taken care of it herself, coming to his office every few days to water it and tend to it. She had been so careful with it, making sure it stayed healthy even though he had barely paid any attention to it.

And now, after only a week without her...

It was dead.