Two days passed.
Two days of avoiding both Xander and Archie, of burying myself in work. Of pretending the confrontation in that conference room hadn't shattered something fundamental.
Thursday evening found me alone in the office, the last one on the floor. The cleaning crew had come and gone. The lights in the hallway had dimmed to their nighttime setting.
I sat at my desk, finishing reports that could have waited until morning, because going home meant thinking, and thinking meant choosing.
Two very different men. Two very different futures.
Xander was fire and history and complicated feelings I couldn't untangle. Every interaction with him felt like standing at the edge of a cliff—exhilarating and terrifying in equal measure.
He was the father of my children, the man who'd haunted my dreams for five years, the one whose touch still made my skin burn.
Archie was warmth and simplicity and the promise of something uncomplicated. He made me laugh. He listened without judgment. He looked at me like I was remarkable, not like I was a puzzle to solve.
I didn't know which path was right. Only that both terrified me in different ways.
I saved the last file, gathered my things, and headed for the parking garage. The nanny had promised to stay late, but guilt still gnawed at me.
Nina and Lisa deserved a mother who came home at a reasonable hour, not one who hid at work to avoid her own feelings.
The parking garage was nearly empty, my footsteps echoing off concrete walls. The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, casting everything in harsh, unflattering light. I was reaching for my car keys when a figure stepped out from between two vehicles, blocking my path.
Bianca.
The polished mask was gone. No warm smiles, no subtle jabs disguised as friendliness. Her expression was cold, her designer heels clicking against the concrete as she moved closer.
"We need to talk, assistant."
"I don't think we do." I tried to move past her, but she shifted to block my path.
"It's your time to disappear from Xander's life." Her voice was sharp as glass, cutting through the garage's silence. "You're a burden, a nobody who's distracting him from his real future."
I stopped, my brow raised. "His real future? You mean… you?"
Bianca's smile was razor-thin.
"You don't belong in his world. You never did, and you know that. Look at yourself—a pathetic amateur who got accidentally pregnant by a handsome man in a bar and is now trying to play house among adults and successful people."
My blood ran cold. "What did you just say?"
"Oh, don't look so shocked." Her eyes glittered with satisfaction at landing her blow. "I know about your little secret. Those twins of yours. His twins."
"How do you know about that?" My voice came out sharper than intended, fear bleeding through despite my best efforts to stay calm.
"Office walls are thin, sweetheart."
She stepped closer, her perfume cloying in the enclosed space.
"I was walking past that conference room a few days ago—it was hard not to overhear the two men argue like teenagers about who has the right to get twin's attention.. It didn't take a genius to put the pieces together."
"You were eavesdropping…"
"I was being observant. There's a difference."
Bianca tilted her head, studying me like I was something mildly interesting she'd found on her shoe.
"The age gap alone is embarrassing, really. What are you, twenty-eight? Playing at being someone's mother while the real grown-ups run empires?"
"I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be." But my voice wavered, and we both heard it.
Bianca laughed—a cold, brittle sound that echoed off the concrete walls.
"Do you really want your daughters' faces splashed across every tabloid? 'Struggling single mom traps billionaire CEO with secret twins.' They'll paint you as a gold-digger, a schemer. They'll dig into every corner of your life."
My hands clenched at my sides. "You wouldn't."
"Try me." Her smile sharpened into something cruel. "Twins will grow up with that stain following them everywhere. Every school application, every job interview, every relationship—they'll always be the secret bastards whose mother trapped a billionaire."
"Leave my daughters out of this!"
"Then leave Xander out of your pathetic little fantasy!" She stepped even closer, close enough that I could see the ice in her eyes. "And speaking of playing men against each other… I know about you and Archie too. That little kiss in the car… How touching."
My stomach dropped. "How—"
"I have eyes everywhere and Victor's driver happened to be parked nearby that day. Funny how these things work out."
She let that sink in, watching my face with obvious satisfaction.
"Imagine how that looks—the mother of Xander's secret children, kissing his business partner and rival in a parked car like some cheap affair. Do you think he'd ever trust you after knowing that?"
Something snapped inside me. The fear was still there, but anger rose to meet it.
"You want to talk about trust?" I stepped forward, and for the first time, I saw a surprise flicker across Bianca's perfect features. "You're married, Bianca. Remember? The man whose ring is on your finger while you scheme to get back into Xander's bed?"
Her eyes narrowed. "You better shut—"
"And I know exactly why you married him." The words came out sharp, fueled by everything Archie had told me. "You left Xander when he had nothing. The moment a richer man came along with a bigger ring, you were gone."
Bianca's composure cracked—just for a second. "Who told you that?"
"Does it matter? It's the truth, isn't it?" I held her gaze, refusing to back down. "You broke him. And now you want him back because—what? Victor's getting boring? The spark is gone from your loveless marriage?"
"You don't know anything about my marriage."
"I know you're a woman who throws away people when they're not useful anymore. I know you chose security over love once, and now you regret it." I stepped closer, my voice dropping. "But that's not my problem. And Xander isn't your fallback plan."
Bianca's mask slammed back into place, colder than before. "Brave words from someone with so much to lose."
"Maybe. But at least I never pretended to love someone while waiting for a better offer."
Her smile turned vicious. "We'll see how brave you are then. Victor has connections everywhere—media, finance, society. One word from me, and every door in this city closes to you."
She stepped aside, gesturing toward my car with mock politeness.
"Think about it, Daphne. Think about what you're willing to sacrifice. Think about what your daughters will suffer because their mother was too stupid to walk away."
She turned and walked toward the elevator, her heels clicking against concrete, not looking back.
I stood frozen until the elevator doors closed behind her.
Then I walked to my car on legs that felt like they belonged to someone else. I sat behind the wheel, hands trembling, staring at nothing.
I didn't cry. I didn't crumble. But the fear had taken root, spreading through my chest like poison, wrapping around my heart and squeezing.
What if Bianca followed through? What if she really did splash Nina and Lisa's faces across tabloids, turned them into fodder for gossip columns and cruel speculation?
They were four years old. They didn't deserve to grow up as "the secret twins." They didn't deserve to pay for choices I'd made.
What happens to them then?