I stared at the cursor blinking in my email draft like it was mocking my entire existence.
Every word to Adelyn needed to be perfect—professional, distant, giving away absolutely nothing while maintaining the facade that I wasn't slowly losing my goddamn mind.
Adelyn,
Please find attached the updated press conference schedule as requested. All media contacts have been confirmed and catering arrangements finalized.
Best regards, Jasmine Harlow
I read it twice, hunting for any hint of emotion or vulnerability that might betray me. The tone was neutral enough to put people to sleep, minimal enough to avoid analysis, exactly what it needed to be.
I hit send before I could overthink myself into paralysis.
By seven PM, the office had begun its familiar death ritual. Conversations died in hallways like deflating balloons. Desk lights clicked off one by one.
The constant hum of corporate chaos slowly faded into blessed silence.
I stayed glued to my desk, pretending to work on scheduling emails while actually waiting for the building to become a ghost town.
I needed the quiet, the assurance that no one was watching, no one was documenting my movements or timing my departure like some kind of workplace stalker.
Adelyn had left an hour ago, her sharp gaze doing one final sweep of the office before she disappeared into the elevator like a corporate vampire returning to her lair. But I'd learned not to trust appearances where she was concerned.
That woman could probably spy on people through security cameras and office plants.
At eight o'clock, I finally gathered my shit and made my escape to the lobby. The security guard nodded as I passed, and then I was pushing through glass doors into cool night air that felt like freedom.
The tension I'd carried all day began loosening its death grip on my shoulders as I stepped onto the sidewalk.
A familiar black sedan waited at the curb, engine purring quietly. Through tinted windows, I could make out three silhouettes in the back seat.
My pulse quickened, but not with the anxiety that had been eating me alive all day. This was different—anticipation mixed with relief, like coming home after being lost in the wilderness.
I slid into the back seat where Liam, Asher, and Finn were already waiting. The atmosphere was calm, but I could feel their attention on me in the dim light like warm spotlights.
"Long day?" Liam's voice was soft, careful — like he was afraid of spooking me.
"You could say that."
"You ghosted me." Finn tried for lightness, but it didn't land. "I sent you a very charming text. Mentioned corporate robots and everything. Nothing?"
"I needed space."
"Us." Asher didn't phrase it as a question. Just the word, flat and waiting.
"Everything." I met his steel-gray gaze. "What this means. What happens if Adelyn keeps digging."
"We know." Liam's voice was heavy. "And we gave you reason to doubt us. You told us about her, and we didn't take it seriously."
Asher gave a short nod, jaw tight — which, for him, was practically an apology.
When we arrived at the villa, something shifted.
As I reached for the door handle, I found all three of them moving simultaneously, stepping out of the car and coming around to my side like some kind of coordinated gentleman operation.
They stood there in the soft glow of streetlights, hands extended toward me like an offering.
Without hesitation, I reached out and took all three hands at once. Finn's was warm, easy — like everything about him. Asher's grip was firm, almost reluctant, like the gesture cost him something.
But Liam's fingers intertwined with mine, and my chest ached.
If I was going to get my heart broken, it would be him.
Asher's grip was firm on the right, his thumb stroking across my knuckles. Finn's hand found mine in the center, warm and reassuring.
The gesture felt symbolic as fuck—three connections forming one, a moment of trust and unity that grounded me more than anything had in weeks.
Standing there in the quiet street, connected to all of them simultaneously, I felt some essential part of myself click back into place like a puzzle piece finding its home.
Inside the villa, soft music played from hidden speakers, and warm light spilled from table lamps.
The contrast to the fluorescent corporate hellscape was immediate and comforting.
"Better?" Finn asked, watching my shoulders finally drop.
"Much." The tightness in my chest was loosening. This was who I was supposed to be — not the cold, careful woman I'd forced myself into.
"Can I ask you something?" The words came out before I could stop them.
Liam's eyes met mine. "Anything."
"Adelyn. She mentioned you used to tell her she worried too much." I watched his face. "What happened between you two?"
Silence. Finn and Asher exchanged a look.
"We dated," Liam said quietly. "Two years ago. Brief. Ended badly."
"Badly how?"
He ran a hand through his hair. "I broke it off. She wanted more than I felt." The raw honesty in his eyes made my breath catch. "I didn't love her, Jasmine. I tried. And she never forgave me for it."
"So she's not warning me. She's punishing you."
"Both of you," Asher said flatly. "You have what she wanted."
I let that sink in. Adelyn's hatred wasn't protection — it was destruction.
"I overheard her today," I said, pushing the thought away. "On a phone call. Saying my name. She's building something."
"She comes for you, she comes for us." Asher's words were flat.
The simple statement made my throat tighten.
"You don't understand what you're risking," I said.
"We do." Liam's voice was quiet but certain. "And we're choosing it anyway."
As we walked deeper into the villa, I finally said what had been eating at me. "I wasn't avoiding you because I don't care."
Liam glanced back. "We know."
"I'm just tired. Tired of pretending, watching every word, every look."
Asher gave a short nod.
"You've carried too much," Finn said, bumping his arm against mine. "That's why we're here — so you don't have to be some kind of emotional pack mule."
"But what if she has real photos? Witnesses?"
"Then we handle it." Liam reached for my hand. "You're not alone in this anymore."
"You make it sound easy."
"Simple," Asher said. "Not easy. Different things."
For the first time all day, I felt like I could actually breathe.
"Promise me something. If this threatens your careers, you'll let me walk away."
"No." Asher didn't hesitate.
"Absolutely not, bunny." Finn's voice had no lightness in it.
Liam stopped walking, turning to face me fully. "You're not walking away from us. Not because of Adelyn, not because of fear." His voice cracked slightly. "Unless you choose differently."
"If your heart settles on one of us," Finn said, and the softness in his voice surprised me, "that's your call. We'd rather share you than lose you."
"We're not fighting over you," Asher added bluntly. "That destroys everything."
I looked between them — Finn without his usual smirk, Asher with his jaw tight, Liam with his heart written all over his face.
"You're going to screw up again," I said quietly. "So am I."
"Probably." Asher almost smiled.
"But I don't have to figure it out alone." The realization hit me as I spoke it. "I've spent my whole life carrying everything myself. Every crisis. Every disaster."
"Not anymore," Finn said simply.
For the first time in a long while, I stopped fighting what I wanted. They weren't perfect. This wasn't perfect. Adelyn was still circling, and I still didn't know how to navigate loving three men at once.
But they were trying. And they were asking me to let them.
This is where I belong.