Rain poured across the city, turning the skyline into blurred lights and shadows.
Anna stood alone in the penthouse, staring at the closed door long after Oliver had left. Hours passed with no message, no call, no sign of where he had gone.
Her mind was louder than the storm outside.
Every memory of him warred with every secret he had kept.
Just after midnight, the door finally opened.
Oliver walked in, coat damp from the rain, jaw tight, eyes dark with exhaustion and anger. He looked like a man carrying too much.
Anna turned to face him immediately.
"Where were you?"
"Handling it."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only one you're getting tonight."
The coldness in his tone stung.
Anna stepped closer. "You disappear for hours while my company is collapsing, while someone is threatening me, and you still expect me to accept half-truths?"
Oliver dropped his keys onto the table with a sharp sound.
"I expect you to trust me."
Anna laughed once, bitterly. "Trust is exactly what you keep damaging."
Silence crashed between them.
Oliver's eyes locked onto hers. "You think I'm your enemy now?"
"I think I don't know who you are right now."
The words hit harder than she intended.
For the first time, pain crossed his expression before it vanished behind control.
"You know exactly who I am."
"Then tell me everything."
"I can't."
"You mean you won't."
His jaw clenched. "There are things in motion you don't understand."
"Then make me understand!"
Her voice echoed through the room.
Rain hammered the windows.
Oliver moved closer, tension radiating from him. "If I tell you too soon, it puts you in more danger."
"You don't get to decide that for me."
"I already did."
Anna stared at him, stunned by the bluntness.
"That's the problem," she said quietly. "You always decide. You always control."
His voice dropped lower. "Because when I lose control, people get hurt."
"And when you control everything, I get hurt."
That landed.
Oliver looked away for a moment, breathing hard.
Then Anna asked the question she'd been avoiding.
"Did your company destroy Ethan's family?"
He went still.
"It's complicated," he said.
"That means yes."
"It means there was more to it than he told you."
"Then tell me your side!"
"I'm trying to keep you safe, Anna!"
"And I'm trying to be your partner!"
The room fell silent again.
They stood only inches apart now, anger and emotion tangled between them.
Oliver reached for her wrist, not harshly but firmly, as if grounding himself.
"You are my partner," he said, voice rough. "You are my wife. You are the one thing in this world I will not lose."
Anna's breath caught.
"Then stop pushing me away."
His grip loosened.
For a second, it looked like he might finally break and tell her everything.
Instead, his phone buzzed.
He checked the screen, and all color drained from his face.
Anna saw it immediately. "What happened?"
Oliver looked up sharply.
"They made another move."
He turned the phone toward her.
On the screen was a photo.
Anna entering her office that morning.
Taken from a distance.
Watched.
Below it was a message:
Next time, I won't miss.
A chill ran through her body.
Oliver's expression became something colder than anger.
Dangerous.
He slipped the phone back into his pocket.
"This ends now," he said.
Anna grabbed his arm before he could turn away.
"No more secrets. If we do this, we do it together."
He looked at her hand on his sleeve, then at her face.
The storm outside raged.
Inside, something shifted.
Slowly, Oliver nodded once.
"Then tomorrow," he said quietly, "you'll hear everything."
But somewhere else in the city, someone watched the rain and smiled.
Because tomorrow might already be too late.