The office had never been this quiet.
Not even on weekends.
Not even after layoffs.
It was the kind of silence that settled in your bones — heavy, sharp, and impossible to ignore. Avery could feel it pressing into her skin as she sat at her desk, pretending to type while sneaking glances at the closed glass door just ahead.
Grayson Reid hadn't spoken a word to anyone that morning.
But at least he was… normal again.
Less terrifying. Less commanding.
Still not warm — never warm — but no longer ice cold either.
And now she knew why.
Lexi had found out through a whisper chain in HR.
"Did you hear?" she'd whispered on the phone the night before. "Grayson and his wife had a massive fight. Like, screaming-at-each-other-through-walls kind of fight. She said… she wanted a divorce."
Avery had sat there, frozen.
Divorce?
That explained everything.
The new rules. The tension. The lifelessness in his eyes. Grayson wasn't being cruel for no reason — he was falling apart in silence.
And yet, somehow, she felt no victory in that knowledge.
Only grief.
Grief for the man he was becoming. Grief for what she had to do next.
Because whether he was married or divorced, shattered or whole, Avery had made a decision.
She had to tell him the truth.
He deserved to know about Eden.
And Eden deserved to be known.
---
She waited until the office began to empty after lunch. Everyone was gone, or at least too busy hiding in their corners. The executive floor was still, the air-conditioning humming faintly like a heartbeat.
Avery smoothed her palms over her slacks and walked slowly toward his office, her heart rattling like dice in her chest.
Every step felt like walking toward fire.
She knocked once.
No answer.
She knocked again.
Still nothing.
Screw it.
She pushed the door open slowly.
Grayson was seated at his desk, hunched forward with his elbows on the glass surface, rubbing his temples. His jacket was draped over the chair behind him. His tie was loose. His hair looked like he'd dragged his hands through it a hundred times.
He looked... human.
Vulnerable.
"Sir?" she said softly.
His eyes snapped up.
He blinked as if pulling himself from a trance. "Ms. Carter," he said, voice low and rough. "What is it?"
"I… I need to speak with you," she said, her voice trembling. "It's important."
He stared at her, quiet.
Nodded once.
She stepped inside and gently closed the door.
Now or never.
Her chest tightened. Her palms grew slick with sweat. Every memory of that night came flooding back. The way he looked at her. Touched her. How she told herself it meant nothing. How she lied.
"I know I'm just your employee," she started slowly, "but I think there's something you need to know. Something I've been hiding. And it's not right to keep it from you any longer."
His brow furrowed. He straightened, interest piqued.
"What is it?" he asked, voice still soft.
She opened her mouth.
But she didn't speak.
Because just then, his phone rang.
Shrill. Loud. Piercing.
She froze. So did he.
The caller ID read: Unknown Number.
Grayson sighed and picked it up with mild irritation. "Hello?"
A pause.
Then his face drained of color.
"Wait… what?" he said sharply.
Avery's stomach flipped.
Grayson stood up, chair scraping behind him. His knuckles turned white around the phone.
"No. No, no, no—how… how did they die?"
Avery's breath hitched.
Die?
Her blood went cold.
Grayson staggered back a step, eyes wide. "On the way home? Where? Which road? Are you sure? Are you—"
He ran his hand through his hair and began pacing the office like a madman. "No. No, this can't be happening. Not now. Not like this—"
"Sir?" Avery asked, voice small, almost inaudible.
But he didn't hear her.
He didn't even see her anymore.
He was already gone.
Slamming the phone down, he snatched his jacket and bolted past her.
He didn't look back.
Didn't say a word.
Just the slamming of the door.
Just the echo of chaos.
---
Avery stood in the center of his office, completely still.
The silence that followed was louder than any scream.
How did they die?
The words replayed in her head like a broken record.
She slowly walked over to the desk and stared at the phone — still blinking with the last call.
And that's when the office exploded into whispers again.
By 4:00 p.m., everyone knew.
Grayson Reid's wife and children were gone.
Killed in a horrific car crash on their way back from a weekend out of town.
Three dead. The youngest was barely two.
A drunk driver. Head-on collision. No survivors.
The news reports were already spreading. Staff members sat with hands over their mouths, some crying, others just staring in disbelief.
Avery felt numb.
Like her body wasn't her own.
---
That night, she stood in the doorway of Eden's room, watching her daughter sleep.
So peaceful. So alive.
Avery's hands trembled.
She still hadn't told him.
She could've.
But she didn't.
Because how could she?
How do you walk up to a man who just lost everything and say, Hey, surprise… you have a daughter you never knew about. She's alive. Yours. A piece of your past that didn't die in that crash.
No.
It felt cruel.
Too cruel.
And yet…
Would it give him hope?
Would it heal him?
Or would it only break him more?
---
Lexi called around 10:30.
"I heard," she whispered. "It's… all over the news."
Avery didn't reply.
"Did you tell him?" Lexi asked gently.
Avery wiped her tears and looked out the window. "No."
"Why?"
"Because he lost everything today," she whispered. "And I don't know if I should hand him something new… or let him grieve what's gone."
---
She looked back at Eden.
Asleep, unaware.
"Maybe tomorrow," Avery said.
And hung up.
She couldn't sleep that night, she just sat at the edge of the bed drowned in her thoughts.
"What if he doesn't accept the child"
She said...