Chapter 60: Things left unsaid

Emily regretted the kiss before she even got home.

She sat on the edge of her bed, still wearing the clothes she’d gone out in.

The room felt unusually still, with the ceiling fan turning.

Her phone rested beside her.

Adrian had already sent a message.

Adrian:

You didn’t have to do that if you didn’t want to.

Emily stared at it.

She typed.

I know.

Deleted it.

Typed again.

It won’t happen again.

She sent that one.

The reply came almost immediately.

Adrian:

We’ll see.

Emily frowned.

She didn’t answer.

That was exactly the problem.

Adrian had started treating the kiss like it meant something.

To Emily, it had been a mistake.

A decision made because she felt trapped by everything happening with her mother.

She picked up her phone again and opened Damian’s chat.

Their last conversation was still there.

Damian:

Love you.

Emily closed the app.

She couldn’t bring herself to look at it.

⸻

The next few days were strangely normal.

Classes continued.

Assignments piled up.

Damian kept working on the acquisition.

Emily went to the hospital.

They still texted each other.

They still called each other love and babe.

From the outside, nothing had changed.

That was what made Emily feel worse.

On Wednesday afternoon, Damian called her while walking across campus.

"Hey."

"Hey, babe."

"You busy?"

"Kind of."

"Want to grab something to eat?"

Emily slowed down.

"I can’t today."

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah. Just the hospital."

Damian stopped walking.

"How’s your mom?"

"She’s doing better."

"That’s good."

"Yeah."

There was a short pause.

"I’ll let you go then."

"Okay."

"Love you."

Emily closed her eyes.

"Love you too."

The call ended.

She stood there for another few seconds.

Then continued walking.

⸻

Damian had more important things occupying his attention than he realized.

Marcus had finished another round of financial checks.

Maya had found more information about the software.

And his legal team had started reviewing the Northstar agreements.

The acquisition was becoming more complicated by the day.

But Damian wasn’t worried.

He had enough money to walk away.

That alone changed how he approached the deal.

He didn’t need the company.

He wanted it.

There was a difference.

That afternoon, Marcus sent him an updated report.

Damian opened it.

Revenue.

Operating expenses.

Debt.

Customer concentration.

Projected modernization costs.

He scrolled down.

Then stopped.

His eyebrows lifted.

"That’s better."

Marcus had highlighted a section.

A group of long-term customers had recently renewed their contracts.

Meridian was still undecided, but several smaller customers had committed to another year.

Damian called Marcus.

"Hey."

"You saw it?"

"Yeah."

"Retention isn’t as bad as we initially thought."

"How much better?"

"Enough that I’d stop calling the company unstable."

Damian smiled.

"That sounds promising."

"Don’t celebrate yet."

"I wasn’t."

"You were."

"Maybe a little."

Marcus laughed.

"We still need to deal with Northstar and the IP issue."

"I know."

"And Meridian."

"I know."

"And Rachel."

Damian sighed.

"I know."

"Good."

The call ended.

Damian looked at the report again.

The company was still risky.

But the numbers were starting to make sense.

He opened another document.

Potential Acquisition — $2.1M

His cash balance sat comfortably above five million.

Even after buying the company, he’d still have a significant reserve.

That was what made the decision interesting.

He wasn’t gambling everything.

He was considering putting a portion of his money into something he believed could become much more valuable.

Damian leaned back.

A few months ago, he’d been checking his bank account before buying lunch.

Now he was discussing million-dollar acquisitions.

He almost laughed at the difference.

⸻

That evening, Ethan dropped onto the couch in Damian’s apartment.

"You got food?"

Damian looked up from his laptop.

"Hello to you too."

"Food first."

"You’re shameless."

"I’ve accepted who I am."

Damian threw him a packet of snacks.

Ethan caught it.

"See? That’s why you’re my guy."

"You’re welcome."

Ethan opened it.

"So what’s this company thing you’re doing?"

"Still working on it."

"You buying it?"

"Maybe."

"How much?"

Damian hesitated.

"It’s complicated."

"That’s rich-person language."

Damian laughed.

"I’m not rich."

Ethan looked around the apartment.

"Bro."

"What?"

"You have been saying that for months."

"I have money."

"Exactly."

Damian shook his head.

"Money doesn’t mean I’m rich."

Ethan opened the snack.

"Okay, Warren Buffett."

Damian laughed.

"Shut up."

They spent the next hour talking about football, classes, and an upcoming assignment.

It was normal.

Damian liked that.

Ethan didn’t care about Northstar.

He didn’t care about shareholder agreements.

He didn’t care about corporate acquisitions.

He just wanted food and someone to argue with about football.

Eventually Ethan stood.

"I’ll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah."

Ethan stopped at the door.

"Oh."

"What?"

"You’ve been acting different lately."

Damian raised an eyebrow.

"How?"

"I don’t know."

Ethan shrugged.

"More confident, I guess."

Damian smiled.

"Maybe I’m growing up."

"Don’t."

"Don’t what?"

"Don’t become boring."

Damian laughed.

"I won’t."

Ethan left.

Damian closed the door behind him.

His phone buzzed.

Emily.

Emily:

Goodnight love.

He smiled.

Damian:

Goodnight babe. Sleep well.

⸻

The following afternoon, Emily met Adrian again.

She hadn’t wanted to.

He had insisted they talk.

They sat outside a restaurant.

Emily barely touched her drink.

Adrian noticed.

"You’ve been avoiding me."

"I’ve been busy."

"Your mother?"

"Yes."

He nodded.

"How’s she doing?"

"Better."

"That’s good."

Emily looked at him.

"You wanted to talk."

Adrian leaned back.

"About Friday."

Emily’s expression hardened.

"There was nothing to talk about."

"I think there was."

"It was a mistake."

Adrian’s face tightened slightly.

"You don’t have to call it that."

"I do."

"Why?"

"Because I love Damian."

"I know."

"Then stop acting like that kiss changed something."

Adrian was quiet.

After a moment, he said, "It changed something for me."

Emily shook her head.

"That isn’t my problem."

"I know."

"Then leave it there."

Adrian looked at her.

"You came to me when you needed help."

"And I’ll repay you."

"I know."

"Then that’s it."

Adrian didn’t answer.

Emily picked up her bag.

"I have to go."

"Emily."

She stopped.

"I’m not going to force anything."

She looked back at him.

"Good."

Then she left.

Adrian watched her walk away.

His jaw tightened.

He had expected resistance.

He hadn’t expected her to draw the line so quickly.

Still, he wasn’t ready to let go.

⸻

That night, Damian sat at his desk again.

His legal team had sent another update.

There were still questions about Rachel’s intellectual property rights.

Northstar had not given final approval.

Meridian had not committed to renewing.

The acquisition wasn’t ready.

Damian closed the document.

His phone buzzed.

This time it was Daniel.

Daniel:

Got five minutes?

Damian called.

"What’s up?"

"I wanted to update you on Westbridge."

"Good news?"

"Mostly."

Damian smiled.

"Mostly?"

"Our university pilot is performing better than expected."

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

"How much better?"

"Student completion is up. Support requests are down."

Damian sat straighter.

"And the university?"

"Happy so far."

"That’s good."

"It gets better."

Daniel paused.

"We’ve had two more universities ask for information."

Damian smiled.

"Already?"

"Apparently word travels."

Damian leaned back.

That was exactly what he wanted to hear.

Westbridge was becoming more valuable.

His seven percent stake was still paper wealth, but the company was moving in the right direction.

And he hadn’t spent a cent to make that particular value increase.

At least not directly.

He looked at his balance.

Still more than five million.

He smiled.

"Things are moving."

Daniel laughed.

"They are."

They talked for another few minutes before ending the call.

Damian sat quietly afterward.

His financial life had changed faster than he’d expected.

Westbridge was growing.

The acquisition might work.

His cash reserve was strong.

For the first time, he wasn’t thinking about how to survive the next month.

He was thinking about what he could build over the next few years.

His phone buzzed again.

Ethan.

Ethan:

Bro football tomorrow.

Damian:

I know.

Ethan:

And food.

Damian:

You always want food.

Ethan:

Because you always have money.

Damian laughed.

He typed a response.

Damian:

One day I’m going to stop feeding you.

Ethan:

No you won’t 😂

Damian put the phone down.

He was right.

⸻

Emily lay awake that night.

Her mother’s condition was improving.

The bills were being handled.

Damian was still loving and patient.

And Adrian had stopped pushing.

For the moment.

She should have felt relieved.

Instead, the secret sat in the back of her mind.

She had kissed another man.

Damian didn’t know.

She had told herself it was because of the situation.

Because her mother needed help.

Because she had felt trapped.

Those things were true.

But none of them changed what had happened.

Emily turned onto her side.

Her phone lit up.

Damian:

Goodnight babe ❤️

She stared at the message.

Then replied.

Emily:

Goodnight love.

She put the phone down.

A few seconds later, she picked it up again.

She opened Damian’s chat.

Typed:

I need to tell you something.

She stared at the sentence.

Then deleted it.

Not tonight.

She wasn’t ready.

But she knew she couldn’t keep running from it forever.