Chapter 119: The Love Before Me

Chapter 119: Chapter 119: The Love Before Me

Saturday morning felt incredibly heavy.

Audrey woke up and walked into the kitchen. Alexander was already awake, pouring a cup of coffee. He was still kind. He still made her breakfast. He still turned around and softly asked, "Did you sleep well?"

But there was a new, undeniable distance in him.

He didn’t bring up their intense conversation from the day before. He didn’t ask any more questions about her past. He just handed her a plate of toast and sat across from her.

Audrey knew exactly what he was doing. He was waiting for her to tell him more. He was giving her the space to be honest.

She opened her mouth. She almost did it. But the sheer fear of destroying the safe life they had built completely stopped her.

Alexander finished his coffee. He stood up and carried his mug to the sink.

"I have a heavy filming schedule today," Alexander said casually. "I probably won’t be back until late."

He grabbed his keys and left. Audrey sat alone at the kitchen island, listening to the front door click shut. She finally realized that absolute silence could hurt so much more than a screaming argument.

---

At the massive Calloway estate, Victoria had arranged absolutely everything.

Mason walked down the grand staircase. He was wearing a sharply tailored, dark charcoal suit. He adjusted his expensive silver cuffs as he reached the bottom step.

His father, Richard, was sitting in a leather armchair. He looked at his son and quietly chuckled.

"Is that a bespoke suit?" Richard teased lightly. "You look like you are heading to a board meeting, not a casual dinner."

"I am representing the family name," Mason replied flatly. "I don’t want to embarrass Mother."

Victoria walked into the foyer, beaming with absolute pride.

"She is a wonderful woman, Mason," Victoria promised. "She is highly accomplished, incredibly intelligent, and she comes from a very respectable family. You will like her."

Mason looked at his mother. "I am not looking for a relationship."

"Then don’t look for one," Victoria countered smoothly. "Just have dinner."

Mason let out a heavy sigh. He grabbed his coat, walked out the front door, and reluctantly got into the back of his waiting car.

---

The downtown restaurant was incredibly elegant, filled with soft lighting and quiet jazz music.

Mason arrived and was led to a private corner booth. His date was already waiting.

She was exactly what his mother had promised. She was composed, sharp, and genuinely pleasant. She didn’t throw herself at him. She didn’t act overly impressed by his billionaire status or his football history.

That actually made Mason respect her.

They ordered drinks and food. They had a surprisingly normal, easy conversation about their careers, their families, and the stress of corporate life.

But as the dinner went on, his date noticed something.

Mason kept checking the dark screen of his cell phone resting on the table, even though it hadn’t vibrated once. His eyes kept drifting toward the window.

She set her wine glass down and offered a polite smile.

"Are you waiting for someone to call?" she asked.

Mason blinked, snapping his attention back to the table. "No. I apologize."

She studied his face for a long moment. Her smile turned a little softer.

"Then you’re thinking about someone," she noted quietly.

Mason looked at her. He didn’t offer a polite lie. He just didn’t answer at all.

---

Across the city, Audrey was sitting on her living room couch in an oversized sweater.

Her laptop was glowing in the dark room. She was working on the Calloway investigative project, but she wasn’t actually getting anything done.

She kept rereading the interview notes from her session in the metal trailer. She read his quotes about the academy. Every single professional sentence somehow reminded her of the intense, hurting man behind the words.

Her phone vibrated on the cushion.

Alexander: We are running behind on set. I will be late.

Audrey stared at the text. She typed, I miss you. She deleted it. She typed, I’m sorry. She deleted that too.

Finally, she just sent a simple, Okay.

She sighed and clicked back to her research folder. She opened a digital photograph from the youth academy event.

It was a wide shot of the new field. But Audrey wasn’t looking at the grass. She zoomed in on the background. Mason was kneeling on the turf, holding a football, helping one of the young academy players.

She stared at his smiling face much longer than she should have.

---

Back at the restaurant, the plates were cleared away.

His date folded her napkin. She looked at Mason with genuine curiosity.

"Have you ever been in love, Mason?" she asked directly.

Mason went completely quiet. He looked at his half-empty water glass for several seconds.

Eventually, he looked up. "Once."

"What happened?" she asked gently.

Mason didn’t tell her Audrey’s name. He didn’t explain the airport or the knee injury.

He simply said, "We were young. I thought we would have more time."

His date nodded slowly. She was incredibly smart. She realized instantly that there was still someone occupying a very large, very permanent space in his heart.

Instead of becoming offended or angry, she offered a kind, graceful smile.

"Then I probably shouldn’t waste your time," she said smoothly, "pretending I can compete with someone who isn’t even in the room."

Mason looked at her, completely surprised by her honesty. He felt a wave of genuine gratitude.

"Thank you," Mason said quietly.

---

It was nearly midnight when Alexander finally returned home.

The apartment was quiet, but the living room lamp was still on. Audrey was sitting on the couch, surrounded by scattered notes and her laptop.

He took off his jacket and walked over. He noticed the plate of dinner on the coffee table was barely touched.

"Still working?" Alexander asked, sitting down on the opposite end of the couch.

Audrey nodded, rubbing her tired eyes. "Just organizing the files for the youth initiative."

Alexander leaned back against the cushions. He looked at her.

"And Mason?" Alexander asked casually.

Audrey completely froze. Her blood ran cold.

This was the very first time Alexander had ever said his name aloud.

He didn’t sound angry. He didn’t yell it like an accusation. He just looked at her with exhausted, gentle eyes.

"What was he like back then?" Alexander asked softly.

Audrey looked at him. Her heart broke right down the middle. For the first time, she understood what was happening. Alexander wasn’t asking about Mason’s career. He wasn’t asking for background research on the CEO.

He was asking about the boy she had loved.

Audrey swallowed hard. She slowly closed her laptop.

"He was reckless," Audrey whispered into the quiet room. "He was incredibly competitive. And completely, annoyingly confident."

Alexander just listened. He didn’t interrupt.

"But he was good," Audrey continued, her voice trembling slightly. "He was the boy who would sneak terrible cafeteria food into the newsroom because he knew I forgot to eat. He was the boy who waited outside in the freezing cold after my late shifts just to walk me home. He made me laugh when I was stressed."

Alexander looked down at his hands. He let her finish.

Then, he looked up and asked the one question he had been terrified to ask all day.

"Did you love him more than you love me?"

Audrey gasped quietly. Her eyes instantly filled with hot tears. She looked at the kind, beautiful man sitting across from her.

She didn’t answer immediately. The silence stretched out, heavy and painful.

Alexander didn’t force her to speak. He didn’t demand a response.

He slowly stood up from the couch.

"You don’t have to answer tonight," Alexander said softly.

---

Alexander walked up the stairs, leaving her alone in the dim living room.

Audrey pulled her knees to her chest. She looked down at her cell phone resting on the table. Mason’s name was still glowing on the screen, saved at the top of her interview documents.

She hesitated for a long time, her finger hovering over the screen, before she finally closed the file.

At the exact same time, Mason walked through the heavy front doors of the Calloway estate.

Victoria was sitting in the parlor, reading a book. She looked up eagerly.

"Well?" Victoria asked. "How did it go?"

Mason took off his suit jacket. "She was nice."

Victoria smiled proudly. "And?"

Mason walked over to the side table. He took off his expensive silver watch and set it down with a quiet clink.

"I’m still not interested, Mother," Mason said flatly.

Victoria studied her son’s face. She saw the absolute, unshakeable distance in his eyes. Slowly, the proud smile faded from her lips. She finally realized exactly what the problem was. It wasn’t about finding the right woman. It was about the fact that his mind was already completely occupied.

Mason walked up the grand staircase to his room.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket. The screen lit up with a calendar notification for Audrey’s upcoming investigative interview.

He stopped walking. He just stood in the dark hallway, staring at her printed name.

Saturday was supposed to help Mason move forward. Instead, it only reminded him that he had never actually moved on.