It was freezing outside.
The kind of sharp winter cold that cut through fabric and settled in your bones.
Lillian noticed the moment Sebastian left the office.
He didn't say anything.
He didn't announce it.
He just stood from his desk, grabbed his phone, and walked out.
But he left his coat behind.
She frowned at the sight of it hanging neatly over the back of his chair.
That wasn't like him.
Sebastian Wolfe was precise.
Intentional.
He didn't forget things.
She stared at it for a few seconds longer than necessary.
It's winter.
He won't last five minutes out there.
With a small sigh, she stood and lifted the coat. It was heavier than she expected — dark wool, expensive, faintly carrying his clean, sharp cologne.
Her fingers tightened slightly around the fabric.
Don't think about that.
She walked toward the elevators.
Outside, the air was brutal.
Her breath came out in soft clouds.
She scanned the sidewalk.
And then she heard it.
"You think you're untouchable?"
Ethan.
Her stomach dropped.
She followed the sound around the corner of the building.
Sebastian stood a few feet away from Ethan, posture rigid, expression carved from stone.
Ethan looked furious.
Red-faced.
Wild-eyed.
"You ruined my job!" Ethan shouted.
"You ruined it yourself," Sebastian replied calmly.
His voice was low.
Controlled.
That almost made it worse.
Ethan laughed bitterly. "You think you're better than everyone, don't you?"
Sebastian didn't respond.
"I know your type," Ethan continued. "Rich. Cold. No one ever told you no."
Still nothing.
Ethan stepped closer.
"You don't even have a family, do you?"
Lillian froze behind the corner of the building.
She shouldn't listen.
But she couldn't move.
"You don't know anything about me," Sebastian said quietly.
Ethan scoffed. "Oh, I know enough. Everyone talks."
Sebastian's jaw tightened slightly.
"You don't even have a mother, right?" Ethan pressed cruelly. "That's what I heard. No wonder you turned out like this."
Silence.
But it wasn't calm anymore.
It was sharp.
Tight.
Lillian felt something twist painfully in her chest.
Ethan smirked. "What? Hit a nerve?"
And then it happened.
Sebastian moved.
Fast.
His fist connected with Ethan's jaw with a sickening thud.
Ethan stumbled backward, crashing into the brick wall.
Lillian gasped.
Sebastian stepped forward again, fury breaking through the cold mask for the first time.
"Don't," he said, voice dangerously low. "Speak about things you don't understand."
Ethan recovered and lunged.
They collided.
Shoving.
Grabbing.
Another punch.
This time from Ethan.
Sebastian barely reacted to the hit before striking back harder.
"Stop!" Lillian shouted, finally running toward them.
They didn't hear her.
Or they ignored her.
She grabbed Sebastian's arm.
"Mr. Wolfe, stop!"
In the struggle, he shoved backward without looking.
His hand hit her shoulder.
Harder than intended.
She lost her balance on the icy pavement.
Her foot twisted.
And she fell.
Pain shot up her ankle instantly.
She gasped sharply.
Both men froze.
The world seemed to stop.
Sebastian turned first.
His eyes widened slightly when he saw her on the ground.
Ethan rushed to her immediately.
"Lillian—are you okay?"
She winced, trying to sit up.
"I'm fine," she breathed, though her ankle throbbed painfully.
Ethan crouched beside her. "Can you stand?"
"I— I think so."
Sebastian hadn't moved.
He just stood there.
Watching.
His expression was unreadable.
Cold again.
Too cold.
Ethan gently helped her to her feet. She leaned on him slightly as she tested her ankle.
It hurt.
But she could stand.
"I'm okay," she repeated.
Ethan looked furious again — but now it wasn't directed at her.
"You pushed her," he snapped at Sebastian.
Sebastian's gaze shifted to Ethan slowly.
"I did not push her."
"You knocked her down!"
Sebastian didn't respond.
He just looked at them.
At the way she was holding onto Ethan's arm.
At the way Ethan was steadying her.
Something unreadable flickered across his face.
Not anger.
Not jealousy.
Something darker.
Lillian looked at him.
"Mr. Wolfe…"
He didn't answer.
He turned slightly.
As if to leave.
Her heart twisted unexpectedly.
"Mr. Wolfe," she called again.
He stopped.
Slowly turned back.
The wind moved faintly through his hair.
His expression was composed again.
But his eyes—
There was something in them she had never seen before.
Not rage.
Not control.
Something closer to… self-disgust.
Like he hated what he had just done.
Like he hated that she saw it.
She realized then—
He wasn't angry at Ethan anymore.
He was angry at himself.
Her fingers tightened around the coat she was still holding.
"I—." she started softly.
But the words didn't come.
What could she say?
Don't fight?
Don't care?
Don't protect me?
Don't lose control?
Instead, she lifted the coat slightly toward him.
"You forgot this."
Her voice was quiet.
Small against the winter air.
For a moment, he didn't move.
Then he walked toward her.
Each step slow.
Measured.
He didn't look at Ethan.
Only at her.
Up close, she could see the faint redness on his knuckles.
The tension in his jaw.
He took the coat from her hands.
Their fingers brushed briefly.
His were cold.
He held her gaze for one second longer than necessary.
"I apologize," he said evenly.
For pushing her?
For fighting?
For everything?
She didn't know.
Before she could answer, he turned and walked away.
Not toward the building.
Not toward the entrance.
But toward the underground parking structure.
"Mr. Wolfe!" she called weakly.
He didn't stop this time.
Ethan frowned. "He's just leaving?"
Lillian watched him disappear down the ramp.
"He always leaves when he loses control," she murmured without thinking.
Ethan looked at her strangely. "You sound like you know him."
She didn't answer.
A few minutes later, from the top of the ramp, she heard the distant echo of a car engine.
Sebastian's car pulled out onto the street.
And drove away.
The office felt different when she returned.
Chloe rushed over immediately.
"What happened? I saw security running outside!"
Lillian sat carefully at her desk.
"It's nothing."
Chloe looked at her ankle. "You're limping."
"I twisted it."
"How?"
Lillian hesitated.
Then quietly, "They were fighting."
Chloe's eyes widened. "Mr. Wolfe was fighting?"
"Yes."
"With Ethan?"
"Yes."
Chloe blinked several times. "That's… unexpected."
Lillian stared at Sebastian's empty office.
"He left," she said softly.
"Left the building?"
"Yes."
Chloe looked surprised. "In the middle of the day?"
Lillian nodded.
That was what unsettled her most.
Sebastian never abandoned work.
Never walked away mid-day.
Never let emotion interrupt structure.
But today he had.
Because someone insulted his mother.
Because he lost control.
Because he pushed her.
Her chest tightened.
Why does that hurt?
She rested her hands on her desk slowly.
He had looked at her like he hated himself.
Not her.
Himself.
And that expression wouldn't leave her mind.
Across the city, Sebastian gripped his steering wheel tightly as he drove.
He hadn't planned to go home.
But he couldn't return to the office.
Not after that.
Not after she saw him like that.
The mansion gates opened automatically as he pulled into the driveway.
Cold.
Modern.
Silent.
He stepped inside and closed the door behind him.
The house echoed with emptiness.
He removed his coat slowly.
Set it down.
His knuckles were slightly bruised.
He barely noticed.
What lingered instead was the image of her falling.
The flash of fear in her eyes.
The way she leaned on Ethan afterward.
And the look she gave him.
Not fear.
Not disgust.
Concern.
That unsettled him more than anything.
He exhaled slowly.
He shouldn't have reacted.
He shouldn't have let Ethan provoke him.
He especially shouldn't have pushed her.
Control was everything.
And today—
He lost it.
For her.
And that was the most dangerous part of all.