"What are you doing here?" I ask immediately. "How did you even find my house?"
He smiles slightly.
"Relax… can I come in first?"
"No," I say quickly. "What do you want? You need to leave."
"I just want to talk," he replies. "I didn't like how things ended the last time. I came to apologize."
I cross my arms.
"Okay. Apologize."
He pauses, then looks at me.
"I'm sorry."
I nod.
"Good. You've apologized. You can go now."
He doesn't move.
"Why are you pushing me away?" he asks. "Is it because you don't want your husband to see me?"
I freeze.
"Husband?"
He shrugs. "You have a son… so I assumed."
I let out a short laugh.
"Oh… right."
Then I look at him, my expression turning cold.
"You need to leave."
Instead…
He walks past me into the house.
"Justin!" I snap. "What are you doing? I said leave!"
He ignores me and sits on the couch like he owns the place.
"I don't know," he says casually. "Maybe I want your husband to see me."
I stare at him.
"I wonder what he'll think," he continues. "Seeing me here… in your living room… this late." He says smiling.
Something in me snaps.
"What? You want him to accuse me of cheating?" I fire back. "Not everyone is as distrustful as you."
That hits him.
I see it.
The way his expression changes slightly.
The way his jaw tightens.
For a second…
He doesn't speak.
I sigh, already tired.
"Justin, I need you to leave." But he ignores me and walks up to me but I just stood still till he was two feet's away from me and then I started moving backwards. We continued this movement tilly back hits the wall and I gasp. "What are you doing" I ask when he got closer but he just smirked. Then he placed both of hands on either side of my head on the wall and leaned down to talk to me
"You can keep fighting me all you want," he says quietly, "but that won't solve anything."
I stay silent.
"We need to move past everything," he continues. "Especially now that we're going to be working together."
I narrow my eyes.
"Yes, I accepted the contract. But if you're going to make things difficult for me, I will reject it."
He shakes his head.
"You don't have to worry about that. I won't make things hard for you."
I study him.
Then nod slightly.
"Okay."
He smiles softly.
"I'm glad," he says. "And… I'm proud of you."
I blink.
"What?"
"You did it," he says. "Everything you said you wanted… you actually did it."
For a moment…
I don't respond.
Instead…
My mind drifts.
SIX YEARS AGO
I'm sitting on his bed, laughing softly.
Justin is lying beside me, staring at the ceiling.
"So… what plans do you have for the future?" he asks.
I smile.
"I want to own a fashion company. A big one."
He turns to look at me.
"Wow… that's nice."
I shrug. "What about you?"
He thinks for a moment.
"I don't know yet. Maybe something in business."
I nod.
"Whatever we do… we'll support each other. Always."
He smiles.
"Of course."
"I love you…" I add, "always"
He sits up slightly and hugs me tightly
"I love you more and I promise to always be there for you."
I stretch out my hand.
"Promise?"
He takes it.
"Promise."
I blink.
And I'm back in the present.
Justin is still sitting there.
Looking at me.
Like he remembers too.
I clear my throat.
"You've said what you came to say," I tell him. "I think you should leave now."
Before he can respond—
"Mom!"
Ben's voice echoes from upstairs.
"I need to go," I say quickly. "My son needs me."
Justin then moves away from me.
"…Fine," he says. "I'll leave."
He pauses at the door.
"I guess I'll see you around."
"…Yeah," I reply.
Then he leaves.
I shut the door immediately.
And let out a breath.
Thank God Ben called me.
I rush upstairs.
"Ben? What's wrong?"
He looks at me, scared.
"I had a bad dream…"
My heart softens instantly.
"It's okay," I say gently, sitting beside him. "I'm here."
I stroke his hair softly until he calms down.
Slowly…
He falls back asleep.
I return to my room.
But sleep doesn't come.
I keep turning.
Restless.
Thinking.
Remembering.
The past.
The promises.
The love we once had.
Hours later…
I finally fall asleep.
The next morning, I wake up early and get ready for work.
Today is the meeting with Justin's company,
even though I won't be attending.
At the office, I sit at my desk reviewing some files when Stacy walks in.
"I'm ready for the meeting," she says.
Then she pauses.
"Are you sure you don't want to attend?"
I shake my head.
"I've told you before. You'll handle everything on my behalf."
She nods.
"Okay."
"You can do this," I add. "I trust you."
She smiles.
"Wish me luck."
"Good luck."
She leaves.
I try to focus on work.
But my phone rings.
Colin.
I hesitate.
Then pick up.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Julie," his voice comes through.
I smile slightly.
"Hi."
"How are you doing" he asks and I sigh remembering everything that happened last night "I'm good" I say
"I was thinking… maybe we could go out sometime," he says. "Like a date.I could take you out to dinner or lunch wherever you want"
I pause.
I wasn't sure I was ready to start dating again and I think he must've noticed my resistance. "Look you don't have to say yes now just think about it. No rush" he says and I sigh, honestly I didn't know why I was hesitant because he seems like a genuinely good guy.
"Okay," I say slowly. "What do you have in mind?"
Later that day, there's a knock on my office door.
"Come in," I say.
The door opens.
Justin.
Again.
"What do you want?" I ask immediately.
He leans casually against the door.
"Relax, princess. I was in the building… thought I should see you."
"I told you to stop calling me that."
"Calling you what?"
"Princess."
He smirks.
"You used to like it."
"Exactly," I reply. "Used to."
But deep down…
My heart betrays me.
It still reacts. But Justin smiles and walks away from the door
"Youre a tough nut to crack" he says.
"But I guess you've always been like that," he continues and I frown
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing."
I sigh.
"Go out with me" he says.
I scoff.
"Are you out of your mind. That's not happening."
"Just dinner," he says. "We talk. Catch up."
"There's nothing to catch up on."
He steps closer.
"I'm not giving up that easily, Juliana."
I hold his gaze.
"You should." I say and he smirks
"I'll see you later" he eventually leaves.
And I go back to work.
Later, I pick Ben from school and take him home.
After settling him in, I open my laptop to finish some work.
My phone rings again.
Colin.
We talk.
And talk.
And talk.
Until we finally fix a date.
That night, after everything…
I go to bed. Thinking about everything going on in my life right now.
But something tells me—
My life is about to get even more complicated.