Jeremy stood at the tall glass windows of his Manhattan office, arms crossed as he looked out at the city skyline. From this height, everything looked smaller..distant. Manageable. But inside him, nothing felt that way.
The soft hum of machines from the adjacent lab filtered in through the slightly ajar door. Engineers in white coats moved efficiently beyond the frosted glass, calibrating circuits, debugging code, and testing a prototype that could change the face of warehouse automation. On paper, Jeremy had everything. He was the self-made billionaire everyone wrote about, the poor boy who'd risen from a scholarship student to the CEO of Stratos Robotics, a firm now being courted by defense contracts and venture capitalists alike.
But none of that mattered.
Not when his mind kept circling back to her.
Ally Gordon.
Soon to be Ally Mason.
He ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. He had always known Brad had a thing for Ally. He remembered it clearly from back in high school. Brad had never been subtle. He liked being the center of attention, liked to win, and Ally was the ultimate prize in their world. Beautiful, smart, from a good family. But the announcement had still hit Jeremy like a punch to the gut.
They were getting married.
Just like that.
He clenched his jaw. Few days ago, before the reunion, he had dared to hope.
But now? That door had been slammed shut.
He turned away from the window and paced back to his desk. His assistant, Martha, peeked her head through the doorway.
"Board call with the investors has been moved to three," she said softly. "Also, the press release for the automation patent is ready for your review."
"Thanks. Leave it on the desk," he muttered without looking up.
She lingered a moment. "Everything alright?"
Jeremy paused. Then, he forced a smile. "Just tired."
She nodded knowingly and left him alone again.
He sank into his leather chair and let out a long breath. How was he supposed to move on? What would that even look like? His entire life had been built around logic and precision. Algorithms. Blueprints. Timelines. But Ally? She was the one variable he could never calculate.
And now, she belonged to someone else.
Maybe she had always belonged to someone else. Someone from her world. Someone like Brad.
Still, the Brad he knew had never struck him as someone who understood Ally..really understood her. Brad loved the idea of Ally. The social clout. The optics. The perfect match. But Jeremy had seen her. He remembered how she'd looked during finals week in senior year, hair in a messy bun, face buried in textbooks, clutching coffee like it was the only thing keeping her upright. He remembered how she'd stood up for Bailey when one of the rich kids mocked her thrift-store shoes.
She had fire in her.
Jeremy rubbed his eyes and reached for his phone. He scrolled through old photos, mostly work, projects, a few media events, but paused when he landed on one from the reunion. Someone had taken a group shot. Ally was in it. She wasn't even looking at the camera, just turning toward Bailey with a soft smile.
His thumb hovered over the screen for a moment before he locked the phone and set it aside.
He needed to let her go.
He needed to stop holding onto something that was never his in the first place.
But knowing that and actually doing it… were two very different things.
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It was a lifetime ago, but Jeremy could still remember his first day at Dalton School like it was yesterday. The polished halls, the smell of new books and expensive perfume, the students in designer clothes, confident like they already owned the world. He had walked in wearing a second-hand blazer and shoes he'd polished three times that morning, hoping no one would notice how worn out they were.
He was one of four scholarship students in the entire class that year, and it hadn't taken long for them to find each other. Bailey was one of them, sharp-tongued, funny, and determined. They clicked almost instantly, bound by a quiet understanding of what it meant to be outsiders in a world built of privilege.
That's when he noticed her.
Ally.
Everything about her was different. She was rich, yes, but she didn't carry it like a weapon. She was soft-spoken, curious, and effortlessly kind. She'd sit with them during lunch sometimes, laugh at their jokes, and bring along snacks without making it seem like charity. At first, he thought it was just politeness. But over time, he realized she genuinely liked being around them. Especially Bailey. The two were inseparable..thick as thieves from day one. And through Bailey, Ally slowly became part of their little circle.
Jeremy had never believed in love at first sight, but whatever it was that stirred in him whenever she walked into a room was something he'd never felt before. Not desire, at least, not just that. Admiration. Longing. A strange ache in his chest, that made him want to be better. Not to impress her. But just… to be someone worthy of the world she lived in.
He never told anyone, not even Bailey. What would be the point? He was the boy on scholarship; Ally was the daughter of a corporate giant. Dreaming was pointless.
But that didn't stop him.
It fueled him.
Every exam, every opportunity, he threw himself in. He knew he couldn't have her, not really. But maybe, if he worked hard enough, succeeded enough, made something of himself… he could at least stand beside her. Be part of her world.
Fast forward a few years… he had made it. Built something from nothing. His robotics company was soaring. His name meant something now.
But it still wasn't enough, was it?
Because Brad, the rich boy who never had to try, just waltzed in and scooped her up.
And Ally?
She said yes.
Jeremy shook his head and walked away from the desk, towards the window. The city lights blinked below him like a sea of tiny promises.
He didn't know what to think anymore. But one thing was clear.
He wasn't okay.
And as much as he wanted to forget her, move on, pretend it didn't matter, he couldn't.
Because Ally Gordon was more than just the girl he used to love.
She was the reason he ever believed he could be more.
And now, she was about to marry someone who would never understand her or love her the way he did.