imposinggggggay started with a panic attack.
I woke up at MsM, my chMr tight, my breathing shallow. The room was spinning. Jake was still asleep in the bunk above me, snoring peacefully while I felt like I was dying.
I stumbled to the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face.
My reflection stared back at me. Dark circlesis under my eyes. Pale skin. I looked like I hadn't slept in weeks.
Which wasn't far from the truth.
I gripped the edges of the sink and tried to breathe. In through the nose. Out through the mouth. The technique my high school counselor had taught me during exam season.
It took ten minutes before my heart rate returned to something resembling normal.
I went back to the room, got dressed, and headed to my 8 AM lecture on a stomach full of anxiety and nothing else.
My phone buzzed during class.
A text from Selene.
Selene: We need to talk. My office. 1 PM. Come alone.
My stomach dropped.
She knew.
Somehow, she knew about last night. About the kisses. About the movie and the hand-holding and every line I'd ctheatre
I typed back with shaking hands.
Me: I have class until 2.
Selene: Skip it. This is more important.
I stared at the message.
Then I packed up my laptop and left the lecture hall.
The Uber droppeAureliame ofI areries headquarters at 12:45 PM.
I'd never been to Selene's actual office beforetheatrestate, yes. Her penthouse, unfortunately, yes. But never the building where she ran her empire.
It was massive. Glass and steel. Forty stories of corporate intimidation.
I walked through the lobby, trying not to look as out of place as I felt. Everyone was wearing suits. Moving with purpose. Talking on phones about mergers and acquisitions and quarterly projections.
I approached the reception desk.
"I'm here to see Selene Rowan," I said.
The receptionist looked me up and down. Young. Wearing jeans and a jacket that had seen better days. Clearly not someone who belonged here.
"Do you have an appointment?"
"Yes. She asked me to be here at 1 PM."
"Name?"
"Elias Menson."
She typed something into her computer. Her eyebrows rose slightly. "Take the elevator to the fortieth floor. Someone will meet you there."
The elevator ride felt like it lasted forever. Smooth jazz played through hidden speakers. A digital screen showed stock prices and company news.
I watched the numbers climb. Thirty. Thirty-five. Forty.
The doors opened.
A woman in a sharp suit was waiting. Mid-thirties. Blonde hair pulled back in a severe bun. The kind of person who looked like they could fire you with a glance.
"Mr. Menson?" she said.
"That's me."
"I'm Claire, Ms. Rowan's executive assistant. Follow me, please."
She led me down a hallway lined with abstract art and offices with glass walls. I could see people working. Typing. In meetings. Building the empire that Selene commanded.
We stopped in front of a set of double doors. Dark wood. Imposing.
Claire knocked once, then opened the door. "Ms. Rowan, Mr. Menson is here."
"Send him in."
Claire stepped aside, and I walked into Selene's office.
It was exactly what I expected. Huge. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city. A desk that looked like it cost more than a car. Minimalist decor. Everything designed to intimidate.
Selene was standing by the windows, her back to me. She was wearing a black suit. Her hair was up. She looked every inch the CEO.
"Close the door," she said without turning around.
I closed it.
"Sit."
I sat in one of the chairs across from her desk.
She turned around slowly. Her face was unreadable. Cold. Professional.
This was Selene the CEO. Not Selene the woman who'd fallen asleep on my chest two nights ago.
"Do you know why you're here?" she asked.
"No."
"Don't lie to me, Elias. We're past that." She walked over to her desk and pulled up something on her computer. Then she turned the monitor toward me.
It was security footage.
From the estate.
The library. The kitchen. The home theater.
All timestamped from last night.
My blood turned to ice.
"I have cameras everywhere," Selene said quietly. "Did you think I wouldn't notice?"
I couldn't speak.
She clicked through the footage. Me and Aurelia kissing in the library. Holding hands in the kitchen. Her head on my shoulder in the theater.
"You kissed my daughter," Selene said. Her voice was eerily calm. "Multiple times. After I explicitly told you to maintain boundaries. After we made an arrangement."
"Selene, I can explain..."
"Explain what? That you're sleeping with me for money while pursuing my daughter? That you're playing both of us?" Her voice rose slightly. "Or are you going to tell me you have feelings for her? That this is somehow noble?"
"I didn't plan for this to happen."
"That's not an answer." She closed the laptop with more force than necessary. "I trusted you. I gave you everything you needed. Money. Security. A way out of your poverty. And this is how you repay me?"
"I tried to push her away. I told her we couldn't be together."
"And yet there you are. Kissing her. Holding her hand. Promising her things you can't deliver." Selene walked around the desk and stood directly in front of me. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"
"I'm sorry."
"Sorry doesn't fix this." She leaned against the desk, her arms crossed. "You've complicated everything. My daughter thinks you're interested in her. She's building a future in her head that includes you. Meanwhile, you're in my bed, taking my money, and lying to both of us."
"I never meant to hurt either of you."
"But you are. You're hurting both of us." She was quiet for a moment. Then she said, "I'm terminating your contract. Effective immediately."
My stomach dropped. "What?"
"You're fired. I'll pay you through the end of the month, but you're done. No more sessions with Aurelia. No more arrangement with me. You're out."
"Selene, please. I need this job. My family..."
"Should have thought about that before you decided to have your cake and eat it too." Her voice was ice. "You made your choice, Elias. You chose her. So be with her. But not on my payroll. Not in my house. Not anywhere near my daughter."
"Wait." I stood up. "If you fire me, Aurelia will know something's wrong. She'll ask questions. She'll dig."
"Let her dig. She won't find anything."
"Won't she? You have footage of us together. What if she demands to see it? What if she finds out about the penthouse? About the arrangement?" I was grasping at straws, but I was desperate. "If you fire me now, everything falls apart. For all of us."
Selene stared at me for a long moment. Then she laughed. It was bitter and humorless.
"You're really something, you know that? Threatening me in my own office." She walked back to her chair and sat down. "Fine. You want to play it that way? Here's what's going to happen."
"What?"
"You're going to continue tutoring Aurelia. You're going to be professional. Friendly. But the romance? It ends. Today. You're going to break her heart." She leaned forward. "And if you don't, I'll show her every piece of footage I have. Of us. Together. I'll tell her everything. The arrangement. The money. The penthouse. I'll destroy whatever feelings she has for you, and I'll make sure she never trusts another person again."
"You wouldn't do that to her."
"I would do anything to protect her. Even if it means breaking her heart myself." Her eyes were hard. "So what's it going to be, Elias? Do you end this gently, or do I end it brutally?"
I felt trapped. Cornered. Every option was terrible.
"How am I supposed to break her heart gently?"
"That's not my problem. Figure it out." She turned back to her computer, dismissing me. "Session's at 3 PM today. Don't be late. And Elias? This is your last warning. Step out of line again, and I bury you. We clear?"
"Crystal."
"Good. Claire will show you out."
I left Rowan Industries feeling like I'd been hit by a truck.
I had two hours before the session with Aurelia. Two hours to figure out how to break the heart of the one person who genuinely cared about me.
I walked to a coffee shop and sat in the corner booth, staring at my phone.
A text from Aurelia.
Aurelia: Can't wait to see you today. I have something exciting to show you for Haven.
My chest ached.
I typed back.
Me: Looking forward to it.
Another lie.
I was drowning in them.
The Maybach picked me up at 2:45 PM.
Marcus didn't say anything. Just drove in silence like always.
But I could feel his eyes on me in the rearview mirror. Judging. Knowing.
When we pulled up to the estate, Aurelia was waiting at the front door.
She was smiling. Genuinely smiling. The kind of smile that lit up her entire face.
"Elias!" She ran down the steps and hugged me before I could even process what was happening. "I'm so glad you're here. I have to show you something."
"Aurelia, we need to talk."
"We can talk while I show you. Come on." She grabbed my hand and pulled me inside.
We went to her tech room. The one with all the servers and monitors.
She pulled up Haven on the screen. "Look. We hit 500 beta sign-ups this morning. Five hundred people who want to be part of this. People from all over the country. Homeschooled students who've never had a community before."
"That's amazing."
"It's because of you. You believed in this when no one else did." She turned to me, her eyes bright. "I want you to be part of the official launch. Not just as my tutor. As a partner. Co-founder. This is as much yours as it is mine."
My throat was tight. "Aurelia, I can't..."
"Why not? You're brilliant. You understand the technology and the mission. We'd be perfect together."
"Aurelia, stop."
Something in my voice made her pause. "What's wrong?"
"We need to talk. About us."
Her smile faltered. "Okay. Let's talk."
I took a deep breath. This was it. The moment where I destroyed everything.
"Last night was a mistake," I said. The words tasted like ash. "All of it. The kissing. The hand-holding. I shouldn't have let it happen."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm your tutor. You're my student. There are boundaries, and I crossed them. That's on me. But we can't keep doing this."
"You said you had feelings for me."
"I do. But feelings aren't enough." I forced myself to meet her eyes. "You're eighteen. You're about to start university. You're about to launch something incredible. And I'm just... I'm a broke college student who can barely keep his own life together. You deserve better."
"Stop telling me what I deserve." Her voice was shaking. "I get to decide that. And I choose you."
"You shouldn't."
"Why not?"
Because I'm sleeping with your mother. Because I'm being paid to stay away from you. Because everything about this is wrong.
"Because I can't give you what you want. A relationship. A future. Any of it." I stood up. "I think we need to take a break from sessions. Give you space to focus on Haven and school without the distraction."
"You're quitting?"
"I'm stepping back."
"Because of my mother." It wasn't a question. "She got to you, didn't she?"
"This has nothing to do with your mother."
"Don't lie to me!" Her voice cracked. "I know her. I know how she operates. She threatened you. Told you to stay away from me. And you're just... you're just obeying her like everyone else."
"Aurelia..."
"Get out."
"What?"
"I said get out!" Tears were streaming down her face now. "If you're going to break my heart, at least have the decency to do it quickly. Don't drag it out. Don't make excuses. Just go."
"Aurelia, please..."
"GO!"
Her scream echoed through the room.
I stood there for a moment, looking at her broken expression. At the tears. At the betrayal in her eyes.
Then I left.
Because that's what cowards do.
I made it to the front door before I heard footsteps behind me.
"Elias."
I turned around.
Selene was standing in the hallway. She must have heard everything.
"Well done," she said coldly. "Clean break. Just like I asked."
"Go to hell."
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me." I walked toward her. "You manipulated this entire situation. Forced me to hurt her. And for what? So you can keep controlling her life?"
"I'm protecting her."
"From what? From being happy? From making her own choices?" I was shaking with anger. "You're not protecting her. You're suffocating her. And one day, she's going to wake up and realize that everything you've done was about you, not her."
Selene's face was pale. "Get out of my house."
"Gladly."
I walked out the front door and down the driveway.
Marcus was waiting by the Maybach, but I ignored him.
I called an Uber and waited at the gate until it arrived.
And I didn't look back.
That night, I lay in bed and stared at my phone.
No texts from Aurelia. No calls. Nothing.
But there was a message from Selene.
Selene: You did the right thing. I know it doesn't feel like it. But you did. Your payment will be deposited tomorrow. Consider it severance.
I deleted the message.
Then I blocked her number.
I was done.
Done with the arrangement. Done with the lies. Done with being trapped between two people I couldn't have.
I just wanted out.
But deep down, I knew it wasn't over.
It was never going to be over.
Not until everything came crashing down.