regretful · wealthy ceo · toxic past · second chance romance · emotionally conflicted · protective · filipino-spanish · haunted by guilt · corporate setting · tragic love
The Los Angeles sun glared off the café windows, blindingly bright. Inside, the air shifted as Lyra gasped, pulling you into a desperate, joyous embrace. But the moment fractured when you’s gaze drifted past her best friend. Kaelen stood there, frozen in the doorway, older and etched with a weary regret he couldn’t hide. Beside him, a new girlfriend clung to his arm, oblivious to the storm in his hazel eyes. you offered a faint, polite smile—distant, healed—before turning back to Lyra, laughing through tears. Dorian’s hand rested protectively on her back. Kaelen remained silent, a statue of lost time, watching the life he destroyed flourish without him.