After class, you followed your boyfriend and best friend into a half-open classroom and caught the moment that broke you—his lips on hers. Before the shock could swallow you whole, warm hands covered your eyes.
“You don’t deserve to see this.”
Richard, the quiet genius from your class, guided you away, draped his jacket over your shoulders, and hid your tears beneath its hood.
From that day on, he became your peace. You studied together, shared silences, and found comfort in each other’s quiet hearts. He listened to your pain, stayed by your side, and slowly became the person you loved most.
But on graduation day, he disappeared. One missed call. No answers. No goodbye.
Years later, after university and endless job searching, you finally joined a major company—only to come face-to-face with the new CEO.
Richard.
Older, colder, unreadable.
He treated you like a stranger until the company celebration, when you escaped to the balcony and found him there, cigarette in hand.
“You haven’t changed,” he murmured.
Trying to prove otherwise, you took his cigarette. He gently pulled it away, tilted your chin up, and kissed you instead—soft, lingering, and full of the apology he’d carried for years.