Rayzel had gone for his honeymoon.
Jena went to school, things were slowly going back to the way it was
Karina and elian remained home.
Red, Salim's best friend, had been stuck in Dubai.
The borders were locked. No flights. No movement.
No way to get back when Salim needed him the most.
It broke him.
He called. He tried. But it wasn't the same.
So, the very second flights reopened, he dropped everything.
He didn't even pack properly.
Straight from the airport, he went to see him.
He didn't say much.
He just squeezed Salim into a hug tight, long, real.
Like he was hugging the version of him that almost never came back.
Salim returned to the company the next morning, No recovery break. No "take it slow."
He walked into the glass building like he hadn't just been on the edge of death.
CEO. Assistant Director.
The one everyone trusted when his grandfather wasn't around.
Because Salim had always been reliable.
Even when it broke him.
----
Lian sat in the cafeteria beside her new friend, Chloe.
She wasn't really listening.
Her food sat untouched.
Her phone buzzed. She checked it lazily.
"Vance Grandson Makes First Public Appearance Since Recovery."
A photo came with the headline.
Salim tall, elegant, powerful stood beside his grandfather.
He looked different.
Sharper.
More confident than ever.
Even more beautiful than the version in her memories.
Lian blinked hard.
Was this still the same boy she helped weeks ago?
That night felt so far away now.
And here she was... in his building.
Living inside one of her ridiculous dreams.
From a stranger to an intern.
How did she even get here?
She wondered
Someone tapped her shoulder. She turned.
A boy. Tall. Striking blue eyes.
"You're the new intern, right?"
Lian nodded slowly. "Yeah..."
"I'm Ariel. Marketing team. Mind if I sit?"
She gestured faintly. "Go ahead."
"I heard your name's Lian. So... how does it feel working in the land of luxury?"
She smiled faintly. "A little unreal."
"You'll get used to it," he said with a small laugh. "Just don't get on Salim's bad side. That guy... I'm hoping the accident cooled him down a bit." he's to serious "
Lian blinked. "Wait, what?"
He smirked. "You'll see."
Chloe rolled her eyes. "Wow. Hello? There's three of us here."
Ariel laughed. "Sorry, my bad." But his eyes went right back to Lian.
He talked about the building. The coffee obsessions. The silent war between interns trying to impress the seniors.
All the interns were picked for their different skills. Different potential.
Lian barely listened.
Her mind was still on one thing:
Don't annoy Salim.
That night, she sat at the window of her tiny apartment.
The skyline glowed quietly in the dark, like a heartbeat in the distance.
She always stared at it when her head got heavy.
It gave her hope.
She picked up her tablet, scrolling through her work.
Just one last check before she slept.
That's when she saw it.
A folder.
Salim V.
Her chest tightened.
She opened it.
Her heart nearly stopped.
She was supposed to submit her project to him.
Directly.
And she had missed the deadline.
"Oh my God," she whispered.
Panic shot through her.
She flipped through the pages.
Checked the formatting.
Tried to make last-minute corrections.
Tried to breathe.
Then her phone rang.
"Miss Jamiel. You are to submit your project in person tonight."
She blinked. "It's almost midnight."
Another call came in seconds later.
"You have fifteen minutes."
Her mouth dropped open.
She didn't even have time to change.
She grabbed the file and ran.
Security escorted her in.
The building was silent.
Heavy.
She was guided to his office.
When the door opened, she saw him.
Salim.
Sitting behind his desk, sharp and calm.
Dressed in black, sleeves rolled up, a pen between his fingers.
Red stood by the wall, arms folded, quiet.
They both looked like they had stepped out of a movie.
Lian couldn't help it. Her eyes drifted to her bracelet.
It looked like string in a world built for diamonds.
"Project," Salim said.
The word sliced through the silence.
She walked forward and handed it to him.
He took it. Flipped through the pages slowly.
The air felt like ice against her skin.
Red sipped from a mug, watching.
Salim didn't look up. Didn't blink.
Then
He closed the file.
And threw it.
It hit the edge of the table and dropped to the floor near her feet.
"This is nonsense," he said, voice cool. Quiet.
Like she wasn't even worth being angry at.
Lian's throat closed up.
"What...?"
He didn't repeat himself. Didn't raise his tone.
"Leave."
Just that.
One word.
Cold. Final.
Lian stood there, stunned. Her hands clenched the papers he had thrown at her now bent and wrinkled like they'd never mattered.
Red had turned away, suddenly interested in his phone.he couldn't say anything to help her.
Salim didn't spare her a second glance.
Her throat tightened.
She opened her mouth to say something… anything… but nothing came out. Just silence. Not even a breath.
She backed away quietly, each step echoing in that pristine, cold office.
The moment the door shut behind her, it was like the weight she'd been holding slipped from her shoulders and crushed her chest.
She didn't cry.
No, not yet.
The elevator chimed, and she stepped in. The golden reflection on the mirrored walls reminded her one sentimental, childish thing trying to survive in a world too polished for her flaws.
As the elevator descended, her hand hovered over the stop button.
Was it really nonsense? Was she really that terrible?
Her work had always been praised.
A memory hit her aunt screaming at her for dreaming too big. "You think people like you get anywhere?"
Everything she'd fought to crawl away from.
And now, here she was, back at square one humiliated.
When the doors slid open to the quiet hallway, she didn't step out immediately. She just stood there… chest rising and falling.
Then she walked, barefoot in her nightwear, through a place that now felt too big, too cold, too unreachable.
She dropped her project on the floor, crawled into bed without brushing her teeth . She Just lay there, eyes wide open.
She almost regretted the sympathy she felt for him in the hospital, they him she saw at the hospital didn't deserve it.
That word " Nonsense " Was ready to haunt her through out the night.
And maybe then… just maybe… a single tear slipped down her cheek.
But only one.