The days stretched on, but the silence between Grace and Liam felt like a suffocating fog. It wasn't just the absence of phone calls or texts , it was the emptiness that clung to every interaction, every moment that was no longer shared
Grace focused on her firm with a single-minded intensity. She threw herself into the startups she had already invested in, consulting on green initiatives, hosting meetings, and ensuring everything was running smoothly. She put her energy into anything but the growing ache in her chest that Liam's absence had left behind.
Maya could see it. She always could. "You can't keep ignoring him forever," she said one morning as they sat in Grace's office, the papers on her desk still untouched.
Grace didn't look up from her laptop. "I'm not ignoring him. I'm working."
Maya frowned. "Right. That's why you haven't slept more than four hours a night, and you've barely eaten. Work can't fill that hole inside of you."
Grace's fingers tightened around her coffee mug, and she set it down with a snap. "I don't need you to psychoanalyze me, Maya."
Maya held up her hands in mock surrender. "Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you."
The truth was, Grace didn't know how to bridge the gap between them. Every time she thought about reaching out to Liam, she remembered the hurt in his eyes , the same hurt that had matched the sting of betrayal in hers. She couldn't be the one to make the first move. Not this time. Not when everything felt so fragile.
Meanwhile, across town, Liam was doing the same. The walls of his office felt colder. The usual hustle and noise of Vale Systems seemed muffled. His assistant was the only person who had seen him since their last encounter, and even then, the tension was palpable.
"Sir ," she began hesitantly one morning, "the smart city project... it's stalling. We need Ms Cole input if we're going to move forward."
Liam clenched his jaw. He had known it was coming. Without Grace strategic vision for sustainability, the project was hemorrhaging resources and credibility.
"I'll figure it out," he muttered, staring out the window. "Just give me some time."
But time wasn't the issue. The issue was his pride, and his refusal to admit how much he needed her.
It wasn't just the project that was slipping through his fingers. It was her.
….
The next few days were filled with missed opportunities and tense meetings. Liam sent multiple messages, but Grace never responded. Not a single word. His calls went straight to voicemail. He even tried to send a gift , a handpicked selection of rare wines that he knew she loved but it was returned unopened with a terse note from her assistant; 'Ms Cole isn't accepting gifts at the moment'
He couldn't focus. His mind kept drifting back to her, to the way she had looked at him that night when she walked out, when the silence had grown between them.
…..
Meanwhile, the stall in the project wasn't going unnoticed. Investors were starting to ask questions, and media outlets had picked up on the delay, spinning stories of internal struggles at Vale Systems. Liam's reputation was on the line. His board meetings had become tense, and his advisors urged him to get things back on track.
"Liam , you're losing control of this," one of his senior VPs said sharply during a tense meeting. "If you don't get Grace back on board, the entire project is going to collapse. The city needs her. The green initiatives she's pushing are the only thing keeping this from being seen as a luxury real estate ploy."
He rubbed his temple. He knew it.
But he also knew that getting Grace back wasn't just a matter of convincing her with business deals. The trust they had built had been shattered. And right now, the most important thing is what he needed more than anything was to repair that, somehow.
….
On Grace's side, the pressure was mounting too. The board meetings at her firm were becoming increasingly heated. They needed to make a decision about the smart city project without Liam involvement, which seemed more and more likely by the day. Investors were asking pointed questions about the project's future.
Her firm's lead strategist, Rebecca sat across from her one afternoon, her brow furrowed in concern. "Ms Cole , we need to either get involved in this project or walk away. The longer we wait, the more we lose."
Grace felt the weight of it all pressing down on her. The smart city project had the potential to reshape the landscape of urban sustainability. She had been the one to push for the eco-friendly initiatives in the first place, but without Liam's leadership, without his resources, it was like trying to build a house with no foundation.
"We can't just jump in without proper backing," Grace said, leaning back in her chair, her fingers drumming on the table. "I'll give him one more week."
Rebecca gave her a look. "One week. That's a hell of a deadline."
Grace sighed, feeling the weight of the decision on her shoulders. She could stay angry. She could keep ignoring him, and the project could die a slow, public death. Or she could admit that despite everything, she did care about him, about the project, about what they had built together.
….
By the end of the week, the stalemate continued. The city project stalled, and the tension between Grace and Liam was thicker than ever. Neither had made a move, but neither could avoid the growing awareness that something had to give. Grace couldn't keep denying her feelings forever. And Liam … well, he wasn't going to let her walk away without a fight.