Page 90 of American Beauty

But even as I say them, I know Magnolia. She’s independent—and fiery—and she won’t be happy about me telling her how to run her business.

I’d never do that to her without a damn good reason. She’s achieved too much to let someone else make decisions. But this isn’t about control. It’s about survival.

And the threat isn’t some faceless risk—it’s Tyson-ruthless-fucker-McRae.

Magnolia doesn’t know who she’s dealing with. She doesn’t see the calculated moves he makes, the way he always plays the long game. But I do. I know what he is capable of, and I’ll be damned if I let him sink his claws any deeper into her.

She straightens, her chin lifting, but there’s no fire behind it—no true defiance. Only a quiet resignation that twists something deep inside me.

“Let’s be clear about a few things. This ismybusiness.Mydecision.Idecide.”

A beat.

“And I choose to not work with him anymore. He lied to me. I can’t move forward with a client who does that.”

Magnolia Steel has never been a woman to bow to pressure, not even from me. But this time, she doesn’t argue.

“I should’ve never taken him on. But when everything crumbles around you, desperation makes you stupid.”

“You did what you had to do. You were trying to build something for yourself after Soul Sync… after everything fell apart… because of me.”

A crushing pressure builds in my chest, making it hard to breathe. My skin feels too tight. My head’s too full. My heart pounds like it’s trying to crack open my ribs just to escape.

The weight of it all—what we lost, what we uncovered—it’s too much, pressing down on me, threatening to split me wide open.

“I need a minute.”

Magnolia’s head snaps up, confusion flashing across her face. “What?”

The panic in her voice cuts into me like a blade.

“I just need a minute to myself.”

Her hands curl into fists at her sides, her eyes bright with something raw. Something desperate. “No, we just found each other again. You can’t leave. Not now, Alex.”

It guts me. The broken way she says my name feels like she’s handing me her heart all over again. And I’m too weak to even hold it properly.

I can’t breathe.

I claw my hands through my hair, inhaling like I’ve been underwater too long. “There are things you don’t know about me. I understand it makes no sense right now. But I swear to you—I will come back.”

I choke on the next breath. “I just need a second to fucking breathe.”

She blinks, a tear sliding down her cheek, her body trembling like she’s barely holding herself together. “Alex?—”

I can’t stay. If I stay, I’ll shatter.

I turn toward the door, my feet heavy, my lungs burning.

“Alex… where are you going?”

“I don’t know.”

“When are you coming back?”

A beat of silence that feels like a lifetime.

“I don’t know.”

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