Chapter 26

Drake’s POV

Margaret had always known me better than anyone else in the world.

That was the truth I hated most.

She did not need raised voices or accusations. She did not need proof placed neatly in her hands. She noticed patterns. Absence. Shifts in rhythm. Changes in habit that other people dismissed as stress or work pressure.

I had built my life on routine.

Morning meetings. Evening returns. Predictable dinners. Controlled weekends. Even my infidelities in the past had been structured, brief, forgettable. Margaret had accepted them because they never disrupted the system.

Chloe disrupted everything.

I noticed Margaret watching me at breakfast three days after Chloe tested my boundaries.

She did not look angry. She looked curious.

“You did not come home last night,” she said calmly, stirring her tea.

“I worked late,” I replied.

“You worked late on Monday as well,” she said. “And Thursday.”

I met her ey