The restaurant was dimly lit, soaked in elegance and silence. Private, tucked in a corner of the city where only the most elite dared to step in without a reservation. Velvet curtains, gold-rimmed tableware, and the soft, ambient clink of fine glass made the space feel too pristine, too still,
Blaze Baldwin found himself sitting alone at a round table in one of the enclosed private rooms. The walls were adorned with wood paneling and minimalist art, while a long, polished table in the center was laden with an array of dishes—steak, lamb, roasted vegetables, artisan bread, and crystal glasses filled with untouched wine.
Finally, a man entered and took a seat across from him. He was dressed in a sharp suit, older, with a face that seemed to calculate every detail. A long-time associate of Blaze's. More than a friend, not just a business partner. He had seen Blaze at his peak, and now, perhaps, at something dangerously close to collapse.
The man picked up his silverware.
"Let's eat," he said, already cutting into his food with mechanical precision.
Blaze didn't touch the fork beside his hand. He leaned back slightly, fingers folded calmly on the table, voice steady but clipped. "I'm not here to eat. You can start."
The man stopped, looking up at Blaze carefully as he chewed slowly. "Something bothering you?" he asked, lowering his voice. His eyes narrowed as he studied Blaze's face-there was a tightness around the jaw, a stillness in the posture. Too still.
He set down his knife and fork, leaning in with his elbows resting lightly on the table. "Go ahead. Talk."
Blaze remained unblinking.
"My time is up."
The words slipped out softly, almost weightless. But the atmosphere shifted instantly.
The man furrowed his brows. "What do you mean?"
"With Savannah." Blaze replied without pause, his gaze fixed on nothing in particular-just the empty space in front of him. "I think it's nearer than expected."
The man was quiet for a moment, absorbing the heaviness behind those words. "You've got options," he finally said, cautiously. "Money. Resources. Influence. You're not the kind of man who lets things slip away. Why not use what's at your disposal?"
Blaze shook his head slowly. "I don't want to."
That made the man sit straighter.
Blaze's voice was quiet now, stripped of his usual sharp authority. "She must be grieving badly inside. Theo; the lies, the pain I've added... if standing beside someone else brings her even a flicker of peace, I'll step aside."
"You'd surrender her like that?" the man asked, genuinely taken aback. He had known Blaze as the kind of man who would burn cities for what was his. But this this was something deeper. Sadder.
Blaze exhaled, but it wasn't relief. It was acceptance. "I didn't come into her life to cage her. I came to protect her. If I'm not that anymore... then she deserves to find that elsewhere."
There was something raw beneath those words-something haunting.
The man was silent again. He could see it now, clearly. The small tremors behind Blaze's stillness. The storm of thoughts behind those flat eyes. A man haunted not by what he lost-but by how he lost it.
"Why don't you-"
"She needs to face some things by herself." Blaze cut him off gently, but firmly.
His gaze was distant, almost like he was seeing something the other man couldn't. "Even if I'm not there.
She'll have to walk through the fire. Alone."
He paused, and then almost in a whisper:
"And if she ever looks back... maybe she'll remember the laugh we shared. The warmth warmth. Maybe she'll remember I tried."
He looked down at his hands now, and for the first time, the man noticed something deeply unsettling: Blaze's eyes weren't just sad-they were empty.
All the life, the fire, the anger that once defined him was gone. He had already mourned what he was losing. And in his silence, he had buried it.
"I'll take it all to my grave," Blaze said with quiet finality, not looking up.
The man leaned back in his seat, unsettled. He had never seen Blaze like this. Not even in the worst years of the company. He had always believed Blaze was unshakable.
But now... now he saw a man walking away from the edge of his empire not with rage-but with quiet grief.
He had known Blaze Baldwin for over a decade. He had seen him furious, ruthless, triumphant. He had watched him raise a tech empire out of cut-throat boardrooms and glass towers built on risk and brilliance. But this this version of Blaze unnerved him.
Because it wasn't defeat. It was surrender.
And Blaze Baldwin did not surrender.
The man leaned forward, his voice low and firm. "You're not dead yet, Blaze. So why do you speak like you're already buried?"
Blaze lifted his eyes slowly. There was no fire in them. Just a cold, weighty resignation. "Because in her heart... I think I already am."
Leon cleriched his jaw.
Blaze leaned back in his seat, one arm resting on the carved oak of the chair, the other hand loosely curled over the corner of the table. He looked like a man trying to anchor himself to something-anything that didn't drift away.
"I've given her too many reasons to doubt me," Blaze said at last. "The secrets. The lies. Theo..."
His voice cracked-so softly the opposite him almost missed it. But it was there.
"That boy was the last thread holding us together. Even if she never said it... I know. When he was gone, something in her went with him."
The man swallowed. He knew not to bring up Theo often. Blaze rarely did. And when he did it was always quiet.. Always sacred.
"But she stayed," Leon pressed. "She stayed, Blaze. That means something."
Blaze's jaw tensed. "She stayed... but she stopped reaching for me. That's not love. That's... loyalty.
He shook his head slowly. "And I don't want to be the man who keeps her locked in that. I want her to choose me. Not stay out of obligation."
The man's brow furrowed. "You'd really let her go? After everything?"
"I already have," Blaze said softly. "Every day she looks at me with those tired eyes... the ones that used to shine. And I realize, she's not looking at me anymore. She's looking through me."
He closed his eyes for a moment. A long breath escaped his lungs. "But if letting go means she gets to smile without the weight of me... then yes. I'll do it."
The friend leaned forward again, intensity flaring in his eyes. "And what about you? Who saves you, Blaze?"
Blaze opened his eyes and looked at him, a faint, broken smile touching his lips.
"No one. I was never the one meant to be saved."
Silence fell between them.
This wasn't a man unraveling. No. This was a man folding himself up piece by piece, placing every emotion in a box, and sealing it tight so that no one-not even himself-could open it again.
His friend looked down at the table. At the food they didn't touch. At the wine going warm.
He finally said, "You should fight for her."
Blaze simply rose from his chair, straightened the cuff of his suit jacket, and looked down at his friend with a shadowed gaze.
"I am," he replied. "Just not in the way you think."
And with that, he walked out, leaving behind only the echo of a goodbye he never said aloud.
Author's Note :
We got Blaze's Pov....but at what cost:(
Thankyou for reading<3
Have a good day/night<3<3