Adrian leaned back in the leather chair, blazer discarded, sleeves rolled up as he massaged the bridge of his nose. The hall was quiet now, emptied of council members and buzzing interns, save for the faint echo of footsteps against polished marble.

He didn’t need to look up to know it was them.

Of course they’d be the last one out. Always the last word. The last stare. The last person he needed complicating his night.

“Still here, President Vale?” they asked, voice dipped in velvet and ice.

He glanced up, slowly. They stood in the doorway, arms crossed, a folder in hand and that familiar spark in their eyes—the same one that used to undo him. The same one that had watched him walk away three summers ago.

“I should be asking you that,” he said, leaning forward. “Don’t tell me you’ve suddenly developed a passion for council business.”

“I care about the campaign. That’s more than I can say for the person coasting off his name.” They took a step closer. Deliberate. Dangerous.

Adrian stood, the chair creaking behind him. “Careful, sweetheart. You’re starting to sound jealous.”

Their laugh was soft but biting. “Please. If I wanted your spotlight, I’d take it.”

Of course they would. That was the problem.

Their family name was poison in his world, their presence a scandal waiting to explode—and yet here they were, Velmont’s newest student union vice-chair, assigned to work beside him for the rest of the term. As if fate had a cruel sense of humour.

They brushed past him to drop the folder on the desk, the scent of their perfume hitting him all at once. Familiar. Maddening.

“You’ve changed,” he said quietly.

They paused but didn’t turn around. “So have you.”

Silence stretched between them like a live wire. He could still remember how they kissed—furious, soft, like they didn’t know which version of him to want. He could still remember the letters they never answered.

“You left,” he said, voice low.

“You told me to,” they whispered back.

That broke something. Or maybe it lit a match.

He stepped forward until they were too close, until they had to tilt their chin up to meet his gaze.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Adrian murmured, eyes on her lips. “You know this is a bad idea.”

Their breath hitched. “And yet,” they said, “you haven’t stepped away.”