Page 44 of Tempting My Nemesis

"Zoe. What do you want?"

"Caleb, please… I need to talk to you. There’s something I need to tell you… about my father. I know the truth now."

Silence stretches between us, each second a knife twisting deeper into my heart. When he finally speaks, his words are sharp and bitter.

"It won’t change anything, Zoe.”"

"I’m so sorry, Caleb. I never knew… I wish I could change things…"

His response is like ice—cold and detached.

"It’s over, Zoe. There’s nothing left between us."

The line goes dead. I drop the phone and collapse onto the couch as sobs wrack my body. The letter from my father lies unopened beside me, a symbol of the distance now between Caleb and me. Our love is in ruins, destroyed by the weight of my father’s sins.

I am left with nothing but the knowledge that I've lost everything—my untarnished memory of my father, my hope for saving my company, and the man I love.

My laptop screenglows in the darkness of my apartment, casting a harsh light on my face. I stare at the jumble of numbers and projections, willing them to make sense. But my mind refuses to focus.

"Dammit," I mutter, pushing away from the desk.

My chest aches with each breath. Caleb's words echo in my head, cold and final.

I stand and walk to the window, pressing my forehead against the cool glass. The city lights blur into a hazy glow, mirroring the chaos swirling inside me.

My father's face flashes in my mind, his eyes filled with regret as he confessed his role in the deaths of Caleb's parents. The burden of his sins presses down on me, threatening to crush what's left of my spirit.

"He's really gone," I whisper to the empty room. "I've lost him... and I don't know how to go on from here."

Tears spill down my cheeks, hot and relentless. I wrap my arms around myself, trying to hold the pieces together. But I'm falling apart, crumbling under the weight of my guilt and grief.

The future stretches out before me, bleak and empty without Caleb by my side. How can I save Archer Innovations now? How can I face each day knowing what my father did?

My gaze falls on the unopened letter from my father. With trembling hands, I reach for it, breaking the seal. As I unfold the paper, my father's familiar handwriting comes into view, and a fresh wave of emotion washes over me.

My dearest Zoe,

If you're reading this, I'm no longer there to hold you, to guide you, or to ask for your forgiveness in person. I know I've let you down as a father, and the weight of my actions will forever be a burden on our family's legacy.

I made terrible mistakes, putting business and profits before humanity. The consequences of my choices have caused unimaginable pain, not just to our family, but to others – especially to young Caleb Steele. He was just a child when this happened, and he never deserved the hand that life dealt him because of my actions.

I have a final request, my darling girl. Please, find Caleb. Make amends on my behalf. I know it's an enormous ask, but you have always had the strength and compassion that I lacked. He deserves to know the truth and to find peace, if possible.

And Zoe, please ask your mother to forgive me , I wanted to provide the best life for you both. She deserves the best, especially for putting up with me all these years. She has been my rock through thick and thin. Take care of her for me. She is my one true love, and it pains me deeply that we won't grow old together as we'd planned. She'll need you now more than ever.

I'm so sorry, my sweet girl. I hope that someday, you can find it in your heart to forgive me too.

All my love, Dad"

The letter falls from my hands as I sink to the floor. The raw emotion in my father's words, his plea for forgiveness, and his final request are a load I don’t know if I can carry. Through my tears, I see the impossible task before me—to make amends with a man whose life was shattered by my father's choices, a man who now wants nothing to do with me. Everything I’ve ever known has been turned upside down, and I’m now left adrift in a sea of heartache.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

ZOE

The city stretches out before me, a canvas of gray and steel, yet it feels smaller, emptier without him. My hair brushes against my shoulders as I lean against the window, trying to find solace in the morning light. The silence of my apartment presses in, amplifying the void Caleb has left.

My phone buzzes incessantly on the counter, but I can’t muster the energy to check it. Instead, I let my thoughts wander back to Caleb—his piercing gray eyes, the strength of his embrace. The way he could be so infuriatingly guarded and yet make me feel seen in ways no one else ever had.

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