All Chapters of Ashes Of His Regret : Chapter 161 - Chapter 167

lila's POV A phone call from Marcus?...not even a text, a phone call Which is either old-fashioned or deliberate and with Marcus I am beginning to understand that there is no difference between those two things. He does not do accidental things. Everything he does is considered.I am in the middle of something when my phone rings and I see his name and I sit very still for approximately three seconds before I answer."Marcus," I say."Lila." A pause.... brief, functional. "Damien mentioned you're working on a piece about corporate foundation launches. For the business journal."I wrote that piece two months ago.Damien mentioned it to Marcus two months ago.Marcus is calling about it now.I note the timeline and say nothing about it."I finished that piece," I say. "It ran last month.""Right." Another pause. Not embarrassed — recalibrating. "He also mentioned you were starting something new. About women in executive leadership."This is true. I am starting something new about women

Lila's POVI arrive seven minutes early and spend four of them standing on the pavement outside the Hale Industries building deciding whether arriving early makes me look eager.I decide it makes me look professional.I go in.The reception is on the thirty-second floor — a space that manages to feel like it belongs to a building without feeling like an office. Good lighting. The particular hum of a room where people are talking about real things rather than performing conversation. I recognize two of the board members from photographs I reviewed after Marcus called.. Dr. Osei, who came up through investment banking before pivoting to board work at forty-two; and Patricia Yuen, whose career trajectory I spent an embarrassing amount of time reading about on Wednesday because I was preparing for the article and absolutely not because I was trying to understand the context Marcus moves in.I get a drink from the server near the door.I look at the room.Marcus is not immediately visible.

Esmeralda's POVI write the response on a Tuesday morning, not because Tuesday has any particular significance, I have been telling myself I would write it since last Thursday and each day has found a reason to not be the day. Not avoidance exactly, more the particular caution of someone who understands that some words, once sent, cannot be recalled, and who has learned....slowly, at considerable cost to be deliberate about the things she puts into the permanent record.It is seven AM.Damien has taken Margaret Rose for her morning walk...the specific ritual they have developed between themselves, father and daughter, thirty minutes every morning where they move through the neighbourhood and Damien talks to her about whatever is in his head and she looks at things with the focused attention she brings to everything. I watch them leave from the window. Damien with the pram, Margaret Rose's head turning at the first sound of the street, already interested in what the morning has.I com