chapter436

Lysander focused entirely on his meal, his elegance as cold and precise as a winter sky. He offered no further acknowledgment of the night’s events, treating the morning with the same detached efficiency he applied to a board meeting.

Thalassa did not falter. She saw the tablet not as an insult, but as a form of mutual liberation. She accepted it calmly, washing it down with her juice. It was a moment of clarity: in Lysander’s world, every action was balanced by a safeguard. By accepting this, she was also reclaiming her own autonomy, ensuring that her future remained hers alone to dictate.

“I’ve finished. I’ll be taking my leave,” she said, rising from the table.

Lysander didn't stop her. His deep eyes remained fixed on his work, a fortress of professional indifference.

Stepping out of the hotel, Thalassa breathed in the crisp morning air. The weight in her chest was no longer one of sadness, but of a profound, weary realization. She didn't head to the office. Instead, she directed the cab toward her own residence. She needed a space untainted by corporate power to recalibrate her life. If Lysander chose to terminate her employment over this absence, she decided she would welcome the chance for a fresh start.

The house was peaceful, the air filled with the familiar, comforting scent of her children’s world. Here, she wasn't a secretary navigating the whims of a tycoon; she was a mother, the center of an independent universe.