1. Katerina

The sound of my heels clicking on the tile flooring of Montgomery Enterprises on a Monday morning was all you could hear, aside from the occasional typing or phone calls coming through.

"Good morning, Miss Montgomery. Mr. Montgomery is waiting for you in his office," the front desk lady said as she noticed me enter the lobby. I nodded, thanking her before walking towards the elevator and pressing the up button to take me to my brother's office floor.

I sighed and leaned against the cold metal wall of the elevator as it took me to the top floor. The song playing on the speakers made my heart ache. It was the song that Jericho and I proclaimed as our own when we began dating. It had been playing when we met two years ago at one of my brother's parties, hitting it off right off the bat. The song was "18" by One Direction. I sighed a breath of relief when the elevator stopped and the doors opened with a ding. I stepped out, leaving my memories behind.

Life had been perfect, or so I thought. I was too blinded to see that I was slowly losing him. I didn't see the signs that our relationship was over until it became a reality two days ago. How pathetic was I to think that our relationship would last a lifetime? I was too naive to believe that our relationship was strong enough to surpass any obstacle that life threw our way, but it was all an illusion, a dream, a fantasy that my mind created. In some way, I knew that our relationship was over, but I couldn't force myself to believe it.

Tears slowly began rolling down my face as the memories of the last 36 hours flooded my mind.

Flashback:

"Good evening, table for two?" The hostess questioned as Jericho and I entered the restaurant, and he nodded.

"Do you have reservations?" She asked.

"Yeah, it should be under Johnson," Jericho replied. The lady nodded, checking the booklet before grabbing two menus and leading us to a booth in the very back where we wouldn't be interrupted. It was strange; Jericho was the last person to care if we were bothered, so this was unusual. I said nothing and thanked the lady as she handed the menus once we sat down.

"Could I get you two started with something to drink?" she questioned.

"Yes, can we get a bottle of your best wine, please?" Jericho questioned, and I raised a brow at that suggestion since he rarely drank wine except during special occasions or when he had something important to say. Our anniversary was tomorrow, so I didn't understand why he'd ask me out to dinner tonight instead of just waiting for tomorrow.

"So what did you want to talk about that couldn't wait until tomorrow?" I asked, and he sighed, fidgeting with the napkin.

"It's about us," he said, and I stared at him, feeling a smile form on my face. Was he going to ask me to marry him? Being with him was all I ever wanted. I wanted to spend my life with him. He's the only boyfriend I ever saw myself with for the long run.

"What about us?" I asked, not getting ahead of myself, as it might not be about getting married but something else important.

Just as he was about to reply, the hostess returned and placed the bottle of wine in front of us before asking if we were ready to order. Once we ordered, she walked away, leaving us alone again, and I waited for Jericho to explain what he wanted to talk about.

He took a deep breath, filling the glasses with wine before taking a sip from the glass.

"Well?" I asked when he didn't say anything for several minutes, getting anxious as he had never acted this way before.

"I'm sorry, Katt," he said after a while, and I looked at him, confused.

"Sorry for what, J?" I questioned, taking a drink from my glass.

"I can't continue leading you on and pretending that everything between us is perfect when you and I both know that it's not," he said, and I felt my throat close up, my heart hammering in my chest as tears burned in the back of my eyes.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.

"I think it would be best if we go our separate ways, Katerina," he said, and I sat frozen on my seat before tears began rolling down my cheeks. He cursed, reaching for me, but I moved out of his reach. "Please don't do this, Katerina."

"Fuck you, Jericho," I hissed, pushing away from the table. "Why did you wait until the eve of our second anniversary to do this? Why not earlier? You're a fucking asshole. I was stupid to believe that we could work this out. Don't ever get near me again. You're nothing to me. I hate you more than I ever thought possible."

I dumped the wine on him before storming out of the booth, nearly making the waitress fall and drop the food she was bringing.

"My car, please," I told the valet guy, and he nodded, waiting patiently, hoping that Jericho didn't follow me out. The last thing I wanted was to see him after he broke my heart not even five minutes ago.

The valet driver soon arrived, and I heard the sound of Jericho's voice calling my name.

"KATERINA, WAIT!" He yelled, but I got into my car once the man gave me my car keys. I pulled out of the driveway as tears rolled down my face.

"Fuck," I sobbed as I drove away from the one person I've ever fallen in love with. I drove, not knowing where, and before I knew it, I was pulling into the parking lot of the familiar nightclub, Phoenix Night Club, owned by my family. I parked the car and got out before making my way to the entrance, where I saw Zander, the bouncer. There were people lined up at the entrance.

"Good evening, Miss Montgomery," Zander greeted as he held the door open for me and let me in, ignoring the protests of the club-goers.

"Thank you, Zander," I murmured, and he nodded.

"The VIP lounge is ready for you, Katerina," he said, and I nodded before entering the building and going straight to the lounge to get away from everyone and have some time for myself. I walked to the bar.

"What would it be, Miss Montgomery?" The bartender asked, and I smiled.

"Scotch."

Present:

The last thing I remembered from that night was talking to a stranger and agreeing to go home with him. How stupid was that? Going home with a stranger because I was heartbroken? But what I didn't expect was to wake up to the one person my family saw as another son, Alexander Storm, CEO of Storm Enterprises.

I sighed and knocked on my brother's office door.

"Come in," he yelled, and I opened the door, tears slowly rolling down my face. He looked up when I opened the door.

"Leave us," he said to the men he was having a meeting with, and they nodded, getting out of their seats before leaving the office. I felt my bottom lip quiver as I walked closer to him, and he pulled me into a hug, where I broke down.

"He said that it was best if we didn't continue the relationship, saying that we both knew it wasn't going anywhere," I whimpered, wiping the tears away with a tissue.

"Is that what he used as a reason to dump you?" David asked, and I sniffled, nodding. "That son of a bitch."

I told him about everything that happened, including waking up the following morning in bed with a stranger and then finding out that the stranger was Alexander Storm.

"God, Kat," he sighed, running a hand through his hair, and I sniffled.

"I didn't mean to, David. I was too drunk to even realize who it was, and I feel so stupid for doing that," I murmured.

"I know. I just wish you had come to me instead of going to the club," he said, pulling me into a hug.

"I'm sorry, I'm a failure," I murmured, and felt him tighten his hold on me, kissing the top of my head.

"You're not a failure, Katt," he murmured, and I sighed, pulling back to look up at him. "We'll get through this as a family."

"Okay."