DEEPEST REGRET

Olivia's POV

I had tried to move on. I had built a life for myself and Max, and I didn't need him. Or at least, I told myself I didn't... But seeing him across the room, his presence commanding the space, my heart betrayed me. It hammered against my chest as if begging for attention. I had expected the encounter- had prepared myself for it- but nothing could have prepared me for how much it would affect me.

I stood frozen in place, watching him laugh with some acquaintances, his dark hair slightly tousled in the way it always had been. His features were sharper now, more defined, but still so familiar. The man I had loved, the one who had once been my everything, was now a stranger who didn't even know my name.

Max tugged on my sleeve, pulling me back to reality.

"Mom, who is that?" he asked, his voice innocent but laced with curiosity. His small fingers gripped my hand, his little face looking up at me with a question I wasn't sure how to answer.

"That's someone I used to know," I replied, forcing a smile, pushing down the ache in my chest.

Max didn't understand, not really. He had never known Marcus. I had kept him away, not wanting to drag the past into his innocent world. He didn't know the heartache, the betrayal, or the years spent trying to make sense of the shattered pieces of a love that had once seemed so perfect.

Marcus's eyes shifted in my direction, and for a brief second, I thought he might have recognized me. His gaze met mine, and I could see the flicker of confusion in his expression. It lasted only a moment, but it felt like an eternity. Then, his lips curled into a smile, the same smile that had once melted me. I didn't return it. Not this time.

Max tugged on my hand again, more insistently. "Mom, do we know him?"

I hesitated. The words stuck in my throat. How could I explain the man standing before us, the man who had once been everything to me, only to break me apart without a second thought?

"We knew him a long time ago," I said softly, pushing a strand of hair behind my ear. My heart pounded in my chest, but I kept my composure. I had to.

"Are we going to talk to him?" Max asked, his eyes wide with curiosity.

I shook my head. "No, sweetheart. We're not. We should go."

Before Max could protest, I turned away, guiding him through the crowd of people, my heart still racing, but now for an entirely different reason. My mind whirled, my thoughts clouded with the past, with everything I had been through.

He was standing there, a few feet away, looking at us with that same expression that once made me feel like I was the center of his world. I didn't belong in his world anymore, and I sure as hell wasn't about to let him back in... But that didn't mean it wouldn't hurt.

I reached the exit, my grip tightening on Max's hand. I had to get out of there before I broke down. The past was a place I had buried deep inside, and seeing Marcus again made it feel like it was all rushing back to the surface. Every word, every touch, every promise that had been made and then shattered-like glass slipping through my fingers.

Marcus's POV

The first thing I noticed was the way she looked. Olivia hadn't changed much. She was still beautiful, her long brown hair cascading over her shoulders in soft waves. Her green eyes, the ones that used to melt me, were guarded now, holding something I couldn't quite read. I hadn't seen her in years, but the moment our eyes met, everything shifted.