Sebastian's POV
The rain was hitting the glass like fingers trying to claw their way in.
My office in the upper floors of the Langford Tower was dim—just the city lights cutting through the storm and the low hum of jazz playing from the corner speaker. I was finishing up reports, sipping bitter black coffee, when the door opened.
I didn't look up.
"You're not on my schedule."
"Well," came the voice I knew too well, "some things can't wait for scheduling."
I looked up slowly.
Rain stood there, soaked from the storm. Still beautiful in that icy, distant way. Her hair slicked back, eyes dark like winter. She always knew how to look like she belonged—how to make a mess look intentional.
"What do you want, Rain."
She smiled softly, closing the door behind her. "Just to talk. About Ava. About us."
I laughed once. Cold. "There is no us."
She tilted her head. "You don't mean that."
"You left. Don't act like you forgot."
"I was seventeen!" she snapped, stepping closer. "I didn't know how to be a mother! You were obsessed with her from the start—you loved her more than you ever loved me."
My jaw tensed. "Because she never lied to me."
"She lies every night, Sebastian. You think she's innocent? You think she's your little angel? She sneaks out, drinks, smokes, makes out with strangers—"
I stood up.
She froze.
"I know," I said quietly. "I caught her. I confronted her. And she told me the truth."
Rain blinked.
"You think you're the only one who sees the dark side of people? You think I don't know what it looks like when someone's hurting? I raised her. I know her better than I know myself."
She stared. "You're blinded by her. She's manipulative."
I took a slow step forward.
Rain's breath caught.
"You don't get to say that," I said, voice low. "You don't get to call her manipulative when she spent sixteen years begging for love from the person who gave her life. And you—you watched from shadows like some ghost in the walls."
"She stole you from me," Rain whispered. "The moment she was born. You were mine—mine—and you looked at her like she was your everything."
"She is my everything," I said.
Silence.
Rain's lips trembled. "She's ruining you."
"She saved me."
I walked over to the door and opened it.
"You're not welcome here, Rain."
She stood frozen for a second. "You're choosing her over me?"
I met her eyes. "I always did."
And then, as she passed me, she muttered, "You don't even let her call you Sebastian."
I smiled.
"No one calls me Seb. Not even you. That's hers."
The door slammed shut behind her.
I turned back to the glass, watching the city blur beneath the rain.
I'd chosen.
And I'd choose her a thousand times more.