But he had known.
And she had not.
Maggie felt something inside her break.
“He lied to me.”
Tessa approached.
“Are you sure?”
“He didn't tell me.”
“That isn't necessarily the same thing.”
Maggie looked at her.
“When someone knows you're building your whole future around something and keeps information like that from you, what would you call it?”
Tessa had no answer.
Maggie turned away.
“I thought he respected me.”
Nicholas arrived at the apartment forty minutes later.
He was still wearing his suit.
His hair was disordered, and his expression changed the instant he saw Maggie standing in the doorway.
“You heard.”
She folded her arms.
“Yes.”
He exhaled.
“Maggie, let me explain.”
“Did you know?”
He hesitated.
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Since Friday.”
“And you didn't think to tell me?”
“I was trying to stop it.”
She stared.
“That's not what I asked.”
Nicholas ran a hand through his hair.
“The authorization was preliminary. It wasn't a final demolition order.”
“But it was real.”
“Yes.”
“And you knew.”
“Yes.”
Maggie stepped backward.
He saw the hurt in her face.
It frightened him more than her anger.
“I didn't want to alarm you before I understood what my father had signed.”
She laughed bitterly.
“Alarm me?”
“Maggie—”
“I've spent every waking hour trying to save that theater. I lost my job over it. I've put every dollar I have into engineering reports and drawings, and you didn't want to alarm me?”
“I was trying to protect the proposal.”
“From what? The truth?”
Nicholas fell silent.
She looked at him.
“Did you think I couldn't handle it?”
“No.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
He searched for an answer.
The truth was uncomfortable.
He had known she would be furious.
He had known she might walk away from him.
And for the first time in years, he had found someone whose presence made his life feel less empty.
He had been afraid of losing her.
So he delayed a difficult conversation.
And in doing so, he had betrayed the very trust that made their relationship possible.
“I was afraid,” he said quietly.
Maggie stared.
“Of what?”
“Of losing you.”
Her face changed.
For one moment, he thought the admission might soften her.
Instead, her eyes filled with tears.
“Oh, Nick.”
He stepped closer.
She moved away.
“That's exactly why you should have told me.”
“I know.”
“No, I don't think you do.”
He swallowed.