Chapter 5 Five

The house was a shell without them. Nick woke to silence that pressed against him like a weight. No clatter of dishes from Noel in the kitchen, no thud of Mason's sneakers pounding down the stairs, no soft hum of Maire singing to her doll. Only the low whir of the refrigerator and the groan of pipes in the walls kept him company.

He sat on the edge of the bed longer than he should have, staring at the indentation where Noel used to sleep. The sheets were smoothed neatly now, as though she had never been there at all. He rubbed his face with both hands, trying to shake the emptiness, but it clung stubbornly.

Eventually, he dressed, tying his tie with mechanical precision, and drove to the firm. If he couldn't fix home, at least he could bury himself in work. That had always been his refuge: blueprints and deadlines, clients and projects. Architecture didn't demand trust. It only demanded precision, but precision, he found, was harder to summon than before.

***

The office buzzed with Monday morning energy when he arrived. Assistants hurried between desks, voices overlapped in the open-plan space, and phones rang. Normally, the rhythm energised him, filled him with a sense of control; today, the noise grated on him wrongly.

"Morning, Mr Elba", his secretary, Laura, greeted him brightly as he stepped into the floor that housed his office. She was young, eager, and always immaculately dressed.

"Morning", Nick replied shortly, striding past her. He caught the flicker of surprise on her face. He was usually warmer, taking time to acknowledge her, even joke. Today, he couldn't summon it.

In his office, the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked downtown Toronto, glass towers piercing the sky. He set his briefcase down and opened the latest designs for a high-profile project: a corporate headquarters for one of the city's wealthiest firms.

Normally, he would lose himself in the lines and angles, seeing not just the building but the story it told. Today, the lines blurred. He rubbed his temples, tried again, but the numbers swam, the proportions skewed. Mason's face intruded, Maire's laughter, and Noel's tearful eyes. He pushed the papers away, leaning back in his chair, frustration boiling.

By noon, some staff couldn't help but already start whispering. He caught them in the break room when he went to refill his coffee. Two junior architects, their voices low, stopped abruptly when he walked in. Their guilty silence told him enough, they were talking about him. Later, in the hallway, he overheard another pair of staff murmuring about how they were slipping at their deadlines, about clients growing restless. His name surfaced, followed by a pause, then lowered voices.

Nick clenched his jaw. He had built this firm from nothing, brick by brick, reputation by reputation. He was their leader, their anchor and now, in his distraction, he was becoming their liability. That afternoon, he sat in a meeting with a major client, the corporate headquarters project lead. Nick tried to present the updated designs, but his voice faltered. His mind wandered mid-sentence, images of Noel packing bags flashed unbidden. The client frowned, tapping a pen against the table, unimpressed.

"Mr Elba", the man interrupted, "these figures don't align with the original proposal. Are you sure you're on top of this?"

Nick's cheeks burned. He glanced at the papers; indeed, the calculations were off. Normally, he would have caught such a mistake instantly. Today, he hadn't.

"I'll review it immediately", Nick said, his voice tight.

The client leaned back, sceptical.

"See that you do. Lane Associates has been very eager for our business, don't make me regret staying loyal to you"

The name hit Nick like a blow. Lane Associates, Marcus Lane. Marcus had been a thorn in his side for years, slick, charming, ruthless. Where Nick was steady and precise, Marcus was flashy, courting clients with grand gestures and extravagant promises. Their rivalry had grown alongside their firms, each vying for the city's biggest projects. Nick had always prided himself on winning by merit, by design excellence, by integrity. Marcus, in his view, thrived on smoke and mirrors. Still, he had to admit: Marcus was dangerous, and now, with Nick faltering, his spies abound, there was no doubt Marcus smelled blood.

That evening, as Nick left the office, he spotted Marcus leaning casually against a black car at the curb, phone pressed to his ear. Their eyes met briefly, and Marcus smiled, a slow, knowing smile that made Nick's stomach twist. He didn't wave, didn't acknowledge him beyond that smile, but the message was clear. Marcus knew. He had heard about Nick slipping this past week from one of his many spies, and he wanted Nick to know he was waiting, circling like a vulture over carrion. Nick climbed into his car, slamming the door harder than necessary. His reflection in the rearview mirror looked older than it had a week ago, tired, hollow.

He drove home through the city lights, each glowing window reminding him of families intact, dinners shared, laughter spilling into warm rooms. His own house, when he entered it, was silent. He dropped his keys into the bowl by the door. The echo seemed louder than usual. He tried to fill the silence. He turned on the television, let the news drone in the background. He poured himself a glass of whiskey, the amber liquid catching the lamplight. He reheated leftovers and ate, though he barely tasted them, but nothing drowned the emptiness.

He found himself wandering into the children's rooms again. Mason's bed was neatly made now, the room too tidy, stripped of life. Maire's dolls sat in a row on the shelf, untouched. Nick sat heavily on Mason's desk chair, staring at the blank wall.

His mind kept replaying Noel's words: "I can forgive many things, but I can't forgive not being trusted"

He wanted to tell her he trusted her now, that the test had proved what his heart should have known. But how could he say that without revealing the betrayal? And even if he could, would she believe him?

***

At the firm, the decline worsened. Deadlines continued to slip, clients grew impatient, staff avoided his gaze, whispering more openly now. He tried to correct course, tried to drown himself in work, but his focus fractured again and again. One afternoon, Laura entered his office hesitantly.

"Mr Elba, Marcus Lane's firm just called the reception desk. They asked for an updated proposal on the Greenway project. I thought... wasn't that one of ours?" she asked.

Nick's blood ran cold.

"Yes, it is", he answered tightly.

But Marcus was circling. Already, he was making moves, contacting clients, sliding into the spaces Nick had left vulnerable. Nick dismissed Laura with a curt nod, then sank back in his chair, staring out at the city. The skyline blurred, his reflection staring back at him in the glass.

He had lost his family, and now he was losing his firm. The cracks in his life were no longer hidden beneath a polished surface. They were spreading, wide and visible, threatening to bring everything down, and Marcus Lane was waiting, ready to feast on the ruin.

That night, alone again in his too-quiet house, Nick poured another glass of whiskey. He sat in the dark living room, the city lights flickering beyond the windows. The emptiness pressed in, louder than ever. For the first time, he wondered if he could hold anything together at all.