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“It’s funny…” Victoria murmurs. Her eyes seek Harper’s again. “Because I went to Paris because I was scared to death. I didn’t leave because I didn’t love you. I left because I felt like I was failing. I felt like the woman you’d married wasn’t enough to make you happy.”

Harper feels a chill and stops caressing Victoria’s hip.

“I thought that if I stayed, we’d end up destroying each other,” Victoria continues, clenching her teeth to maintain control. “Every argument made me feel like you were discovering a new flaw in me. That my ambition, my need to throw myself into my work, was driving you away by leaps and bounds. And I didn’t know how to handle it. My response was to put up my defenses and run away before you were the one to kick me out.”

Harper slowly lifts her head. Her eyes are shining, brimming with a mixture of surprise and that pain that inevitably lingers in her heart.

“Victoria…”

“No, let me finish…” Victoria interrupts her, desperately reaching for one of her hands. “You asked me a million times to slow down, to have dinner together, to choose our home over work. And my stupidity and my pride made me think you wanted to clip my wings. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to give you what you were asking for, and that you’d realize you’d been wrong about me.”

“I never wanted to clip your wings!” Harper exclaims, sitting up until she can lean against her chest. “Never. I admired your talent more than anything in this world. I was just asking you not to disappear. I wanted a space where we could exist, too. But every time I tried to tell you that, you shut me out.”

“I know,” Victoria admits, feeling a bitter lump in her throat. “I see it clearly now. It was just your way of telling me you missed me. I ended up being a coward.”

Harper lets out a sigh and brushes a strand of hair from her face.

“And I let you get on that plane because my damn pride kept me from begging you to stay,” Harper reveals, locking eyes with her. “I’d rather look like a cold-hearted bitch than admit I’d die without you. And my stupidity brought about exactly what I feared most: that you’d leave.”

Victoria raises her arms and wraps them around Harper’s neck, pulling her close against her body.

“We were quite a disastrous combination,” Victoria teases, tapping Harper on the forehead. “Two brilliant, highly capable women at our jobs, yet foolish enough not to say, ‘I’m afraid of losing you.’”

Harper bursts out laughing, but her laughter soon turns into a sigh.

“Totally. We should have published an editorial on how to ruin the perfect marriage in three easy steps.”

“Don’t make me laugh—I’m trying to hold on to what little dignity I have left,” Victoria says with a smile, brushing her nose against Harper’s. “I swear, back in Paris, I was convinced you’d moved on after just two months. I pictured you happy, rebuilding your life, while I was drowning myself in glasses of wine and social events.”

“Moved on?” Harper looks at her in disbelief. “Not at all. I hated you and missed you in equal measure. I signed the divorce papers while still loving you madly.”

“I think we were just too emotionally immature back then,” Victoria observes, stroking Harper’s back. “And too proud.”

“We thought love meant reading each other’s minds instead of sitting down to talk like two adults,” Harper agrees, planting a tiny, warm kiss on the corner of Victoria’s lips. “We were both wrong.”

“We were so, so wrong,” Victoria agrees, pulling her a little closer. “Although I have to admit that this office has turned into a nice form of therapy.”

Harper lets out a mischievous giggle and settles more comfortably against Victoria, resting her chin on her chest.

“Hey, well, I don’t think it’s bad at all.”

Victoria smiles, but after a few seconds, the expression on her face changes again.

“Harper… there’s something else. Something that’s been bugging me for days.”

Harper sighs, burying her face in Victoria’s neck.

“If you’re going to tell me we need to go over the balance sheets, I swear I’ll throw the folder at your head.”

“No. It’s not that,” Victoria says, turning serious. “It’s about Eleanor.”

“What’s going on with her?”

“I think she’s manipulating us,” Victoria says, narrowing her eyes. “Forcing us to work side by side on the most critical project of the year, making us share an office… None of this is a coincidence. Eleanor doesn’t take a single step without first calculating the benefit.”

Harper falls silent for a few seconds.

“Well, she wants results. She knew that together we’d bring some spark to the magazine, even if it was just because of our rivalry. What do you think she’s up to? Using our personal drama to sell more copies?”