My Ex Regrets Dumping Me For His Ex

Keller's dismissal set the whole department buzzing, and every head turned toward Audrey with the same unfriendly look. A pretty face, in a room full of people who thought they were the best in the city.

"Watch your mouth, Mr. Keller." Before Jason could answer, Audrey's eyes cut to him, her smile cold. "Skill isn't something you announce. It's something you show. If this company could handle a problem this small, you wouldn't have called anyone."

"Why, you—" Keller went red.

The programmers bristled. Every one of them believed they were elite.

Audrey didn't waste another word. She flipped open her laptop. "Reid. Coffee."

Reid stepped up, handed over the iced coffee, and moved out of her light. "Here you go, Ms. Griffin."

The machine woke in under three seconds. Her hands moved fast and without hesitation. Within moments, monitors across the room flickered, numbers recalibrating and shifting on their own.

"Stop her!"

Keller lunged, panic in his voice. He was certain she was about to wipe them.

He grabbed a cup of cold water off the nearest desk, ready to pour it into her laptop. "Somebody stop her!"

Two techs tried. Their keyboards were dead.

On the walls, the numbers kept spinning, faster and faster.

"Mr. Keller." A hand closed on his shoulder from behind. "Wait. Look at the screens before you do something stupid." The tech lead was frowning.

Keller scanned the monitors. His eyes went wide. "Did we just—did that bug close?"

He looked at Audrey. She was typing one-handed now, sipping her coffee.

Just then, Diego Ramos walked in with a small box in his hand and took in the room.

Under the fluorescents, Audrey looked serious and completely unshakable, her focus locked on the screen. The confidence didn't grate on him. It pulled at him.

Something long dormant stirred in his chest.

"Mr. Keller, this is emergency support only. Get a competent firm to build you a new system inside a month. After that, we're not liable for anything you lose." Audrey hit one last key, closed the laptop, and turned to go.

And came face to face with Diego. She stepped back on instinct and nearly caught her hip on the edge of a desk.

"Careful—" He reached out without thinking and pulled her in.

The clean, familiar smell of him registered before anything else, and for one traitorous second her body remembered exactly what it was like to be held by him.

Color crept up her neck. She got her composure back and put professional distance between them. "Thank you, Mr. Ramos."

And even now, he lingered in her head. It infuriated her.

Diego frowned at how deliberately far away she'd stepped.

"The gift I ordered. Happy birthday." He held out the box.

Audrey hesitated. She was surprised he'd remembered at all. It didn't soften anything. "Thank you, Mr. Ramos. That isn't necessary."

The room went still. Had the CEO just given someone a present?

Jason quietly cleared everyone out, leaving the two of them alone in the open floor.

When Diego kept holding it out, Audrey sighed and opened it. Inside was a delicate bracelet, interlocking loops set with small diamonds, and a charm shaped like a little dog.

Something in her chest went hard. "Mr. Ramos, when you buy someone a gift, it helps to know what they actually like. I prefer wolves."

She was also allergic to dogs, which he'd never noticed either.

Lila loved dogs. Diego's house was full of little ceramic ones—something Audrey had discovered the week she moved in.

Regret flickered across his face. He'd assumed she liked them too; he'd seen her browsing them online once. "I'm sorry. Can we talk?"

Audrey paused, then turned back. "I'm busy, Mr. Ramos. Anything business-related goes through my assistant. Anything else—unless it's legal—let's not. I wouldn't want to get in the way of you and your girlfriend."

She walked out, heels steady, and left the tech floor murmuring behind her.

"I'll walk you down," Reid said, hurrying after her.

"No need." She shut it down flat.

Right now, anyone connected to Diego was unbearable.

As the elevator doors closed, Audrey leaned back against the wall. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her face pale.

She had never mattered to him. A man who could get a gift that wrong had never once been paying attention. Ending it had been right.

Her hand moved to her abdomen. Thinking of the baby, something in her face softened.

She wasn't alone. Not really.

Then a sharp pang shot through her—the day catching up with her, probably.

"Ms. Griffin." Reid was waiting when the doors opened, and his face changed when he saw how pale she was. "Are you all right?"

She gripped his arm. "Take me to a hospital. Now."

She was barely eight weeks along.

"What?" He got her into the car fast. "Should I call an ambulance?"

"Just drive."

She bit her lip, both hands over her stomach.

Hold on, she thought. You and me. We're fine.

The car pulled up at the city hospital.

"Sit here, I'll get you registered." Reid steered her to a bench and hurried to the desk.

As her pulse settled, the pain eased a little.

She pulled out her phone and scrolled through her notes. Coming back to the company meant setting its direction all over again.

"Audrey Griffin. Well. It really is you."

A woman's voice, and it was enjoying itself.