The café was quiet. Intimate. Just loud enough to hear the hiss of espresso machines and the clinking of cutlery.
Harper chose a booth with clear lines of sight to the exit, a place with witnesses. She wasn't taking chances.
Ian was already there when they arrived.
He stood as she and Jacob approached, wearing that same carefully-pressed shirt and unreadable smile. But the moment he saw Jacob beside her, something in his posture shifted.
He hadn't expected backup.
"Harper," he said smoothly. "I didn't know this was going to be a group discussion."
Harper slid into the booth without flinching. "You said you wanted honesty. That's what this is."
Jacob didn't sit. He stood beside the table, silent. Watching.
Ian slowly lowered himself into the seat opposite Harper, still playing calm. "Of course. Whatever makes you comfortable."
Harper didn't bother with pleasantries.
"You told me you used to work at my office. That wasn't a lie. But the rest? It was all performance, wasn't it?"
Ian's expression barely moved. "You seemed to enjoy our conversations."
"I didn't realize at the time that you had been lingering around my floor long after your contract ended. Or that you were showing up weeks after you'd been let go. No badge. No reason to be there."
She let that sink in. "You weren't interested in publishing. You were interested in me."
Ian's smile faltered for the first time.
Jacob crossed his arms. "She doesn't owe you anything, Ian. And you need to stop pretending otherwise."
Ian's jaw twitched. "You think you understand what's happening here?"
"I understand that you created a fake persona to force your way into my life," Harper said. "You mirrored everything I liked. You studied me. You knew what mug I drank out of. What plants I keep on my deck. And you thought if you played it just right, I'd eventually let you in."
Ian's voice was colder now. "That's not how I'd describe it."
"No?" Harper said. "Then let me be clear."
She leaned forward, voice low.
"This ends now. No more emails. No more watching. No more showing up. If I see you again, I will go to the police. And this time, I have a file ready."
Jacob stepped forward slightly. "We're not bluffing. You so much as message her again, and we press charges."
Ian exhaled slowly, resting back in his chair. "You think cornering me in public makes you brave?"
"No," Harper said. "Living with your shadow for months and refusing to let it win makes me brave."
She stood. Jacob did too.
Ian stayed seated, watching them with narrowed eyes.
"You made a mistake," he said softly. "Pushing me away."
"No," Harper replied. "The mistake was thinking I wouldn't see through you eventually."
And with that, she and Jacob left.
Outside, Harper's hands were trembling, but she didn't let it show.
Jacob glanced at her. "Are you okay?"
"I am now," she said. But her voice wasn't sure.
Because she knew something in Ian's face when they walked away: he wasn't finished.
Not yet.