Emelia's POVThere was no way in hell Bernadette just said what I thought she did. Right? She didn't just suggest that Lily live in my home? So my husband could take care of her?Could Bernadette see the smoke coming out of my ears? Could she tell that it felt like she'd just slapped me in the face?"No, absolutely not!" I said in an exasperated tone. "That is out of the question and completely out of line!"Bernadette rolled her eyes at me and diverted her attention to Victor. "Oh, come now, dearest son. You don't think I'm being unreasonable, do you?"Victor avoided my gaze that I was burning into him. His lips pushed into a thin line as he hesitated to give an answer.But I knew him better—I knew exactly what he was going to say. Just the suspense of waiting for him to confirm my suspicions made me want to vomit.Victor sighed. "No, mother. You're not being unreasonable.""Oh, Victor!" Lily squealed. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight. "This is going to be so exci
Emelia's POVI shouldn't have been surprised that there was yet another secret between Victor and Lily I was just now finding out.How many more secrets did he have? Would it be another day or week until I'd find out the next one?I stood at the bottom of the steps, eavesdropping yet again on another conversation I knew that would only hurt me."It makes no sense to me, honestly." Bernadette continued. "You know how much I've loved Lily since she followed you home from school one day. Even our families are so close… Why didn't you marry her?""Mom, that's all in the past now." Victor replied in an indifferent tone. "Can we not talk about that right now?"A part of me wanted to feel relief at Victor choosing not to talk about his past engagement with Lily—but I felt none.I truly had no idea how much more of the secrets and betrayal I could bear…The sound of footsteps broke me from my thoughts and I immediately rushed up the stairs to avoid being seen. After I closed the door softly,
Emelia's POVJust as I was finally ready to submerge myself in flames of passion, a sudden knock at the door shattered the entire atmosphere. Instantly, the air had gone cold, and pleasure quickly turned into irritation."Victor!" Lily's unpleasant voice clawed through the door. "I need your help now!""Fuck!" Victor hissed under his breath."You can't be serious!" I groaned under my breath.We both pulled away from each other and scattered to get our clothes on. The tension and frustration was so thick in the air, it was almost hard to breathe.Why? Why now?After we were both clothed, we had to take a few extra moments to catch our breaths.The sensation of our bodies having been so close didn't go away for me as easily. I could feel the heat of my arousal still pooled at the bottom of my stomach. It was almost painful to have had the few moments of pleasure yanked away from me so abruptly.As for Victor, he seemed to be able to compose himself much more easily. He opened the door a
Emelia's POVI kept my gaze locked onto Victor's but I could feel his demeanor had changed. While his expression was hard to read, I could tell that he was conflicted.Like he couldn't choose between me or Lily.As I leaned in to try and give him another kiss, Victor pulled away. Suddenly, his arm was no longer around my waist, and he'd stepped back a few inches.I gave him a pleading look, but he didn't acknowledge me. Disappointment, frustration, and sadness lingered in the space between us."I'll be right back, okay Lily?" Victor finally broke the silence. "I'm just going to take a shower real quick.""But I'm hungry now!" Lily pouted."Hey, you still haven't even picked what you wanted." Victor joked half-heartedly. "Keep looking around. I'll be back to make you whatever, okay?"Lily crossed her arms and turned away to go raid our kitchen cabinets for ingredients.Meanwhile, I stomped after Victor up the steps and followed him into our bathroom."You can't be serious, Victor." I p
Emelia's POVAt that moment, I felt a shift in my own energy that I hoped wasn't going to happen on this trip. Even when Lily wasn't here, it was like I couldn't escape the clutches of her affect on me.This time alone with him was precious, and I didn't want to let go of the perfect memories we were just starting to make with each other. Even if his mention of her was innocent and probably unintentional, I didn't want to ruin this moment by bringing her up.Victor tilted his head, as if sensing something was off about me. "Is everything okay, Emelia?"I nodded my head, and smiled. "Yeah it's just…" I hesitated, wondering if I brought her up if he thought I was suddenly being weird or unreasonable. But I knew if I didn't ask, it'd just eat me alive."It seems you and Lily have a lot of history together… Have you taken her here to this restaurant, too?"Victor nodded his head. "I have, although if you want to be technical, it wasn't my doing. My dad was celebrating a business deal he h
Emelia's POVANOTHER damn secret! How much was I meant to uncover?!First, she's an unknown work colleague. Then, she suddenly has a name and it's Lily. And then she's a childhood friend?Friend! Just a friend! I scoffed at the thought.And now this? Now there's a photo of them kissing?! Immortalized in a damn café of all places?I really thought I was going to lose it. I wanted nothing more than to leap over the counter and rip the photo to shreds.The sudden jingle of the bell above the door pulled me back to my senses, and my eyes snapped to the man who walked through the door as if he didn't have a care in the world.Victor."Hey, I hope I didn't keep you waiting for too long." Victor smiled.I wore a scowl on my face in disbelief of the man who stood before me. This person was no longer who felt familiar; he was nothing but a stranger. His promises and comfort he had once given me were nothing more than tools of deception.And to get to what end? I had no idea.Still, it made me
Emelia's POVVictor left almost immediately, as if he truly thought my words were me giving him permission. For someone as smart as him, it baffled me with just how foolish he could be when it came to my emotions!How was it that he couldn't see that he was being manipulated? Oh, because he didn't see it that way. How stupid of me to think that he didn't think of her as anything less than perfect…I'd tossed my luggage back onto our—well, now my—bed, even though I had planned to leave.My heart felt like it was being torn in half, and Victor wanted to do nothing about it. Hell, if anything, he was the reason why it was happening.All it took was one damn phone call for our perfect getaway to come crashing down. Once again, our relationship was pushed towards its breaking point.It made me feel like a damn idiot for thinking things were going to change. Even though he'd shown me time and time again that he was incapable of prioritizing his own wife over her.I loved Victor with everyth
Emelia's POVAt first, I couldn't find the words to respond to the man before me. To say he was incredibly handsome would be an understatement.Short, black hair was slicked back, as sharp features encased flawless skin. High cheekbones rested just under a beautiful pair of vibrant green eyes.The deep blue suit he was wearing was immaculate and free of any wrinkles. It looked expensive; very similar in style to what Victor would wear.I had to pick my jaw off the floor so I could greet him properly. "I am, but have we met? I'm sorry; I'm having a hard time recognizing you.""You have nothing to apologize for. If anything, I'm sorry. I don't mean to come off as a creep." Even his chuckle was smooth. "My name is Mason Leone; we attended the same Gala Dinner a few days ago."I met his politeness with a very strained smile. I'd wanted nothing more than to forget about that awful night and the effects it had on me emotionally and physically.Mason seemed to notice my hesitation and spoke f
Emelia's POV"I'm so sorry..." I finally said once the chaos left in Victor's wake settled. "You didn't deserve that, Mason."Victor's jealous fit left a bad taste in my mouth and really soured my mood. He had no right being so angry and hostile towards a friend who had done nothing to him personally.It baffled me that he suddenly decided that his status as my husband was so important. Not to mention how hard he tried to enforce a boundary when he hadn't considered that when it came to Lily.Just the mere thought of her almost rekindled my anger I'd been trying to quell."Don't be sorry," Mason's smooth voice pulled me from my thoughts. His smile was warm and kind. "Your husband seems to have good intentions, even if his anger is rather misplaced.""Yeah, misplaced up his ass..." Alexis grumbled beside me.Mason chuckled. "Agreed." He then turned back to me. "Will you be okay?""I will be, thank you for asking." I nodded my head. "You truly handled that situation with a lot of grace,
Emelia's POV"What is he doing here?" Alexis hissed under her breath.I watched silently as Victor scanned the tea shop with a hint of something else in his eyes. Apprehension? Disgust?Regardless, he didn't seem to be in a particularly good mood.As his gaze settled on the shop's window, it was then that his eyes found mine. His stare was intense as he hurried into the small tea shop.Oh great.The door swung open as Victor's head snapped to where we were sitting. He looked at me just before his eyes widened on the man sitting across from me.Even from here, I could see his jaw flexed."Emelia, are you okay?" Victor approached me and ignored both Alexis and Mason. "When I came home and saw you weren't there, I got worried.""I'm fine." I replied curtly. "As you can see, I'm enjoying tea with friends. So, you can go home now."Victor's fixated on Mason and suddenly, the air had changed. "Friends, huh?"The atmosphere became so heavy it was hard to breathe. A sharpened knife couldn't cu
Emelia's POVThe man's eyebrows shot up as if he weren't expecting to see me. He excused himself from whomever he was speaking to and made his way towards me with an eagerness that could only be read from his eyes.His features only confirmed that it definitely was Mason that I was looking at."What a pleasant surprise." He greeted me warmly. "I wasn't expecting to see you here.""The same can be said for you." I returned his smile. "Are you enjoying the showcase? The art and jewelry are beautiful.""Oh, absolutely. Everyone did such a splendid job. It's events like these that show you that there are diamonds in the dirt if you're patient enough to look for them."I nodded his head. "Oh, I can agree with you on that for sure. How have you been?""I've been good, thank you for asking. Although, I should be asking you that." Mason gave me a worried look. "Last we spoke, I know you weren't in a good state. You also don't seem to be looking particularly well now."I couldn't lie—his concer
Emelia's POV"Me? Starting my own business?" I had to repeat the words back to Alexis just to make sure that's what she meant to say.Alexis laughed at my confusion. "Oh, no need to act too humble.""That's not it!" I playfully hit her. "It's just… I don't know. I've never thought about that before. It's one thing to work for another company, but owning one? That requires a little more elbow grease."Honestly, starting my own company hadn't been something that I gave much thought to. Mostly because I was too busy making sure my family and I had food on our table and a roof over our heads… After having been on survival mode for so long, even after I'd married Victor, it didn't occur to me that that was even a possibility.Plus, the thought of being a CEO of anything made me a little wary and uncomfortable. It was a lot of pressure to deal with the inner-workings of making sure a company stayed afloat.I wasn't even sure if I could handle it.Almost as if Alexis had read my mind, she re
Emelia's POV"Are you just going to stand there and stare at me like an idiot?" Lily tapped her foot against the floor impatiently. "I know you're pregnant, so don't act like you're not!"I hated having my business pried into, especially by Lily of all people. If anyone was going to know about the intimate, important details of my life, it was going to be people that I trusted. People I knew who wouldn't betray my secret or faith in them.Which Victor definitely didn't fall into that category… At least, not anymore.I shook away the thoughts and met Lily's gaze head on. "Even if I was pregnant, you definitely wouldn't be the one I'd tell. It's none of your damn business and it never will be.""So you ARE pregnant?" She took a bold step towards me."Back up if you know what's good for you!" I barked. "No, I'm not pregnant, and you're not going to trap me in this bathroom like an animal unless you want to feel my claws!"Lily narrowed her eyes at me but took a step back. "I'm watching yo
Emelia's POVVictor pulled Lily inside the office and almost slammed the door shut. "Watch your tone! Do you not realize we're at work? There's no reason for you to—"Lily jerked her arm out from Victor's grasp. "Don't try and hide it!" Her voice was sharp and defiant. "I heard your conversation last night. I, for one, fully support the idea of you two getting a divorce."Her words were like a slap to my face. For a moment, I was stunned. Who the fuck did she think she was trying to air out our problems at work? No one else knew what it was I was going through and it needed to stay that way!Not to mention—it was none of her damn business anyway!"Emelia isn't good enough for you. You should've realized that a long time ago." Lily stated with confidence. "Even Aunt Bernadette was against your marriage from the very beginning! She's always been so smart; maybe you should've listened to her instead of being so stubborn and doing it on your own.""Typical." I scoffed. "You must have a six
Emelia's POV"I accept the challenge, Trevor." My words were laced with confidence and conviction. "I can only hope to make you and myself proud with my work."Trevor's smile was wide and bright. "I have no doubts in my mind that you'll be the one to come out on top. There's a reason your design was chosen for next season's flagship after all. Even if it's Lily "managing" the project, it's yours at its core. It's nothing without you."Trevor's encouraging words were instilling me with a confidence I was sure I'd lost the night I confronted Victor about the divorce. It finally felt as if there was a new light emerging from the darkness I'd fallen into.It didn't matter if I didn't have Victor's "support." It was clear there were other people who were genuinely in my corner, and who wanted to see me succeed.Plus, I couldn't quit now. Even though I wanted to, I knew I had to endure this place for the sake of my career.I'd make my break soon."I'll be sure to email you more of the detail
Emelia's POV"I-I don't understand the question." Victor stammered. "Do I love you? Sense of duty? Grandpa's expectations?" He pushed out an exasperated, almost panicked breath of air. "What are you asking me? What are you trying to say?"The last fragile flicker of hope I had left in me was extinguished at that moment.FUCK!Why?! Why couldn't he admit his feelings for me? Did they not exist after all this time? Had I truly not held any part of his heart? Had I not made my home in it after all these years?The tightness in my chest grew and suddenly it was getting harder for me to breathe. "Get out…" My voice was strained as I struggled to hold onto my composure."Em… I—" Victor hesitated. His eyes flickered to me and then away while he tried to search for something to say."Get. OUT!" My nostrils flared as my body shook.The sound of someone barging through my door both startled and enraged me. For a moment, I thought it was Lily. I definitely wasn't in the mood for her antics and I
Emelia's POVThe air around us grew cold, as the expression on Victor's face froze. I watched his eyes dart from me to the divorce papers, like he hadn't fully comprehended what I asked of him. Maybe he didn't think I was speaking English."You can't be serious right, Em?" Victor finally broke the tense silence. "Please, let's talk about this and be reasonable. I understand why you're upset, but I've realized the truth now. Doesn't that count for something?"I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes at him. "Like that's supposed to undo everything you've done?""I'm not trying to undo anything, Em. I admit to my mistakes. I lied to you about my relationship with Lily, and I prioritized her over you." Victor unraveled my crossed arms and took my hand in his. "It made me doubt you when I shouldn't have."I took my hand back from him. Even though he'd held me not long ago, his touch still felt so wrong. "That's not why I'm divorcing you."Victor raised a brow. "Then I don't understand…" He