And then my breath catches in my throat. "What?" I barely whispered the word. The words seemed to hang there like a threat, sharp-edged and pointing the way into the unknown.Lucas's face smoothed into an emotion I couldn't find a label for, but more like sorrow and bitterness. He straightened up again to let the heaviness of his revelation settle in before continuing on. “Yes. My mom, Sarah died, because of your mom. She committed suicide and it was not an accident,”I stepped back, my heart pounding in disbelief. My whole life, my mother was nothing more than a mystery—a ghost I never knew, defined by the fragments Eleanor had shared. Now, to hear she had been responsible for someone's death? It couldn't be right.That was Eleanor, silent, her composure broken. For the first time what felt like a lifetime, she appeared fragile, fragile to the point where it was as if the truth Lucas introduced to the room would snap everything."Why would my mom be involved in something like that?"
I slumped back into the plush chair, determination coursing through my veins. "I'm going to make a splash at the party, and draw attention to myself, and turn some heads—or rather, lots of them—starting with Gideon."“Being a date escort of Nicolai Montero.” I added.Lucas raised an eyebrow as skepticism speared through the air. "And you think Nicolai is going to help you with that? He’s not exactly a pawn in your game."I shook my head, a sly smile forming. "No, he's not. He's a knight, and now he's my best asset. With him by my side, I can orchestrate the chaos I need."Just as I thought that was going to be a great end to our little trip for the day, Ms. Amari finally walked into the room, commanding the air with her presence, and warmly smiled at us as she approached us."Excuse the interruption, but I'm here to start fitting your dress for the party, Ms. Amadeus,”I smiled at Lucas, playful glint in my eye. "Looks like it's time for me. I need to make sure everything is fine."He
I leave for home around 8 PM spent and drained by the events of the day. As soon as I enter, I smell that familiar perfume -my grandmother- and I realize I'm actually home. I see her climbing the stairs, her silver hair glinting in the faint light."Goodnight dear! Good luck for the party tomorrow!" she called up warmly, encouragingly.“Thanks, Grandma! I said with a smiling back at her, feeling appreciated by my persistence.That night, I spent a long time in the hot shower in my room wrapped by clouds of steam and washing away the tension that built inside me during the whole day. The water pounded on every part of me like a balm against the whirlwind of emotions inside. Emerged from the shower and finally put on a warm towel wrapped around the body and gazed in the mirror at myself with a thrill beginning to build inside me for what this night was to hold.Soft crepuscular rays from the sun woke me up gently, directed right at my curtains, which softly stirred me up the next mornin
GIDEON’S POVThe room draws in even tighter, still beaming with applause, congratulatory smiles, and clinking champagne glasses, as I announce.But this is different tonight. Tonight, it feels hollow. My chest constricts as I allow my view to wander through the faces, those beaming smiles dripping with accolade, and I realize that my mind isn't here-not anymore.It's on her.Amy.The quiet, unassuming wife who blended into the background of every event, who followed me without question, without protest. But tonight, she stands out like a spotlight has been cast on her, illuminating everything I somehow never saw before.I watch her, that confident sway in her walk, the effortless way she commands attention. The dress she's wearing—god, she's never looked like this. Not for me. Never for me. It clings to her like it was made for her and her alone, shimmering under the lights, highlighting every curve in a way that has the room stopping to stare.She is speaking with Nicolai Montero-one
I stumbled into the house, slamming the door behind me harder than I intended. The echo reverberated through the foyer, but I didn’t care. My head throbbed from too much alcohol, but it wasn't the whiskey swirling in my system that had me boiling inside—it was her. Amy. Or, as she had the audacity to introduce herself tonight, Amethyst Amadeus. The name twisted in my gut like a knife, sharp and unfamiliar.I tugged at my tie, the pressure around my neck adding to the suffocation I felt. My chest was tight, seething with irritation, humiliation even. How could she stand there with him? Nicolai Montero—my investor, grinning like the smug bastard he was, with his hand on her back like he owned her.“She’s mine,” my mind screamed. But, she wasn’t anymore, was she?My fists clenched at my sides as the scene replayed over and over in my head. Amy, or Amethyst, laughing with Nicolai Montero like she didn’t have a care in
Reaching out in frantic scramble of limbs to the phone, panic clawing its way through my innards. "Agnes, get me a meeting with Robert Ford. Now," I demanded, my voice crisper than I'd meant to, sharp and staccato. I couldn't lose him—not now, not when everything felt like it was slipping right through my fingers."I'll try, but—""No," I cut her off. "Get it done. I need to know what's happening.".I hung up the receiver and then ran my hand through my hair as I sought to calm the racing in my chest. The whiskey from last night was pressing on my stomach, but the thought of losing the contract sent another wave of nausea through me.I rose from the couch, lurched toward the bathroom, and slapped cold water onto my face. In the mirror was a mess, or to be more graphic: redshot eyes, mussed hair, gnawing dread that will not let go. I looked like a man on the brink of losing everything and perhaps am.Now, as I dressed, the awful shadow of Amy returning to my life, weighed once more upo
Amethyst POVSitting at The Aurora, I absently fiddled with my glass of sparkling water, my heart racing with excitement and a hint of nerves. The upscale ambiance enveloped me, filled with low lights and soft music—perfect for the evening I had anticipated. I checked my watch again—Nicolai was running late.Just as I was about to text him, I spotted him striding toward me, his tall frame cutting through the crowd with undeniable charisma. A smile broke across my face, but I noted a slight flush of annoyance in his expression.“Sorry I’m late,” he said, sliding into the chair across from me. “I had a visit from your ex-husband.”The name sparked my interest. “Gideon Grayson? What was he doing there?”Nicolai leaned back, a smirk playing on his lips. “He came to talk about the contract with Robert Ford. Seems he’s worried about losing it. I couldn’t resist keeping him on edge a little longer.”I laughed, the sound bubbling up without restraint. “Good! He deserves every ounce of stress.
I was shivering when I stood there. Staring in my grandmother's lifeless hand in mine, this time thinking of her actions but how they seemed impossible given the coldness of machines and the now oppressive sterile white walls of a hospital room that felt ready to trap me inside, stopping me from breathing.Grandma Eleanor was gone. My anchor. My rock. The only one who had ever been there for me. She had pulled me from the ashes of my past and helped me rebuild a life I could be proud of. And now…. she was gone.It was a command, though, the last thing she ever said to me. It boomed louder in my mind than the sorrow that sought to consume me. "You owe it to your mother—and to yourself—to find the truth."I closed my eyes, gripping my grandmother's fragile fingers tighter. The weight of her words pressed down upon me, and for one instant, I couldn't breathe.It was different this time. Now, my grandmother was gone, and in her absence, questions like this came back with a vengeance. Ques
The door to my office slammed behind Nicolai, his presence still lingering in the air like a storm cloud. I stood there, fists clenched, heart racing, as the sound of his footsteps echoed down the hallway. For a moment, I thought I might collapse under the weight of his words. “You owe me, Amethyst. You’re not getting out of this.”I tried to steady my breathing, tried to push the anger and frustration aside. I was done with him. Done.But even as I forced my thoughts to calm, I could feel the storm inside me building. Nicolai hadn’t come to talk—he had come to control, to make sure I stayed trapped in a deal I had made in a moment of weakness. He wasn’t going to let me walk away, but that didn’t mean I had to roll over and let him take everything.I grabbed my coat, my movements sharp and deliberate as I marched out of my office, my heels clicking on the floor with the same intensity that burned in my chest. As I reached the elevator, I couldn’t shake the feeling that Nicolai’s eyes
As the finality of the words echoed in my mind, I slammed the phone down onto the passenger seat, my breath coming in sharp, uneven bursts. The engine hummed louder in the quiet, but it did nothing to drown out the storm brewing in my chest. My grip on the wheel tightened until my knuckles were white, the car speeding through the dark streets as though the road could outrun my thoughts.Gideon. Nicolai. Both of them seemed to be haunting me, lurking at the edges of my mind, tugging at the threads of my past like they thought they had any claim to me. But they didn’t. I wouldn’t let them.I had promised Nicolai I would marry him. I hated how his words echoed in my mind, how they pushed into my thoughts no matter how hard I tried to ignore them. He had helped me bring justice to my mother, had fought alongside me when I needed it most. And in exchange, I had given my word—my promise—that I would marry him. A deal sealed in the chaos of a moment, but a deal nonetheless.I closed my eyes
As I drove through the empty streets, the cool night air creeping through the cracked window, I focused on keeping my grip firm on the steering wheel. The hum of the engine was a dull noise against the thundering thoughts in my head. My pulse still raced from the confrontation with Nicolai, but my mind was more preoccupied with the man who had shown up uninvited: Gideon.I shook my head, trying to clear the confusion swirling in my chest. It had been so long since I’d seen him, and yet, here he was, right when I least expected it.Gideon. I could still feel the weight of his gaze, the way his presence seemed to fill every space between us. But no matter how much he tried to be the hero in my life, I wouldn’t let him back in. Not after everything.The past was filled with too many scars, too many broken promises, for me to entertain the idea of letting him slip back into my life. What he did to me, what we had, couldn’t be undone. I wasn’t some helpless girl waiting for him to save me
Nicolai groaned, shaking his head, clearly dazed from the punch. Blood dripped from his split lip as he glared up at Gideon, struggling to get to his feet. “You think you can just show up and play the hero? You don’t know what’s going on, Gideon.”“I don’t need to know the details,” Gideon shot back, taking a step closer to Nicolai, his presence towering over him. “I just know you’ve hurt her enough. And I’m not going to stand by and let it happen again.”I stood frozen, still reeling from the shock of the scene unfolding in front of me. Gideon. Gideon was the one who had intervened. It had been so long since I’d seen him, let alone spoken to him, and now here he was, protecting me—when I least expected it.Nicolai, still on his knees, wiped the blood from his chin and glared up at both of us, his voice dripping with venom. “This isn’t over,” he spat. “
“Meet me at Marble diner,” I replied.Later that evening, I found myself waiting in a quiet café downtown, the place I had arranged to meet Nicolai. It was a small, secluded spot—ideal for a conversation I had no intention of backing down from.My phone buzzed in my pocket. Nicolai’s name flashed on the screen. My thumb hovered over the notification for a long moment. Should I answer? Should I make him wait?Finally, I clicked open the message.I’m here.I took a deep breath and stood, my posture straight, my expression set. No hesitation. I wasn’t about to let my emotions get the best of me.It didn’t take long before he appeared, cutting through the crowd like he owned the room. Nicolai’s eyes locked with mine instantly. Despite everything, I could still feel the old pull between us—but it was no longer enough to make me falter.He reached the table, his usual confident stride faltering for a split second when he saw the steel in my gaze. I didn’t move as he sat down across from me.
Days had passed since that conversation with Nicolai. The days felt like a blur, a haze of conflicting emotions and unanswered questions swirling in my mind. Every time I tried to focus on something, my thoughts inevitably drifted back to the phone call with Gideon, and the way Nicolai’s voice had cracked with emotion when I’d confronted him.It was almost like I was living in two worlds. There was the world with Nicolai, where everything felt so close to being perfect, where I wanted to believe in us again. And then there was the world with Gideon, a world full of regret, accusations, and a past I couldn’t seem to outrun.I tried to push it all aside, to focus on the present. I had to move on. I couldn’t let Gideon’s words—or Nicolai’s mistakes—ruin everything.But when I arrived home that evening, something felt off.I pulled my car into the driveway, the sound of the tires crunching on the gravel a familiar comfort. I grabbed my purse and walked towards the door, my mind still tang
The days that followed were suffocating, each moment heavier than the last. Alexa moved through the house like a shadow, her presence only a reminder of what we had lost, what I had lost. She continued her routine—making breakfast, cleaning, pretending that the life we had built together was still intact. But the more I watched her, the more I realized it was all just a charade.I stayed distant. I couldn’t bring myself to be near her, not after what had been said, not after the truth had finally come out. I kept to myself, retreating into the silence of my own mind, where the weight of the last few days pressed down on me like a physical force. The house felt colder than it ever had before, as if it were rejecting me, as if I were rejecting it. And Alexa? She felt like a stranger now.One morning, I found her sitting at the kitchen table, the same spot where we used to share coffee and talk about our days. Her hands were wrapped around a cup, her eyes distant, lost in thought. I stoo
“Alright,” I said, the words slipping out like a vow I’d made to the devil himself. “But after this, it’s really over. No coming back. No regrets.”The relief that flashed across her face was brief, almost imperceptible, but I caught it. And then it was gone, replaced by the resolve that had brought her here in the first place. She pulled out the papers from the pocket of her robe and set them on the desk with a crisp rustle. The sound echoed in the room, loud and final. I glanced at them, the ink on the page both freedom and a death sentence.With a steady hand, she signed her name, the motion so deliberate, so final, that it made my stomach twist. My heart squeezed in a way that made no sense, as if the world were shifting beneath me, changing forever.“It’s done,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.The weight of those words settled deep into my bones, and I stood there, rooted to the spot, as she turned and walked out of the room. The silence she left behind was deafening,
The tension in my chest was suffocating as I stared at the bartender, the question ringing in my ears: Was it worth fighting for?My jaw clenched, the stinging ache of regret and desire coiling deep inside me. I took a deep, shaky breath and looked at the amber liquid in my glass, the fire of the whiskey biting at my throat, numbing the chaos in my mind.Amethyst. Her name brought an ache that felt like it would crack my chest open. She deserved so much better than me. And yet, the thought of losing her forever was unbearable.I knew it was stupid, reckless even, but I couldn’t stop myself. I would fight for her, no matter how many times Nicolai pushed his way into her life, no matter how many times I screwed up. She was worth every battle, every scar. But I was running out of chances, out of time.“It’s worth fighting for,” I finally admitted, my voice barely more than a whisper, raw and vulnerable. “But I don’t know i