GIDEON’S POVI sat in the silence of my office long after Amethyst left, her words looping in my mind like a broken record. Each one felt like a blade, cutting deeper than the last, leaving my chest hollow—an aching void where my pride, ambition, and confidence had once lived. I had lost everything—not just the company, not just the investors, but her respect. The one person who had believed in me, even when she shouldn’t have, had finally seen me for what I’d become.I buried my face in my trembling hands, the weight of my mistakes pressing down like an iron shroud. Why did I do it? How had I let myself become this man? The man Amethyst described—a manipulator, a coward, a failure.The ride home was a blur. The city lights outside the car window flickered mockingly, their brightness a sharp contrast to the darkness swirling inside me. Each passing moment brought me closer to the one place I could still call mine
I stared at the card in my hand, the vibrant logo of the hotel mocking me, a stark reminder of something that didn’t make sense. The ornate lettering, the embossed design, everything about it screamed that it was from a place I knew we’d never visited. The last time I checked, Alexa hadn’t been anywhere that required a souvenir card.My mind raced. Why would she have this?Why would she hide it?My pulse quickened, anger bubbling up from deep within me. Every ounce of doubt, every insecurity I’d buried for months—maybe even years—came rushing back like a flood. The thought that she might have been keeping something from me, something as big as this, cut deep. I couldn’t help myself. I stormed downstairs, the card clenched tightly in my fist, my breath ragged as I called her name."Alexa!" I shouted, my voice barely recognizable, raw with emotion.She appeared
I kept walking, my boots thudding against the cold pavement, each step feeling heavier than the last. The chill in the air bit at my skin, but it barely registered. My mind was tangled in a mess of anger and confusion, and the only thing that kept circling in my head was I’m done.But even as the words rang in my ears, something else gnawed at me—the baby.I had left Alexa standing there, tears in her eyes, pleading with me. But more than that, I had left my child. The child that would be mine. The one I had promised myself I’d be there for, even if I didn’t know how to do it. The thought sliced through me like a razor, sharper than the cold night air.What the hell am I doing?My steps faltered, and I took a breath, trying to push the thought away. I wasn’t thinking straight. I needed a drink. A strong one. Something to quiet the voices in my head. Something to shut off the ache in my chest that wouldn't go away.I didn’t know where I was going. My mind was too foggy, too clouded by
I froze. My heart raced, but it wasn’t from the pain or the confusion. No, seeing her there—standing in that sterile doorway like a ghost, like she had somehow materialized out of the darkness itself—made my chest tighten in a way I wasn’t prepared for.Her eyes met mine, and they were as cold as I remembered. No softness. No sign of the warmth I had once foolishly believed I might have been able to rekindle. Just a distant, calculated look.She didn’t smile. Didn’t say anything at first, just stood there, taking me in as if I were some puzzle she’d had the misfortune of stumbling upon.I wanted to ask a hundred things—where the hell am I? What happened? Why the hell did you save me?—but the words wouldn’t come out.I swallowed hard and tried again, my voice rough, like I hadn’t used it in days.“Why… am I here?”She didn’t answer right away, instead glancing over her shoulder like she was deciding whether or not she should leave me to wallow in the mess of my own head. But when she s
I stood there, staring at Gideon, his body so broken and vulnerable, yet somehow still brimming with that arrogance he always carried. He deserved this. My mind kept telling me that. He deserved to feel the sting of his actions, to understand the weight of the things he had done to me. He had lied, cheated, and left me with nothing but shards of the life we had built together. And here he was, in pain, regret crawling across his face like it was finally catching up to him.So why did it feel so wrong?I shook my head, trying to shake the feeling away, but it clung to me like a shadow. I had spent years imagining this moment—imagining how sweet it would be to see him suffer. To see him finally understand that the choices he made weren’t without consequence. That the love he threw away wasn’t something he could just erase.But instead of satisfaction, all I felt was this heavy, suffocating emptiness.Maybe it’s because it’s too easy, I thought. Maybe that’s it. The cruelty of it was alm
I stiffened at Victoria’s question, the words cutting through the air like a blade. It wasn’t a question I had asked myself—not directly, at least. Why had I stayed here, in this sterile hospital room, surrounded by the echo of machines and the scent of antiseptic? Why had I stayed by Gideon’s side, when I should’ve walked away, when everything about this place screamed the past—a past I swore I would leave behind?I had come here with a singular purpose: to confront him. To make it clear that I wasn’t the woman he had once known—broken, passive, forgiving. I had come here to show him that I had no more space in me for the wreckage he left in his wake. But I stayed. And now, with that question hanging in the air, I wasn’t sure I could answer it.Victoria’s eyes were sharp, knowing—too knowing. She didn’t miss a thing. She could see through every façade, and I hated her for it.I opened my mouth, but the words didn’t come immediately. My fingers curled into fists at my sides. Why had I
I could feel the tremor in my hands as I stepped away from Gideon’s bed, my chest tight, the rawness of everything swirling in my mind. I shouldn’t feel like this, I thought. I shouldn’t care. But no matter how hard I tried to convince myself, the pull to him was still there. And that made everything more complicated than it should be.His voice—the broken way he’d said my name—kept echoing in my ears. I had told him I was done, that I wouldn’t be dragged back into his mess, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something inside me was already crumbling.I kept walking, not looking back, not daring to let myself feel that soft, familiar tug. No, I told myself. You’re done. You are stronger than this.I pushed open the door to the hallway and headed toward the exit, my footsteps sharp against the sterile tile. The air felt colder the farther I got from him, and yet, the weight in my chest didn’t lift. I wanted it to. I needed it to. But there was no escaping the truth: part of me still
The tension in the air was thick, and my chest felt tight. Nicolai’s presence was like a force pressing in from all sides. He was too close, too intense. It wasn’t fair. I didn’t want him here, not now, not with the storm of emotions I was struggling to hold together.“You don’t get it, Nicolai,” I said, my voice shaking slightly despite my best efforts to stay composed.“You don’t know what it’s like.”He didn’t respond immediately, just studied me for a long moment, his dark eyes never leaving mine. His lips pressed into a thin line, and I could feel the weight of his gaze. I hated how much he saw, how easily he could slip past the walls I’d built.“Then tell me,” he said softly, stepping closer once again.“Tell me what it’s like, Amethyst. Tell me why you’re standing here, pretending everything’s fine when I know damn well it isn’t.”I clenched my jaw, the pressure in my chest mounting. I wanted to lash out, to push him away, but instead, the words slipped out before I could stop
The door clicked shut behind me with a finality that echoed in the stillness of the house. I leaned against it for a moment, my head resting on the cool wood, as the weight of the confrontation with Gideon settled over me like a heavy cloak. My breath was shaky, my heart still pounding in my chest. I had said everything I needed to say, everything I’d been holding back for years, but it still didn’t feel like enough.The anger that had fueled me outside still burned, but beneath it, there was a deeper, more painful exhaustion. I’d closed the door on him, but something inside me felt like it had been left open.I pushed off the door and stepped into the foyer, the dim light from the hallway casting long shadows on the walls. My hands were trembling, my mind racing with thoughts of Nicolai, Gideon, and the unshakable feeling that something was coming—something I couldn’t outrun.I walked into the living room, only half-aware of where I was going. My eyes drifted over the space—pictures
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,