Chapter 43
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Elle
“Oh my god, have you seen it?”
Candy’s voice is a shriek, and before I can even process what’s happening, she barrels through my bathroom door like the world is ending.
“What the fuck? Candy!” I yelp, instinctively covering my breasts and sitting up to hide as much of my body from her as possible.
Maybe it’s time to ask for that key back.
“Don’t be such a prude!” she scoffs, unbothered, waving her phone in front of me like it’s a golden ticket. “Did you see the news yet?”
“I’m literally having a bath,” I grumble. “It was supposed to be relaxing.”
She flings a towel at me, nearly hitting me in the face. “Dry your hands! Quick! Watch this!”
I glare at her. “This better be important.”
“It is!” she says, her eyes wide with something between shock and glee. “Trust me, you’re going to want to see this.”
I grab the towel and wipe my hands before snatching the phone from her. The screen shows a news alert, the headline so glaring I have to blink twice to process it.
brEAKING NEWS: ALEXANDER STERLING-KNIGHT ARRESTED FOR EMBEZZLEMENT AND CORPORATE FRAUD
My heart stops. “What the actual hell?”
Candy practically bounces on the balls of her feet, her excitement palpable. “I know, right? It’s everywhere! Watch the clip – they’ve got footage of him being dragged out of Sterling-Knight HQ in handcuffs!”
I hit play, and there it is: Alexander Sterling-Knight, impeccably dressed as always, but looking distinctly less composed than usual, being escorted down the gleaming steps of his company’s headquarters by two stern-faced officers. Cameras flash like strobe lights, reporters shouting questions that he doesn’t answer.
I gape at the screen.
“Apparently, he’s been under investigation for months,” Candy says, leaning in conspiratorially. “But there was an anonymous tip-off and suddenly a load of new evidence came to light and they made a move this afternoon. Something about funneling company funds into offshore accounts. Oh, and a bunch of shell companies, too. It’s bad, Elle. Like, potentially life-in-prison bad.”
I can’t tear my eyes away from the video. Alexander looks furious, like he’s one second away from snapping. But beneath the anger, there’s something else – a glimmer of desperation, like he knows this isn’t just a PR nightmare.
“This…” I tilt my head, trying to make sense of it. “This is insane.”
“It’s karma,” Candy declares with a smug grin. “You mess with my bestie, the universe messes with you.”
I put the phone down on the counter, my hands shaking. “Does Seb know?”
Candy sobers a little at that. “I don’t know. Probably? It’s all over the news, so unless he’s living under a rock…”
I press my fingers to my temples, my thoughts racing. This changes everything. The power Alexander held over Seb, over me – it’s gone. Just like that.
A wave of relief washes over me, but it’s quickly followed by something else, something more complicated.
Guilt.
Because as much as Alexander deserves this, he’s still Seb’s father.
“I need to call him,” I say, reaching for my phone.
Candy stops me with a hand on my arm. “Elle, maybe give it a minute. Let him come to you.”
I hesitate, biting my lip. She’s right. Seb’s relationship with his father is a tangled mess, and this is bound to hit him hard, no matter how strained things have been.
“What do I do?” I ask softly, more to myself than to Candy.
“You let him prove himself,” she says, her tone gentler now. “He said he’d take care of his father. Looks like the universe decided to handle it for him.”
I laugh, a small, disbelieving sound as Seb’s words from before come back to me. He said to keep an eye on the news, didn’t he? Was this what he meant?
I look at Candy. “You think the universe did this for me?”
Candy grins. “Damn right it did. You’re Elle fucking Rialdi…err…Sterling-Knight, babe. Even the cosmos knows not to mess with you.”
I shake my head, a reluctant smile tugging at my lips. “You’re ridiculous.”
“And you love me for it,” she says, smirking.
The phone buzzes on the counter, and both of us freeze. I glance down at the screen. Seb .
Candy raises an eyebrow. “Speak of the devil…”
My heart pounds as I pick up the phone. I take a deep breath before answering, Candy giving me a thumbs-up as she slips out of the room to give me some privacy.
“Hello?”
“Elle,” Seb says, his voice rough, like he hasn’t slept. “I need to see you. Please.”
My stomach twists. “Seb, I saw the news?—”
“I’ll explain everything,” he cuts in, his tone urgent. “But I need to see you. Are you at the boutique?”
“No,” I say, my voice softening. “I’m at my apartment.”
“I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” he says. “Please don’t shut me out.”
The line goes dead before I can respond. I stare at the phone, my emotions a chaotic swirl of anger, pity, and something dangerously close to hope.
This is it. Whatever happens next, it’s going to change everything.
Candy bursts back through the bathroom door before I can even process Seb’s call. “We don’t have long to make you look fabulous!” she announces, hands on her hips like a drill sergeant.
“What are you talking about?” I blink at her, still holding the phone like it might explode.
“That was Seb, right?” She’s already dragging me toward my bedroom, her energy like a whirlwind. “Of course, it was Seb. He’s coming here, isn’t he? We don’t have time to waste!”
“Candy, I don’t need?—”
“Wrong,” she cuts me off, spinning to point a finger at me. “You do. You need to look like the stunning queen you are because this is your moment. Thank god your hair isn’t wet. That would’ve been a disaster.”
“Candy!” I protest, but she’s already rummaging through my closet like a woman possessed.
“Shush,” she says, tossing clothes over her shoulder with reckless abandon. “We’re going for ‘casual but devastatingly irresistible’. Something that says ‘I didn’t try at all’ while making him want to drop to his knees and not come up for air for several hours.”
I groan. “You’re ridiculous.”
“And you’re welcome,” she retorts, yanking out a soft cream cashmere sweater and a pair of perfectly fitted yoga pants. “Hold on.”
Next thing I know, the skimpiest lace bralette and matching thong is smacking me in the face as she fires the pale blue set at me, with the precision of a skilled sniper. “Put these on. Now.”
I grab the clothes, knowing it’s easier to just go along with her at this point. By the time I’ve changed and stepped back into the room, Candy’s set up a makeshift beauty station on my dresser.
“Sit,” she commands, pointing to the chair.
“I don’t need?—”
“Elle, trust me. Just trust me,” she says, her voice softer but no less insistent.
I sit, and she gets to work, quickly taming my hair into soft waves and adding just enough makeup to highlight my features, without making me feel overdone. Her hands move like magic, efficient and focused, and for a moment, I let myself relax.
“You’re nervous,” she says after a beat, her voice gentler now.
I meet her eyes in the mirror. “Of course, I am. This is…a lot.”
Candy smiles, brushing a bit of colour onto my cheeks. “You’ve got this. He loves you, Elle. And you love him too, even if you’re too scared to say it out loud. God, but please fucking try. Give him a chance. Give yourself a chance. I really think you could be happy with him. Especially now, with Alexander out of the picture.”
I swallow hard, the words catching in my throat.
She steps back, examining her work with a critical eye, before nodding in satisfaction. “Perfect. Now, go knock him dead.”
I stand, smoothing my sweater, my heart pounding. “What if?—”
“No what-ifs,” Candy interrupts, shooing me toward the door. “You’ve got this. And if he messes it up, I’ll kill him myself.”
I laugh despite myself, the tension in my chest easing just a fraction. “Thanks, Candy.”
“Always,” she says, grinning. “Now, I have to go. But I expect you to tell me everything after!”
I nod, watching her grab her coat and bag before heading out the door. As soon as it clicks shut, the apartment suddenly feels too quiet, too still. I sink onto the edge of my bed, running my hands over the soft fabric of my sweater, as if grounding myself.
Sebastian Sterling-Knight. The man who’s turned my life upside down and inside out, is about to walk back into it – again. My chest tightens at the thought, a mix of hope and dread warring inside me.
I take a deep breath, trying to settle my nerves. It doesn’t matter what Candy said; this isn’t just about love or grand gestures. It’s about trust, about whether we can move past everything that’s happened and find solid ground again.
My phone buzzes on the nightstand, but I ignore it. No more distractions. This is it. I have to face him.
Just as I steel myself to stand, muffled voices filter up through the thin walls of my apartment. My brows furrow as I focus on the sound.
“Listen up, pretty boy,” Candy’s voice echoes up the stairwell, sharp and unyielding.
“Candy—” Seb’s deep tone responds, but she cuts him off.
“No! You don’t get to talk. Not until you hear me out.” There’s a pause, and I can almost picture her poking him in the chest for emphasis. “If you hurt her again – if you even think about hurting her again – I don’t care how rich or powerful you are, I’ll find a way to make you regret it for the rest of your life. Got it?”
“Candy,” Seb tries again, but his voice is softer this time, almost pleading. “I know. I promise you, I know.”
Another pause, then her voice drops just enough that I have to strain to hear. “Good. Because she deserves better than what you’ve given her so far. And if you’re not here to make it right, then turn around and leave. Now.”
“I’m here to make it right,” he says firmly, no hesitation in his tone.
There’s a long silence, and then the sound of footsteps ascending the stairs. My heart leaps into my throat, and I stand quickly, smoothing my sweater again, as if that will do anything to prepare me for what’s coming.
A knock on the door.
I hesitate, staring at the handle as if it might bite me.
“Elle,” Seb’s voice carries through the wood, low and tentative. “It’s me.”
I close my eyes for a moment, taking one last steadying breath before crossing the room and opening the door.
He stands there, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his coat, his expression unreadable, but his eyes – his eyes are full of something raw and unguarded.
“Hi,” he says softly.
I step aside, wordlessly letting him into the apartment. Seb doesn’t move right away, standing in the doorway like he’s waiting for permission to cross the threshold. It’s strange – he’s always been so sure of himself, so commanding in every room he enters, but now, in front of me, he seems uncertain, fragile even.
I watch him, my breath catching in my throat as he slowly steps inside, closing the door behind him. His coat rustles as he drops it onto the back of the chair by the door.
His posture is stiff, like he’s holding himself together with sheer willpower. His jaw is clenched, and there’s an almost haunted look in his eyes, like he’s been carrying something far heavier than the weight of his world.
“I’m sorry,” he says, and I hear the sincerity in his voice, but it feels almost like an apology he’s said a thousand times, rehearsed. The words land with a thud between us, but there’s no fire behind them. No demands, no excuses – just the quiet acknowledgment that whatever has happened, he’s aware of it.
But is that enough?
I don’t say anything. I just keep watching him, the silence growing thicker, heavier. My hands are shaking at my sides, but I don’t move. I don’t know what I’m waiting for – maybe something in him to break, to finally be the man I need him to be.
“You don’t have to say anything,” Seb mutters, dragging a hand through his hair, his fingers gripping the strands like they might anchor him. “I know I fucked up. I know I hurt you.”
He sounds so…defeated. Like the weight of everything – the lies, the manipulation, the mess he’s made of us – has finally broken through that mask of arrogance. I’ve never seen him like this. Not even close.
I take a slow breath, trying to steady myself. The last thing I want to do is crumble right here in front of him, but it’s hard to ignore the way he looks right now: like a man on the edge of falling apart.
Wordlessly, I tilt my head, a silent invitation for him to follow me inside as I turn and head for my sitting room. This conversation feels too weighty to have in the hallway, and my knees are shaking so hard, I think they might give out. I need to sit down.
I watch him carefully, my heart thudding in my chest, unsure whether I want to hear the next words or if I’m better off letting the silence linger. But Seb doesn’t wait for me to speak, his voice trembling as it falls from his lips as soon as I’m seated.
“I didn’t know what I was doing,” he says, his hand coming up to rub at his face, his eyes squeezed shut like the weight of his confession is too much to bear. “I couldn’t see past everything my father had already put in motion. I thought if I could just get through it, make it look like I was doing the right thing, then it’d all be fine.” His eyes flicker to mine, raw, almost desperate for me to understand. “I didn’t want to lose you, Elle. Not like this. But I also didn’t want to lose control of everything else…everything he built. He had me in his grip. I was suffocating under the pressure.”
My breath hitches as he pauses, his fingers gripping the back of the couch like he’s physically holding himself together, like the truth is too much for him to stand.
“I handed him over, Elle,” Seb says, his voice hoarse, as if the admission itself is a weight he’s carried for far too long. My chest tightens, my mind trying to wrap itself around his words. He’s not just talking about a small betrayal – he’s talking about the man who controlled his life, his entire family, for years.
“Asher Sullivan and I, we’ve been working together for months,” Seb continues, eyes locked onto mine now, like he’s searching for something – anything – that might give him the courage to keep going. “I couldn’t trust anyone else. The man I’ve been fighting against, the man who has been pulling my strings for as long as I can remember – he’s been committing crimes for years. Fraud, embezzlement, money laundering…you name it, he’s been involved. That, and worse. But I couldn’t just sit back anymore. I couldn’t let him use me any longer.”
My mind is spinning as I try to process what he’s just said. It was Seb? He was the one who took down his father? He was the one who orchestrated this? And for all the times I thought he was complicit in Alexander’s manipulations, Seb had been quietly working behind the scenes to end it all, for way longer than we’ve been together, to stop the very man who had been controlling us both.
This changes everything.
“I didn’t know how to explain that to you,” he murmurs, his voice cracking. “I was so caught up in the mess of it all, so afraid of losing you and afraid of my father’s retribution, that I couldn’t find the words. I was a coward. And because of my involvement with the company, I’ll be under investigation too. There will be repercussions because it’s going to be damn near impossible to prove I was innocent, so I just had to see you one last time.”
I swallow, my throat tight, but I don’t speak. My mind is racing with the weight of his confession, the shock of it making my chest feel hollow. Seb, the man who had always seemed untouchable, had been playing a dangerous game of his own. For me. For us.
I get to my feet and pace, trying to order my racing thoughts.
“I’ve been trying to fix everything, Elle,” he continues, his voice breaking, his hand coming up to wipe at his eyes. “I didn’t want to lie to you, but I didn’t know how to tell you the truth without losing you for good. I’ve fucked up more times than I can count, but this…this is me trying to make things right.”
I take a slow step toward him, my heart pounding so loud I think it might burst. The vulnerability in his eyes, the raw emotion in his face – this isn’t the Seb I thought I knew. This is something else. Something real.
“You handed your father over to the authorities?” I repeat, my voice barely a whisper, as if saying it aloud will somehow make it real.
Seb nods, his expression filled with regret but also something else. A quiet, desperate hope that maybe, just maybe, this will be enough to make me see him differently.
“Yeah,” he breathes out. “I did. And I’m sorry. I don’t expect you to forgive me just like that, but I need you to know that I’d do anything to fix this. To fix us. To show you that I love you, that I trust you, and that I want nothing more than to make it right between us.”
His words hang in the air, a heavy, fragile confession that leaves me breathless. It’s too much, too fast. But I can’t deny the truth of it. He’s laid everything on the line, and for the first time, I believe him.
But there’s still a wall between us, a distance I can’t quite cross yet. I want to. I desperately want to, but the doubt that’s lingered in the back of my mind is slowly being replaced by something else.
I need more than just words.
I need action.
I need to see that this – what we have, what we could have – is real.
I take a slow, steadying breath, my hands still trembling at my sides. “So, what happens now?” I ask, my voice trembling despite my best efforts to keep it steady.
Seb looks at me with something akin to desperation, but there’s a softness in his eyes now that wasn’t there before. “Now, I make sure that you know, once and for all, that you can trust me. That I’ll do whatever it takes to show you how much I love you.”
He steps closer, his hand reaching out as if to close the distance between us. I don’t pull away. But I’m still not sure. I’m teetering, right on the edge, and so desperate to just trust. To take a leap of faith and try being happy. With him.
“I’m not asking for forgiveness yet,” he says quietly, his voice thick with emotion. “But I am asking for a chance. A real chance, to prove that I’m not just the man you thought I was. That I’m someone who can stand by you, fight for you, and never make the same mistakes again.”
I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what to do.
But I do know one thing. For the first time in a long time, I believe him.
For a moment, we just stand there, inches apart, the air between us thick with unspoken words. I can feel the tension banding around my chest, my heartbeat speeding up with every second that passes. It’s as if the universe is holding its breath, waiting for me to make a decision, to either run or leap into the unknown.
I search his face, looking for any sign of deceit, any trace of the man I feared he was. But all I see is the raw vulnerability I never expected from him, the deep regret and the quiet hope that maybe – just maybe – I might finally trust him enough to let him in.
I swallow hard, the weight of my emotions pressing down on me. My mind is a whirlwind of thoughts – fear, doubt, longing – but one thing stands clear in the center of it all: I want to trust him. I want to believe in this. In us.
I step closer, my hands still trembling, and I don’t think, I just act. Before I can talk myself out of it, I reach up and slide my hand around the back of his neck, pulling him closer.
His breath hitches in surprise, and for a split second, I wonder if he’ll pull away. But he doesn’t. He lets me guide him, the tension between us crackling like an electric current.
When our lips meet, it’s soft at first – tentative, almost as if we’re both unsure of what this means, of what we’re trying to prove. But as the kiss deepens, as his arms wrap around me, pulling me flush against his chest, everything else falls away.
I kiss him like I’m putting everything on the line – my heart, my trust, my fears – and when he responds, his lips pressing harder against mine, his hands moving to cradle my face as if I might disappear, I know, deep down, that this is it. This is the moment where everything shifts.
I pull back slightly, my forehead resting against his, both of us breathing heavily, our hearts racing in unison.
“I’m scared,” I whisper, the words slipping out before I can stop them. “Scared of getting hurt. Scared of trusting you again.”
Seb’s grip on me tightens, his voice low and steady. “I know. But I’ll never hurt you again, Elle. I swear it.”
I close my eyes, my breath shaky, my chest tight with the weight of the decision I’m making. But there’s something in his voice, in the way he’s holding me, that makes me believe him. “I know. I love you, Bas. Always have.”
With that, I pull him back to me, my lips finding his again, this time with more urgency, more certainty. I feel his heart pounding beneath my fingertips, and I know, in this moment, that I’m finally ready to take that leap. To trust him. To let go of the past and fight for what we could have together.
We kiss like it’s the start of something new, something real. Because that’s exactly what this is.
When we finally break apart, both of us breathless, I look into his eyes and smile. A real smile. One that doesn’t come with doubt, but with the quiet certainty that we’re both choosing this. Choosing each other.
“Okay,” I say softly, my voice trembling with the vulnerability I’m finally allowing myself to feel. “I’m ready. Let’s take that chance.”
Seb’s eyes brighten, a mix of relief and something deeper flashing across his face. He pulls me back into his arms, holding me close as if he never wants to let go. And for the first time in a long time, I don’t want to either.
“I’ll never let you down again,” he promises, his voice barely a whisper against my hair.
I close my eyes, leaning into him, finally believing him. This is the beginning of something new. Something real.
My happily ever after, I hope.