Chapter 17
Getting out of my car, I noticed Sloane's pulling into the garage too. I shut the door and headed toward the foyer. I didn't glance at her—I just walked straight down the bedroom hallway. As I passed the master bedroom, her voice called out.
"Aurora."
I froze, standing still but not turning to her. I felt like a child throwing a tantrum over something I was denied.
"Have dinner with me," she added.
I said nothing. I simply kept walking to the room I'd been sleeping in, slipped inside, and locked the door behind me. I changed into fresh clothes and sat at the edge of the bed. My phone had been chiming the whole drive home, but I hadn't bothered to check it.
Finally, I opened my handbag and pulled it out. Almost every notification was from Sloane.
Where were you?
Did you go back to your office?
Went to your office, but you weren't there.
Aurora.
Answer the phone.
A dry chuckle escaped me as I locked the screen again. Why would she go to my office? I shook my head, standing. "Sometimes, Sol, I don't know if you're worried about me... or just obsessed with keeping track of me," I muttered as I stepped out of the bedroom.
My body jolted slightly when I saw Sloane standing in the hallway, right in front of my door. Her eyes locked with mine as she exhaled.
"Why haven't you answered your phone? You're not even replying to my messages. Are you ignoring me?"
Her tone made me arch a brow. I licked my lips, pointing to myself.
"Am I ignoring you?" I scoffed. "Sol, do you even realize what you did to me?
You ignored me when a hot coffee spilled all over me.
" I raised my bandaged arm between us. "See this?
And yet the first instinct you had was to rush past me—to her.
I'm your wife," I whispered, breath hitching.
"She's a business partner, Ro," she said, dragging her fingers through her hair with a sigh. "It's not like you weren't treated properly. Look at you—you're fine. You didn't need me for something that wasn't critical."
Her words left me blinking. A hollow laugh slipped out, disbelief curling in my chest. "You're impossible, Sol." I shook my head.
Sloane stepped closer, reaching for my bandaged hand. "Are you frustrated I didn't go with you? Or are you jealous? Jealous that my attention was on business—so much so that you think I don't see you as important anymore?"
The way she glanced up at me made my throat tighten. My breath grew uneven, my chest rising and falling too fast.
"Tell me, Aurora," she pressed. "Aren't you jealous when I'm with someone else? Aren't you jealous when I free my time for business but act too busy when it comes to you?"
"Or maybe you don't need me at all anymore," her voice faltered before she caught herself. "After all, you agreed to this marriage because you needed my money. And now that your company is clawing its way back—" She cut herself off, eyes narrowing as she read my silence.
A soft laugh escaped her as her free hand cupped my cheek. "Your body betrays you, Ro. See this?" Her thumb traced my jaw. "The way you clench it. The way you tremble. How long do you think you can hold your emotions back?"
She stepped back, raking her gaze over me from head to toe before meeting my eyes again. "Be honest. Are you jealous?"
I shut my eyes, inhaled deeply, and shook my head, forcing myself to walk past her. "What are you talking about? I'm not jealous."
"Then..." Her voice stopped me cold. "If I told you I wanted to start dating someone, would you really feel nothing? If I spent less time here—less time with you—wouldn't you care? After all, this marriage is just for the company, isn't it?"
I tilted my head back, staring at the ceiling as I laughed bitterly, blinking hard against the sting in my eyes.
Straightening my spine, I turned to face her.
"Is that why you won't give me another chance, Sol?
" I stepped closer, stopping right in front of her.
"Because you want to date someone else?"
My throat ached like it was strangling me, a knot lodged too deep to swallow down. I couldn't breathe—but I couldn't stop either. My trembling hands rose to my face, wiping at the tears spilling down my cheeks. Why am I crying? Why...
Sloane looked at me, her expression unreadable. I sniffled, a broken laugh slipping out as I wiped at my cheeks. "Sorry... I'm just not feeling well," I muttered, fumbling for the door knob and cracking my bedroom door open.
"Why can't you just tell me straight to my face, Ro?"
My throat tightened. "What do you even want me to say?" My voice cracked as I swallowed hard. "You're right—it's your decision, your life. We're only married because my company needed the money. We're just ex-lovers who shouldn't be together anymore, tangled in a situation neither of us wanted."
I stepped inside the doorway, ready to shut myself in for the night. My hand hovered over the lock—until her voice stopped me cold.
"Don't you want to use me anymore?"
I froze.
"For one last time, Aurora," Sloane's voice trembled with anger and despair. "Can't you just treat me like before? Use me—my body, everything about me. Use it!"
I turned, stunned.
"Back then, even when you pushed me away, I came crawling back, begging like some dog. Treat me like that again! Fake it if you have to—fake your love, fake everything!"
"I didn't fake anything!" I shouted, clutching my head as the throbbing pain nearly knocked me over. "I..." My breath hitched, and I covered my eyes with my uninjured hand. "Twelve years ago, I told you I was only with you for sex—but it wasn't true."
My knees buckled. I sank to the floor, staring at the ground through blurred vision. "Sol... I love you. I've always loved you. Every part of you. Our four years together weren't a game to me. Even after I left you—twelve years ago—I never stopped loving you."
Her voice broke into a sharp cry. "Then why leave me?!"
"Because..." I forced my gaze up to hers.
"Because I was terrified you'd leave me first. Just like my father abandoned my mother.
Just like he abandoned me. I couldn't bear waiting for the day you got tired of me—so I chose to leave first. I thought it was easier to make you hate me than to watch you walk away. "
Sloane exhaled harshly, kneeling in front of me.
She cupped my face, her fingers digging into my skin.
I felt the sting of the cut her ring had left the last time she struck me.
"Do you even know what I lost back then, Aurora?
" Her voice shook. "You left me at my lowest—when I needed you most. You left me to face everything alone. "
My trembling hands closed around hers. "Sol, I'm sorry," I whispered, my chest twisting so tightly I could hardly breathe. "I know I was a coward. I know I hurt you. But I want to make it right. Please... let's start over."
Her hand slipped away. My vision blurred with tears as I tried to hold her gaze.
"You say you want to make things right," she said bitterly, "yet you thought I was sleeping around. That I was begging another man to fuck me."
"Sol—"
"I wasn't with anyone," she cut me off, voice like a blade.
"That night, when you heard me begging—I was touching myself.
Alone." She stood, towering over me, her face shadowed with fury and grief.
"So tell me, Aurora—how could you claim to love me, claim to want me back, and still think so low of me? "
I shook my head weakly. "I—"
Her voice cracked. "Every word you throw at me cuts deeper.
Not just as your wife, but as the woman who once loved you.
You degrade me, Ro—again and again. You broke me twelve years ago, and you're breaking me now.
So tell me..." Her eyes burned as they pinned me to the floor.
"How can we start over, when everything between us is already ruined? "
?·???°???°???·?
My lips twitched as I stepped out of the car and spotted the familiar figure by the entrance of La Grande épicerie de Monaco. Arms crossed, she was waiting, eyes fixed on me. I walked toward her, hands tucked into the pockets of my hoodie.
"Damn, are you sure you're here to buy snacks with me?" I groaned, rolling my eyes. "Because I could've just asked you to come for snacks, not some business acquisitions, Selene."
Selene tilted her head. "Well, I was in a meeting for a potential acquisition, hence the outfit," she said, gesturing to herself. "Besides, who even told you to call me for snacks? Don't you have a wife?"
"Wow," I leaned back slightly, smirking. "And yet here you are, standing next to me. Don't you have a wife too?" I clicked my tongue.
She snorted, crossing her arms and clutching her handbag. "Alexei's busy with the culinary school and restaurants," she shrugged, talking about her Michelin-star chef wife.
I glanced at her as we entered the mall side by side. "So... how's married life treating you?" I asked, pulling a pushcart as we walked down the aisles.
Selene hummed, walking beside me. We stopped at the nuts section. "It's fun," she shrugged, smiling at a jar of almonds. "Alexei and I had a lot of messy stuff last year, but... I'm enjoying being married to her."
I nodded, picking up a jar of Marcona almonds and placing it in the cart. My burned arm throbbed painfully, barely manageable. I heaved a sigh and looked at Selene. "That's great," I said, my tone tinged with bitterness.
"How about you?" she asked as we moved toward the cheese section. "How's married life with Sloane?"
My hand paused over the Brie. I blinked and forced a wide, boastful smile. "Happy," I said, shrugging as I placed the Brie in the cart. "I've never been happier."
Selene looked at me, making me gulp. I couldn't help but avoid her gaze, picking up a Camembert and pretending to check the label.
"You know," she began, and I could still feel her eyes on me. I placed the cheese in the cart and pushed it toward another aisle, Selene walking beside me. "I think I saw her once..." she paused, and I stopped, my heart hitching as I looked at her.
She blinked, eyes fixed ahead. I followed her gaze—and almost swallowed my breath when I saw Sloane down the hallway, laughing with a woman. Clearing my throat, I tried to steer the cart to a different aisle, but Selene gripped the handle and looked at me.
"Right," she said slowly. "I saw Sloane with that woman too. Her friend?"
"I..." I rubbed the back of my neck, chuckling lowly. "A business partner, maybe."
"Business partner?" she echoed, frowning. "Doesn't look like it," she shrugged.
I crossed my arms. "What do you mean?"
Selene exhaled, raising a brow. "If she were just a business partner, she wouldn't be walking that close. When I saw them, the woman's arm was linked to Sloane's. How's that professional?"
"Maybe a college friend?" I shrugged.
"Genius," she clicked her tongue. "You both went to Oxford; you'd know her friends."
"You say it like you didn't go to Oxford," I laughed lowly.
"Well, I studied at HEC originally," she sighed. "Oxford was only an exchange program."
"Maybe it's someone from after we broke up," I said, trying to calm the jealousy bubbling inside me. "Besides, after Oxford, I went straight to Central Saint Martins."
She nodded, humming. "Yeah, rumor spread like wildfire back then—you didn't even attend your graduation ceremony." She chuckled. "Just dropping a bomb in front of the public and running away?"
I groaned, rolling my eyes. "Because I knew Sol would definitely be there. I needed to cut contact with her—that's why."
"Whatever it is," Selene chuckled, pointing at my face. "What happened to you anyway? Accident?"
My hand instinctively went to my cheek, covered with a bandage. The wound still wasn't healing properly. "Been clumsy lately," I laughed, shaking my head.
"So clumsy that you even got your arm bandaged?" she scoffed.
"Yeah," I nodded, pushing the cart toward the freezer filled with gelato. "What do you want, Selene?" I asked, pointing at the freezer.
"Black truffle, thanks," she said, grinning.
I chuckled as I opened the freezer and picked the flavor she liked. "Oh, right—when you see Thalia, tell her to come visit me. That cousin of mine is like a ghost; I can't even properly talk to her most of the time."
I placed the black truffle in the cart, then reached for Sloane's favorite. A smile spread across my lips as I added it to the cart as well.
"You know how Thalia is—she's obsessed with her work. Besides, does she even stay at her house?" Selene laughed softly. "Sometimes she's like a mushroom, just suddenly popping into my office."
A small laugh escaped me as my fingers brushed the gelato flavor Sloane and I used to share. I gave a faint smile and added it to the cart. "She's obsessed with what she does. She acts like she has to strive harder, like she's barely surviving, when in fact they have plenty of companies."
"Thalia's just like that," Selene said, shaking her head as we walked toward the counter. "You know, most of the time I forget you and Thalia are cousins," she laughed softly, looking at me.
I just hummed. "That's because I'm using my mother's surname, not my father's. If I used his surname, maybe you wouldn't forget that Thalia and I are cousins—my father and her father are brothers."
Selene looked at me intently. "Not to pry... okay, maybe I am prying, but I'm just wondering: have you ever had a chance to talk to your father?"
Heaving a sigh, I shook my head. "No. Funny, right? Monaco is such a small place, yet we've never crossed paths. I heard from Thalia that he's already married and has a happy life elsewhere. So... I don't need to get involved."
"Besides," I said, placing items on the counter and turning back to Selene, "he abandoned my mother and me when we needed him the most." I wanted to add, just like I did to Sloane, but that wasn't something to be proud of.