2. Bella #3
It’s been going on for a while. Maybe months. Maybe longer.
“Was it Victoria?” I ask, even though I’m not sure I want to know the answer. “Was it my sister?”
Adrian glances at me, his expression sympathetic. “Yes. It was her. It was your sister. But I think you knew that. I’m sorry.”
I laugh, and it comes out sounding slightly unhinged. “You’re sorry. Everyone’s sorry. But sorry doesn’t change anything, does it? Sorry doesn’t make Marcus not a cheating bastard. Sorry doesn’t make my sister not a backstabbing bitch. Sorry doesn’t give me back the three years I wasted on him.”
“No,” Adrian agrees quietly. “It doesn’t. But what it does do is free you. You’re not tied to him anymore, Isabella. You can do whatever you want, be whoever you want. You’re not Marcus Webb’s fiancée anymore. You’re just you.”
Just you. The words echo in my mind. Who am I, without Marcus? I’ve spent so long being part of a couple, planning a future with him, that I’ve almost forgotten I’m a person in my own right.
We pull up in front of Sarah’s apartment building, a modest mid-rise in a decent neighborhood. Lights are on in Sarah’s third-floor window.
“Thank you,” I say, reaching for the door handle. “For the ride. And the food. And… everything.”
“Think about my offer,” Adrian says. “You have my number.”
I nod and climb out of the car, gathering my dress around me. I’m halfway to the building entrance when Adrian calls out to me.
“Isabella?”
I turn back.
“For what it’s worth,” he says, “Marcus is an idiot. Any man who would leave you at the altar doesn’t deserve you.”
Before I can respond, he pulls away from the curb and disappears into the evening traffic.
I stand on the sidewalk for a long moment, Adrian’s business card clutched in my hand, his words echoing in my mind. Then I turn and walk into the building, ready to face whatever comes next.
Sarah answers the door on the first knock, her eyes red and swollen from crying. She takes one look at me and bursts into fresh tears.
“Oh my God, Bella, I’ve been so worried! Where have you been? Are you okay? Of course you’re not okay, that’s a stupid question, but-”
“I’m okay,” I interrupt, even though it’s a lie. “Can I come in?”
Sarah pulls me inside and wraps me in a fierce hug. I stand stiffly for a moment, then feel myself melting into the embrace. And then I’m crying again, great heaving sobs that shake my entire body.
Sarah holds me through it all, murmuring soothing nonsense and stroking my hair. When the tears finally subside, she leads me to the couch and disappears into the kitchen, returning with a bottle of wine and two glasses.
“Tell me everything,” Sarah says, pouring generous amounts of wine into both glasses. “Start from when you left the hotel.”
So I tell her. About running through the streets, about falling, about Adrian Sterling appearing like some kind of avenging angel. I tell her about the café, about the job offer, about learning that Marcus has been cheating for months.
The only thing I don’t mention is the way my body reacted to Adrian’s touch, the spark of heat that has nothing to do with gratitude or shock. That feels too complicated, too confusing to put into words.
“So what are you going to do?” Sarah asks when I’ve finished. “About the job, I mean.”
I look down at Adrian’s business card, which I’ve been turning over and over in my hands. “I don’t know. Part of me thinks it’s crazy. But another part of me thinks… why not? What do I have to lose?”
“Your dignity?” Sarah suggests. “If you work for Adrian Sterling, everyone will think you’re doing it to get back at Marcus.”
“Maybe I am,” I say. “Maybe that’s exactly what I’m doing. Is that so wrong?”
Sarah is quiet for a moment. “No,” she finally says. “No, I don’t think it’s wrong. Marcus deserves whatever karma comes his way. I just don’t want you to do something you’ll regret.”
“I already have regrets,” I say. “I regret saying yes when Marcus proposed. I regret putting my career on hold for him. I regret not listening when Adrian tried to warn me. I regret trusting my sister. What’s one more regret on top of all that?”
“Bella-”
“I’m going to do it,” I say, and as the words leave my mouth, I know they’re true. “I’m going to take the job. I’m going to work for Adrian Sterling, and I’m going to be so good at it that Marcus will regret ever letting me go.”
Sarah studies me for a long moment, then raises her wine glass. “Okay then. To new beginnings.”
I clink my glass against Sarah’s. “To new beginnings.”
I pull out my phone and type out a text to the number on Adrian’s card: I’m in. When do I start?
The response comes almost immediately: Monday. 9 a.m. Welcome to Sterling Industries, Isabella.
I stare at the message, my heart pounding. I’ve just made a decision that will change everything. I’ve just aligned myself with Marcus’s biggest rival. I’ve just taken the first step toward a future I can’t even begin to imagine.
And for the first time since the music cut out in the middle of my wedding ceremony, I feel something other than pain and betrayal.
I feel hope.