When I returned to the private room, his face was exactly as I had expected filled with anxiety.
He was on the phone, and the moment he hung up, his expression changed.
“Darling, something urgent came up at the office. You stay and enjoy the evening. I’ve already spoken to the manager.”
“Dante,” I looked at him, “didn’t you say you’d stay with me tonight? Please, don’t go.”
He frowned, his gaze flickering, as though torn between two worlds.
I could see the hesitation in his eyes.
He looked at me once more, then slowly pried my fingers off his sleeve, one by one.
“I’ll come back tonight, I promise. All right?”
I nodded and smiled.
But even I could feel how cold that smile was.
Half an hour later, my phone lit up.
It was a video from Lyra.
I stared at the screen for a few seconds before pressing play.
In the video, tears streamed down her face as she spoke in a fragile voice.
“I just miss you so much. Seeing you with her, so loving, it drives me insane with jealousy. It’s my fault, please don’t be mad, okay?”
Dante sat beside her, his expression gentle.
He held a warm egg to her reddened cheek, his voice low and tender.
“Don’t cry. Don’t cry, whatever you want, I’ll make it up to you.”
“Then… the twins’ birthday is coming up,” she said softly, “I want that new island you bought can we give it to them as a present?”
He was silent for a moment, then nodded.
At the end of the video, she lifted her head and smiled at the camera a sweet smile that chilled me to the bone.
“See? Even what he promised you, as long as I ask, he’ll still give it to me. Giselle, you’ve lost.”
I stared at the screen, the emptiness in my chest spreading wider and wider.
So he could be gentle just not with me.
And that, I realized, was what hurt the most.
The worst part of love isn’t the betrayal itself,
but the calm tenderness of the one betraying you.
Outside, the neon lights blurred before my eyes.
I switched my phone to silent and slowly stood up.
Perhaps after tonight, I really should leave this country.
Some people aren’t worth waiting a lifetime for.
And I finally understood that.
After that reunion, I thought Dante might at least notice something was wrong.
But he didn’t.
He continued as always gentle to others, distant to me.
And Lyra’s shadow appeared in his office almost every day.
That morning, I went to the company to sign my final transfer documents.
The moment I stepped into the meeting room, Lyra suddenly let out a sharp cry, clutching her stomach before collapsing onto the floor, striking the edge of the coffee table.
“Lyra!” Dante rushed to her instantly.
He hadn’t even taken off his jacket when he scooped her into his arms.
“Call a doctor!”
His voice was low, filled with a panic I had never heard from him before.
I stood frozen as my colleagues rushed out in alarm, the room erupting into chaos.
For a moment, I thought she was truly hurt.
But just before she fell, I had caught it the faintest trace of a smile at the corner of her lips.
It lasted less than a second, yet it was enough to freeze my heart.
Half an hour later, she was carried out on a stretcher to the hospital.
I had just stepped into the hallway when Dante’s cold voice sounded behind me.
“What did you do?”
