HE WAS NEVER MINE

Avery's Pov

I checked my reflection one last time, smoothing down the navy blue dress.

My hair down, the way he'd once said he liked it,  back when he looked at me once. 

The diamond bracelet he'd given me for Christmas glinted under the light. His assistant had probably picked it, but I wore it anyway.

Tonight had to be perfect. 

Richard, my father-in-law, was hosting fourteen important guests, and I intended to be what they expected, the graceful hostess. The perfect wife.

Maybe if I tried hard enough, he'd finally see me. Pathetic, I knew that.

I'm Avery Monroe Sterling. Twenty-four. Married for fourteen months to a man who keeps me in a separate bedroom and barely speaks to me. 

We signed a one-year contract marriage to protect his company's image and satisfy his father's wishes. That contract expired two months ago but I'm still here.

Before Nate, my husband, I was engaged to someone else. I caught him cheating with someone I trusted. 

The betrayal sent me running into traffic...straight into Richard Sterling's car. He saw an opportunity where everyone else saw a broken girl

I headed downstairs, heels clicking against marble. The dining room was filled with expensive conversation, men in suits, women dripping with jewelry.

Nate sat at the head of the table, laughing at something Richard said. He looked perfect, untouchable. My heart still did that stupid thing whenever I looked at him.

His eyes met mine for half a second before sliding away again, dismissing me as easily as he always did.

I took my seat, smiled at guests, and played my part. The food smelled rich. 

Conversation carried on around me as though I wasn't there.

Then the smell hit me. Rich salmon drenched in butter.

My stomach turned violently. I gripped my fork, swallowing hard against the rising nausea.

Not now. Please, not now.

"Mrs. Sterling, you look pale," Mrs. Waters said, her voice carrying across the table. "Are you feeling alright?"

Every head turned, including Nate.

"I'm fine," I forced a smile. "Just..."

Another wave crashed over me. 

The room tilted and I stood fast, chair scraping loudly against the floor.

"Excuse me..."

I took only three steps before my stomach betrayed me and I doubled over, vomiting onto the Persian rug.

Gasps erupted around the table. A woman let out a quiet sound of disgust

I couldn't stop, body heaving while humiliation burned through every nerve.

Mrs. Waters was the first to break the silence, her voice full of excitement.

"Could it be? Richard, are we finally getting a grandchild?"

The room fell silent.

I looked up, wiping my mouth with trembling hands. Richard's expression didn't change.

But Nate... he was staring at me like I'd just confirmed his worst suspicion.

He strode over and clamped a hand around my arm, his grip hard enough to bruise. He hauled me toward the stairs while I stumbled to keep up.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I didn't mean..."

"Just shut it." 

He shoved me into our bedroom and slammed the door behind us.

I stood there shaking, not from the sickness anymore, but from the coldness in his eyes.

"Are you pregnant?" he demanded, voice deadly calm.

"What? No, I..."

"Don't lie to me, woman." He stepped closer, towering over me. "Whose is it?"

For a second, the words didn't register.

"Whose is what?"

"The baby," he said, voiced sharp. "Whose baby are you carrying?"

"I'm not pregnant!" I shot back. "I'm just sick!"

"Everyone downstairs thinks you are," he said coldly. "And since I've never touched you, we both know it can't be mine."

The implication hit like a slap. He thought...he actually thought...

"Wait, you think I'm cheating on you?" 

"What else am I supposed to think?" His jaw tightened. "You disappear during the day and you end conversations when I walk into the room."

"Those conversations are with your mother!" I snapped. "And I 'disappear' to work at the hospital!"

He "Working with all those male doctors"

"You're insane," I whispered.

"Stay here." He moved toward the door. "Don't come downstairs. You've embarrassed me enough for one night."

"Nate, please..."

He stopped and pulled his phone from his pocket. The screen lit up. 

For a split second, his expression softened. He slipped the phone back into his pocket. 

"I said stay here." 

Then he walked out. The door clicked shut behind him, that quiet sound hurt more than if he'd slammed it.

I sank into the bed, my whole body shaking. Not from sickness anymore. From anger, from the crushing weight of knowing this was what he thought of me.

Downstairs, the party carried on as if nothing had happened

I moved to the window, trying to catch my breath. Then I heard Nate's voice from the hallway.

"...didn't expect to see you here." 

I moved to the door, straining to hear.

"I had to see you, Nate." 

The woman's voice was soft, confident and far too familiar. 

"Celeste..."

My heart hammered against my ribs. 

The name felt like ice in my veins, his first love... the ghost that lived in this marriage. 

I heard she was back in New York a week ago.  

Everything suddenly made sense. That's why he has been different, distracted and checking his phone constantly.

But why is she here tonight?

"You shouldn't have come," he said quietly, but there wasn't much certainty behind the words.

I heard them walking towards the stairs.

I slipped out of the bedroom quietly and followed their voices to the conservatory at the back of the house, the door was slightly opened.

Nate stood with his back to me then I saw her.

Celeste, blonde, beautiful, everything I wasn't, standing close to Nate, too close.

"I know I hurt you," she whispered. "I know I shouldn't be here, but I had to."

"We are both married, Celeste. There is no point..."

"I am not," she cut him off. "Not anymore, I ended it."

 "You what?"

"The marriage," she said quietly. "I ended it. I wasn't happy, Nate. I tried but I couldn't forget you."

"When I heard you got married, I thought I'd lost you forever. I had to come back, to tell you I still love you."

My chest tightened until breathing hurt.

"You left me..."

His voice came out low and controlled but the hurt underneath it was impossible to miss.

"Three years ago, you left!"

"I am sorry Nate." Tears welled up in her eyes. "I was scared."

"Young and stupid and scared of how much I felt and that was the biggest mistake of my life."

"Celeste..."

"Are you happy with her?" she asked. "Do you love her?"

Silence stretched between them. I held my breath, waiting for his answer.

He still didn't answer.

I shouldn't have been listening. I shouldn't have cared. But I couldn't move.

"We can fix this," She stepped closer and wrapped her arms around his waist. "We can still have everything we should have had."

She rose on her toes and kissed him. Nate stood frozen for some seconds.

The world around me stopped. I waited for him to push her back, to remember he had a wife upstairs.

But instead, his hand came up to her waist and the other to the back of her neck and he kissed her back.