When I opened my eyes, I was no longer in the glittering ballroom, nor among the laughter and whispers that had crushed me. I was in a darkened room in our house but my head ached, my body heavy. For a moment, I couldn’t remember how I had gotten here.
Then voices outside the door made my stomach twist.
“Lock her in,” Sasha’s voice ordered coldly. “And don’t let her out. Starve her if you have to. She deserves it, after ruining the party.”
“Yes, ma’am,” a maid whispered.
The sound of a key turning in the lock made my blood run cold. I pressed my trembling hands to my face, muffling a sob.
So that was what I was to them. A nuisance. An embarrassment. A prisoner.
I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, tears streaming down my cheeks. All day passed without Keith even checking on me. Not once. He hadn’t knocked, hadn’t called my name, hadn’t asked if I was alright.
When I finally reached for my phone, my hands still shaking, a notification blinked at the top of the screen. A video message.
It was from Faye.
I tapped it—and my breath caught in my throat.
The video played on loop: Keith and Faye, lips pressed together, kissing as though the world around them didn’t exist.
I wanted to scream, to break the phone, to tear my heart out.
But instead, I blocked her number.
I sat there, staring at the wall, until my hand moved on its own. Until my heart remembered a name I had buried long ago.
Nathan. My childhood friend. Even after we parted ways, he had promised me once—no matter what, if I ever needed him, he would be there.
With trembling fingers, I dialed his number.
He answered on the second ring, his voice older, deeper, but familiar. “Katerina?”
My throat tightened. “Nathan… can you help me? Please. I’m divorcing my husband. Pick me up in three days.”
There was a sharp inhale on the other line. “What happened? Did he hurt you?”
“Yes,” I whispered, my voice breaking. “So please… just come. See you in three days.”
I dropped the call before I could lose my courage.
And when I turned—Keith was standing at the door.
My blood froze.
His face was unreadable, but his voice was sharp. “What’s happening? Who are you calling? Who are you seeing?”
I swallowed hard. “It’s just Nathan. He’s visiting.”
Keith’s jaw clenched. “Nathan? That guy I told you I was jealous of? The one I told you to stop seeing? You’re calling him now?”
“He’s my best friend,” I defended weakly. “He’s always been—”
“I don’t care!” he snapped, his voice rising. “Even if he is, you can’t just run to him.”
I looked at him, my anger finally bubbling to the surface. “And you can run to Faye while I can’t go to Nathan? Tell me, Keith, how is that fair?”
His eyes flashed. “That’s different! Faye is business.”
“And Nathan is loyalty,” I said bitterly.
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Finally, I turned away, my voice low. “I’m sleeping. Get out.”
But Keith didn’t leave. He stepped closer, desperation flickering across his features. “Katerina, come on. Are you still mad about the party? I’m sorry for denying you, but I only did that to protect you. I just… I can’t lose the merger. I need Faye’s connections, but once the deal is signed, I promise I’ll take you on a trip. We’ll tell the world about you.”
He pulled a small box from his pocket, revealing a delicate ring. Slipping it onto my finger, he whispered, “This is a promise. Tomorrow, we’ll have dinner. Just us. Okay?”
I stared at the ring, my chest hollow, and nodded.
The next morning, Keith was in his study, busy with a pile of documents. His pen scratched against the paper, his attention fixed.
I approached quietly, slipping the prenup modification among the stack. “Here, can you sign this? It’s for the house.”
He didn’t even glance at it. Just scrawled his signature and moved on. His phone buzzed beside him—messages from Faye flashing across the screen. He smiled faintly at one before tucking the phone away.
I said nothing.
Instead, I went upstairs, pulled out a box, and began packing everything. All the clothes, the letters, the trinkets of a love that no longer existed. Every piece of myself I had once given to this house.
When the box was full, I dragged it outside, lit a match, and watched it burn.
The flames roared, smoke curling into the sky. My memories turned to ash.
“What are you doing?” Keith’s voice demanded behind me.
I turned, my face blank. “I just want change.”
His brows furrowed, confusion and anger flickering in his eyes. But before he could say more, his phone rang.
Faye’s voice echoed faintly from the speaker. “Ready for the business meeting?”
Keith sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’ll see you at dinner later, okay?” he told me, then walked away.
I prepared myself. I wore the dress he once said made me look beautiful, fixed my hair, set the table.
Dinner, he had promised.
But the hours stretched thin. One hour. Two. Nearly three.
And he never came.
I stood, ready to walk away, when the television in the living room caught my eye.
Breaking news flashed across the screen.
Heir to the Alaric empire, Keith Alaric, and Faye Laurent—soon to be married.
My world stopped.
On the screen, Keith stood beside her, smiling, their hands clasped as the press cheered.
I pressed a hand to my chest, but the pain was unbearable.
A laugh tore from my lips—bitter, hollow, broken.
Of course.
Of course, this was the truth.
I was nothing.
And maybe I had always been.
Because truly, Keith and I never belonged in the same world.
