"Exactly! He was talking out of his ass."
"If he really was the CEO of Grandview Corporation, he probably got bored and went back to marry some heiress. Dual personality? Who does he think he's fooling?"
"Sibyl, stop waiting for him. There are plenty of men out there. I'll set you up!"
It wasn't like I hadn't tried seeing other men. Every single attempt ended in failure.
Leopold lingered in my mind, clinging to me like a nightmare I couldn't shake.
I taught myself to use the internet, scouring the news for any trace of him. I found nothing.
The only thing I did find was a brief notice from a few days ago: Leopold Sanchez had legally changed his name. To Winston.
I knew what that meant. That was Leopold's second personality.
But I never expected Winston to show up in front of me, wearing the same face.
The eyes, the mannerisms — completely different.
Leopold had been gentle and humble, effortlessly warm. But the man I'd just seen carried a spring breeze in his gaze that seemed approachable on the surface, while underneath, his eyes were still as a frozen lake, radiating a pressure that kept the entire world at arm's length.
I stood outside room 802, drew a deep breath, and knocked.
"Mr. Sanchez, the silk robe you requested is here."
The door opened.
Winston's smiling eyes betrayed nothing. "You're Sibyl Henson?"
"Leopold dated you for five years?"
His gaze swept over me from head to toe, dripping with undisguised contempt — as if the relationship were something to be ashamed of.
I didn't want to confirm it. I didn't want to deny it, either.
I just held out the bag, stubborn and steady. "Your silk robe."
My fingers tightened around the handles until my knuckles ached.
I'd never imagined hearing Leopold's name come from Winston's mouth.
If Winston was standing here today, it meant Leopold wasn't coming back.
The promise he'd made — that he'd come back and marry me once he'd won — had scattered like dust in the wind.
And the man I'd loved and treasured for five years was nowhere to be found.
Winston pointed toward the table inside the room, gesturing for me to bring it in.
I frowned, swallowed my discomfort, and stepped through the door.
The moment I crossed the threshold, a cloying, rotten-sweet smell of wilting flowers hit me full in the face.
A woman lay on the bed, pale thighs dangling bare over the edge, swinging lazily. The floor was littered with used condoms.
"I've set it down for you."
I wanted to leave. Fast. But when I turned, I walked straight into Winston's chest.
"What's the rush?" His voice was low, almost amused.
"I had you in my bed for five years too. Drop the innocent act."
He seized my wrist, his grip so crushing it felt like he could snap the bone.
He wrenched me forward and threw me onto the suite's sofa, pinning me beneath him in one fluid motion. "I've always wondered — what is it about you that had him so hooked?"
"Five years with the same woman. He was even willing to try to destroy me for your sake."
"Did he forget who carried him from rock bottom to heir of the Sanchez family? If it weren't for me, he'd have died in that fire eight years ago."
His weight pressed down on me, suffocating and immovable. I thrashed against him, but I couldn't shift him an inch.
"Sibyl, technically, he and I are the same person. Why don't you give me a try?"
The contempt dripping from every word sent rage roaring through my skull.
"You and him are not the same person."
"You never were."
"You think changing Leopold's name to Winston means you can replace him completely?"
I ground the words out through clenched teeth.
Winston's expression darkened instantly. His eyes locked onto mine, sharp as a blade.
"Shut up."
His hand closed around my throat. The air vanished.
"Even if you changed the name..." I choked out, each word scraped raw, "...everyone still knows... you were supposed to be Leopold..."
