Colette sat alone in the center of the vast living room. The magazine in her lap was open, but she hadn't turned a page in twenty minutes. The silence of the penthouse pressed against her eardrums.
Suddenly, the polished steel doors of the private elevator slid open with a soft, melodic chime.
Julian Sterling stepped out. He looked immaculate in a navy blue suit, his blond hair perfectly swept back. In his arms, he held a massive bouquet of white peonies-her absolute favorite flower.
Colette dropped the magazine onto the glass coffee table. Her spine snapped straight, her posture immediately stiffening into a defensive wall.
Julian walked over, his handsome face arranged into a practiced mask of apologetic charm. He leaned down, aiming for her lips.
Colette turned her head slightly. His lips brushed against her hair instead.
Julian sighed, a heavy, put-upon sound. He placed the expensive bouquet on the glass table next to her discarded magazine.
"Colette, I am so incredibly sorry about last night," he started, his voice dripping with smooth regret. "I missed your twenty-fourth birthday. I know."
Colette crossed her arms tightly over her chest. Her fingernails dug into her cashmere sleeves. "Where were you, Julian? I waited for three hours. I called you twelve times."
Julian ran a hand through his perfectly styled hair. He looked genuinely stressed, his blue eyes pleading with her.
"Abby returned to New York," he said.
Colette's heart dropped straight into her stomach. The air in her lungs turned to ice.
"She got into a terrible situation with her landlord," Julian explained quickly, rushing his words. "She was being evicted. She was terrified."
Colette stood up. Her legs felt shaky, but her voice rose, sharp and cutting. "Abby Silva? Your ex-girlfriend's housing crisis trumped my birthday?"
Julian adopted a defensive tone, his jaw setting stubbornly. "She has no one else in this city, Colette. She was crying on the street. I was just being decent."
Colette stepped closer to him. Her eyes flashed with deep, agonizing hurt and a rising, uncontrollable anger.
"Is this wedding still happening?" she asked directly, her voice trembling. "Because your lingering attachment to her is humiliating."
Julian looked shocked. He reached out and grabbed her shoulders, his grip tight, trying to hold her in place.
"Of course it's happening," he reassured her firmly. "I love you. And the Sterling-Beaumont alliance is unbreakable. You know that."
Colette searched his eyes. She desperately wanted to find absolute certainty in his gaze. She wanted to see the man she had loved for three years.
Instead, she found only a chaotic, muddy mix of guilt, corporate duty, and exhaustion.
She pushed his hands off her shoulders. She took a deliberate step back, re-establishing her physical boundaries.
"Decency toward an ex should not mean humiliating your future wife in public," she told him, her voice dropping to a cold whisper.
Julian looked chastised. His shoulders slumped. "I know. I'm sorry. I will make it up to you. I swear."
Colette stared at him. Her logical brain screamed at her to throw the peonies in his face. But her three-year emotional investment, the public pressure, the fear of failure-it all warred inside her chest.
She gave a curt, stiff nod. She accepted the compromise to keep the fragile peace.
Julian immediately checked his luxury watch. "I have an urgent board meeting. I have to leave right now."
Colette watched in absolute disbelief as he turned his back on her. He walked toward the elevator. He had been in her apartment for less than ten minutes. And he forgot about their wedding dress fitting arrangements.
The elevator doors closed behind him, swallowing him whole. Colette stood alone in the silent living room. Her chest heaved, her throat burning with unshed tears.
She had to text the bridal shop to reschedule her fitting for tomorrow.
From the dark doorway of the library, Alex watched her shoulders tremble. He stepped back deeper into the shadows. He clenched his fists at his sides, his nails digging so hard into his palms that his knuckles turned stark white.
