CHAPTER 8: FLASHBACK - VIENNA

The day blended into night with little ceremony. Ariel barely spoke at dinner, Connel on the other hand barely looked her way. And when the silence grew too loud, she slipped away to her room, alone with her thoughts.

Down the hall, a different kind of silence unfolded.

Connel sat in his house office, the scent of aged oak leather lingering in the air, the dim lights casting long shadows across the bookshelves. The glass of untouched whiskey reflected the soft amber of the firelight, stillness wrapped around him like a cloak. Outside the mist thickened into rain, soft at first then persistent tapping the windows like fingers trying to get in. He didn't blink, his gaze was fixed on the flames in the hearth but his mind had wandered miles and years away.

Three years ago in Vienna.

The world outside the penthouse was a postcard, all snow draped buildings and shimmering lights. The snow fell silently outside the high-rise window, blanketing Vienna in a peaceful white, but Inside the air crackled with tension just beneath the surface 

Tori stood barefoot on the marble floor, robe clinging to her like a secret, twirling her wine glass absentmindedly. "You're quiet tonight," she remarked, her voice light but laced with knowing. Her sharp eyes never left Connel, calculating him like a book.

Connel shifted on his seat, not meeting her gaze, “I'm just thinking.”

“I know what you're thinking.” Tori replied, sipping her wine.

"You went behind my back." Connel said.

“You mean walking into a room full of criminals without you? That was survival not betrayal.” Tori replied

“You were supposed to observe,” he stepped forward. “You weren't supposed to make promises or speak. You were meant to stand in for me.”

“I made deals, not promises. There's a difference." Tori replied calmly.

“ You want to be me so bad," Connel said, his voice low and cold.

“No! I don't want to be you," Tori said, her smile fading. “I never wanted to be you. All I wanted was you to see me as an equal but you treated me like a tool. You treated me like I didn't belong.” 

He looked at her, expression unreadable, “You were never a tool.”

Tori laughed bitterly, “If I wasn't a tool, tell me why you stopped trusting me? Why did you start treating me like an enemy?” 

He walked up to the window. “I couldn't tell which side you were on anymore.”

Tori's voice softened with bitterness, “I was on your side, I have always been on your side. I burned bridges for you, literally walking down glasses for you.” 

Connel turned, taking a glance at Tori, “Stop it! You wanted Power.“

“We both wanted power. The only difference is you already lived in it and I on the other hand have to climb my way to it. Tori said, walking towards a drawer.

Connel stared at her, watching her every move but before he could talk Tori continued.

She reached into the drawer and brought out a thin folder tossing it aggressively on the table. “Here are the names, contacts, accounts, every detail that seemed important. I kept them all for you, without this...”

“You're wrong,” Connel exclaimed. “I never asked for this, that's the difference between us both.”

Tori leaned forward, her eyes narrowed. “You think you have a choice? Your father owns you and whether you like it or not, you'll have to marry me. It was decided before we even met.”

Connel held her against the wall,his hands fully on her throat, his voice now filled with anger and dangerously soft. “I don't need you reminding me about my father, I won't be a part of this agreement and I won't marry you. It's a matter of time before you understand that." He removed his hands from her throat as he walked away.

Tori fell to the ground coughing, he has never acted that way towards her. She had seen him in bad situations but this was worse, it sent shivers down her spine.

The fire cracked. Connel blinked, shaken back to the present. 

He stood abruptly, walking to the window. Rain streaked down the glass,but for a second all he saw was snow and Tori in that robe. “How has it all gone so wrong?” He thought marrying Ariel would put the past behind him, bury it but ghosts don't stay buried. And Tori had never stayed quiet for long. He clenched his jaw, watching droplets trace downward like timelines unraveling. 

Ariel didn't know half of it and maybe that's what scared him the most. The more she found out the more he feared losing her. Not because of love, but because she was the only thing he had left that wasn't poisoned by his past. He whispered under his breath, “What are you really doing here,Tori?”

He knew that Whatever game she was playing now, Ariel was caught in the middle of it and Connel wasn't sure he could protect her this time. Not from Tori and not from himself. 

He picked up his phone and placed a call, “Get me every recent information on Tori Laurent for the past three years, and why she's back in Helsinki.”

Back at the guest house, the rain seemed louder than the inner voices, the middle lights flickering, the sound of lighting growing louder. The clocks tick louder than ever and empty bottles of wine rolling on the table hitting each other, as she twirls the glass of wine in her hand.

“How dare he stay happy after all he cost me,” Tori questioned angrily.

Her mind went back to the last few days in Vienna. She was in the penthouse waiting for Connel to return and going about her usual things, a call came in.

Before she could greet the person on the call, the voice tore up, “You're worthless and useless. I gave you this one thing to do and instead you ruined everything. You want to ruin my relationship with Mr Wilder?”

“Dad...” Tori tried to cut in.

“Book your flight back home, your job is done. You couldn't even handle a proper meeting without Connel. And for your information the marriage is called off.” her dad said hanging up.

Tori was speechless, the call still echoing in her ears. Her father's words cut deeper than any betrayal. The only thing he ever admired was her connection to Connel. Now it's gone, she didn't have Connel he was back to seeing her as nothing, she boiled in anger.

She stared at the phone in her hand, numb. It vibrated with an incoming message but she didn't look. Her chest rose and fell rapidly and the marble floor beneath her feet suddenly felt too cold, too real.

"He never saw me, not really," she whispered to the empty room. “They all wanted Connel and used me. I knew the real him and I loved him." Her voice cracked.

Connel walked in and before he could take a step forward Tori burst out, “You think you can just walk away, Connel?" Tori's voice cracked as her fingers curled tightly around the wine glass. “You think you can leave all this behind?” her shoulders trembled but she forced her chin up. “You think you can walk away from me, from us, from everything we've built together? You never had a choice, Connel. Not then, not now.”

Connel didn't speak. The silence between them stretched, suffocating. He took a step back as if distance could dilute the damage.

"Say something,” she snapped, her phone trembling in her hand.

Tori's eyes narrowed, her lips twisting into a cruel smile. “You think you've won, don't you?” she said softly, stepping even closer. “You think you've found your way out. But I'll remind you Connel, there's no escaping what's already in motion. You're mine.”

As they stood, Connel found himself pulling away from her touch. The glow of lights cast long shadows as Connel tried to ignore the gnawing feeling in his gut. He knew he was walking down a road that would lead to a place he couldn't return from.And when he looked over at Tori, he realized it wasn't just the life he was trying to escape, it was her.

“You were never my escape, Tori,” Connel said,his voice shaking now, not in fear but with the raw truth he had buried for too long. “You were just a distraction.”

For a moment, the room was silent. The only sound is the relentless dropping of the snow outside. Tori's face contorted with rage, she stepped back, her eyes flashing with a mix of pain and fury. 

“Don't think you can just throw me away, Connel,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “You don't get to do that. You don't get to walk away and leave me behind. I will make sure you regret it.”

“I don't care what you do, Tori,” he said with a firm voice. “I'm done and you're not my problem anymore.”

Connel stood in the middle of the room. Ariel whispered, “In this very penthouse we shared drinks, laughed and danced. Before the mask slipped and ambitions tore us apart, don't ever think you can escape.” As the door clicked shut behind her.

Tori returns to the present, the fury and pain overwhelming her as she throws the glass of wine in her hand against the wall, she screams in anger.

Ariel stared at the rain from her window, her reflection faint against the glass. Something felt off, like the air itself was holding its breath. She didn't know what - but she knew it was coming.