Emelia's POV"For once, would it kill you to believe in the truth?" I asked.A few beats of silence passed between us and at first, I couldn't read Victor's expression. There was no sign of inner conflict or consideration to what I'd just told him.Then, it seemed like the dots were trying to connect, as Victor frowned at me. "What are you talking about? Lily would never lie to me about something so serious.""There's no way you're being serious, right? She literally called me an "annoying telemarketer trying to scam you"." I recalled Lily's words and repeated them with a hiss."Emelia." Victor's tone was low.What was he going to say now?But the door was opened abruptly by someone I didn’t expect, with a sobbing that I am familiar with and hate “I know you doubt me but things didn’t like the case!” It was Lily. She almost cried, she was so wronged.“Victor, you will believe me, right? ”"What a surprise. Unable to take accountability for your actions? How are you not tired of keepi
Emelia's POV"Em, I really am sorry for not getting here sooner. I hope you can forgive me." Victor ran his fingers through my hair slowly as he stroked my head.I sat still underneath his touch, but felt my headache ease up a little. Despite his now gentle and caring attitude, I didn't know how I was supposed to react to all of this.Before, I thought Victor was the perfect, devoted husband. Now that Lily came back into the picture, everything changed.I couldn't even tell if he was my husband anymore."Em..." Victor's voice distracted me from my thoughts. "I really am sorry. After I dropped Lily off at her apartment, I knew that I messed up and had to come straight home to you. It's where I thought you were. But when you weren't picking up any of my calls, I got so worried."Victor took my hand in his. "When I saw you weren't home I... I didn't know what to do..."A part of myself felt touched to hear Victor was actually worried about me. But it still didn't feel like enough.He cou
Emelia's POVWhy was Lily here? Had I no safe haven away from her?And how did she know my mother-in-law, Bernadette? Why was she hiding behind her like a child?Bernadette smiled at Victor as she ushered Lily through the door. She pushed her way past me, and bumped into my shoulder while doing so. It was like I was invisible.Unfortunately this was her typical treatment of me. She made it painfully clear how much she disliked me. For whatever reason, she always thought I was unworthy of her son—no matter how much I proved my love and no matter what he said in my defense.As I closed the door behind them, I noticed how Bernadette linked her arm with Lily's. She even stroked her hair out her face like a mother would a daughter. There was love in her eyes and she wore an easy smile.Did Lily have her claws in Bernadette too?"What brings you two here?" Victor asked casually.Bernadette placed her hands on her hips and looked at Victor with a disapproving expression. "I'm here so you a
Emelia's POVThere was no way in hell Bernadette just said what I thought she did. Right? She didn't just suggest that Lily live in my home? So my husband could take care of her?Could Bernadette see the smoke coming out of my ears? Could she tell that it felt like she'd just slapped me in the face?"No, absolutely not!" I said in an exasperated tone. "That is out of the question and completely out of line!"Bernadette rolled her eyes at me and diverted her attention to Victor. "Oh, come now, dearest son. You don't think I'm being unreasonable, do you?"Victor avoided my gaze that I was burning into him. His lips pushed into a thin line as he hesitated to give an answer.But I knew him better—I knew exactly what he was going to say. Just the suspense of waiting for him to confirm my suspicions made me want to vomit.Victor sighed. "No, mother. You're not being unreasonable.""Oh, Victor!" Lily squealed. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight. "This is going to be so exci
Emelia's POVI shouldn't have been surprised that there was yet another secret between Victor and Lily I was just now finding out.How many more secrets did he have? Would it be another day or week until I'd find out the next one?I stood at the bottom of the steps, eavesdropping yet again on another conversation I knew that would only hurt me."It makes no sense to me, honestly." Bernadette continued. "You know how much I've loved Lily since she followed you home from school one day. Even our families are so close… Why didn't you marry her?""Mom, that's all in the past now." Victor replied in an indifferent tone. "Can we not talk about that right now?"A part of me wanted to feel relief at Victor choosing not to talk about his past engagement with Lily—but I felt none.I truly had no idea how much more of the secrets and betrayal I could bear…The sound of footsteps broke me from my thoughts and I immediately rushed up the stairs to avoid being seen. After I closed the door softly,
Emelia's POVJust as I was finally ready to submerge myself in flames of passion, a sudden knock at the door shattered the entire atmosphere. Instantly, the air had gone cold, and pleasure quickly turned into irritation."Victor!" Lily's unpleasant voice clawed through the door. "I need your help now!""Fuck!" Victor hissed under his breath."You can't be serious!" I groaned under my breath.We both pulled away from each other and scattered to get our clothes on. The tension and frustration was so thick in the air, it was almost hard to breathe.Why? Why now?After we were both clothed, we had to take a few extra moments to catch our breaths.The sensation of our bodies having been so close didn't go away for me as easily. I could feel the heat of my arousal still pooled at the bottom of my stomach. It was almost painful to have had the few moments of pleasure yanked away from me so abruptly.As for Victor, he seemed to be able to compose himself much more easily. He opened the door a
Emelia's POVI kept my gaze locked onto Victor's but I could feel his demeanor had changed. While his expression was hard to read, I could tell that he was conflicted.Like he couldn't choose between me or Lily.As I leaned in to try and give him another kiss, Victor pulled away. Suddenly, his arm was no longer around my waist, and he'd stepped back a few inches.I gave him a pleading look, but he didn't acknowledge me. Disappointment, frustration, and sadness lingered in the space between us."I'll be right back, okay Lily?" Victor finally broke the silence. "I'm just going to take a shower real quick.""But I'm hungry now!" Lily pouted."Hey, you still haven't even picked what you wanted." Victor joked half-heartedly. "Keep looking around. I'll be back to make you whatever, okay?"Lily crossed her arms and turned away to go raid our kitchen cabinets for ingredients.Meanwhile, I stomped after Victor up the steps and followed him into our bathroom."You can't be serious, Victor." I p
Emelia's POVAt that moment, I felt a shift in my own energy that I hoped wasn't going to happen on this trip. Even when Lily wasn't here, it was like I couldn't escape the clutches of her affect on me.This time alone with him was precious, and I didn't want to let go of the perfect memories we were just starting to make with each other. Even if his mention of her was innocent and probably unintentional, I didn't want to ruin this moment by bringing her up.Victor tilted his head, as if sensing something was off about me. "Is everything okay, Emelia?"I nodded my head, and smiled. "Yeah it's just…" I hesitated, wondering if I brought her up if he thought I was suddenly being weird or unreasonable. But I knew if I didn't ask, it'd just eat me alive."It seems you and Lily have a lot of history together… Have you taken her here to this restaurant, too?"Victor nodded his head. "I have, although if you want to be technical, it wasn't my doing. My dad was celebrating a business deal he h
Victor's POVI couldn't stand to look at this place any longer. It only made me miss Emelia so much more, and holding on to the foolish hope that she'd somehow come back and forgive me was making me go mad.I needed to get out of here.So, I set the car in reverse and made the slow drive down the dirt path. Anguish coated my tongue in its thickness, and it hurt to swallow the reality of what my life would now be like without her.I didn't want to accept it; I couldn't. While she still lived and breathed, I would have a chance. I'd fight for it, too.But for now, I couldn't help but give Emelia the space she needed… Especially so I could keep her safe from whatever my mother seemed to have up her sleeve.As I was halfway down the dirt path, I spotted another car heading past me towards the cottage. I slowed my pace even more, feeling the rise of suspicion crawl up my spine.No one else was supposed to know about this place. I sure as hell didn't tell anyone, and there were only two peop
Victor's POVIt had been… what? Two years since I'd seen this place? Despite that, this little cottage hadn't lost its charm. I still thought it to be just as magical as if I were laying eyes on it for the first time all over again.However, the sight of it was bittersweet as a pang of pain pinched my heart. I was in a daze at how I got here, but maybe it was because this place was trying to tell me something.Something that I'd been lying to myself about this entire time.Lily meant nothing to me now.From when we were kids up until everything went to shit, I harbored a lot of sympathy for Lily. While her parents were indeed wealthy and provided her with many materialistic things, she never had a real relationship with them.If her mother wasn't away on business trips, then her father was away due to classified military training or missions.For the most part… She was alone.So, when she moved to my city of Blasdell and started attending the private academy I was at, for some reason,
Victor's POVA dark cloud hung over my head as I left my mother's mockery of a home. I was in a worse mood than when I showed up. Even the warmth of the midday sun couldn't penetrate my body enough to reach my cold heart.What kind of connections did my mother really have? How did she come to know about Emelia's move to Italy?And did she truly have a means to harm her?After everything that I'd put her through, I couldn't stomach the thought of anything else happening to Emelia. Back then, I wasn't able to save her from the damage that I'd directly caused.But now… I was given a second chance. Even if that meant bending and breaking myself to my mother's will.I just couldn't wrap my head around any of it. Could this not just be another manipulation tactic? Was I being deceived so she could tighten the leash she had around me?I gripped my hands tight around the steering wheel.I was no one's dog. Not a puppet to be controlled, or some pawn that was to be sacrificed in favor of the Ki
Victor's POVThe drive was silent as I dreaded the familiar street names that spelled me getting closer to my mother's home. She was the last person on this damn planet I wanted to see. Even if she may have not been the sole reason for what was wrong in my marriage, she sure as hell played a big fucking part in it.There was no forgiving her for the way she treated Emelia; especially since she'd tried so hard to win her affections. The disrespect, the insults, the snarky remarks.I was too damn blind to see the damage it was causing. Emelia didn't deserve that treatment. And she sure as hell didn't deserve a spineless husband who did nothing to prevent it.I gripped the steering wheel harder once I turned onto the driveway of my mother's multi-storied home. The blood in my veins ran cold. I didn't want to be here.A few minutes passed while I continued to sit in the car. Its engine hummed since I still had the key in the ignition.I could just leave.It's what I wanted to do.I should
Victor's POVThe walls that surrounded this meeting room were nothing short of a fucking prison. Despite the people that were around me, it felt like I was in solitary confinement. And I wanted nothing more than to break out.For the last hour, I've sat here and endured the mindless drabbling of my subordinates. The atmosphere was so thick and heavy from the storm that raged in my mind, that none of them dared to even address me.It allowed me to brood at the head of the table in peace. Or relatively so. It would've been better if it was silent.In truth, I had no idea what this meeting was supposed to even be about. Not like I cared; and haven't done so in the last few days. Luckily for me, Rosalie was attentive and never spared the details she wrote in her notepad or clicked on on her keyboard. She'd send me the details later anyway.My mind was in shambles and ruin; left in disarray due to the betrayal of someone I least expected.My grandfather.I just couldn't believe it. A part o
Emelia's POVI shook my head, trying to ground myself back to this reality as I took the phone from Mason. It was Lady Ruby."H-hello?" I croaked, not realizing that my throat had gone dry."Is everything alright, sweetie?" Lady Ruby asked. "You don't sound too well."I cleared my throat and composed myself. "Y-yes, everything's fine. I just still need to adjust to the heat of this place."Mason snickered, but I pinched him."You'll grow to love it for sure. That Italian sun will do wonders for your skin!' Lady Ruby laughed. "But the reason I called was to check up on you and relay some information about the new project.""I love it here already, don't worry." I smiled. "But I'm ready for whatever it is you need from me! I'm excited to finally be able to start working on this project with you!""That's the spirit!" Lady Ruby enthused. "Well, more of the finer details are in the works, but an old friend and colleague of mine has plans to hold a wedding in the gardens of Isola Bella for
Emelia's POV"Last time I checked, yeah." Mason laughed. "I've got my driver's license and passport if you need to check. No birth certificate, though. That'll cost extra to get sent here."I scrunched my face in disbelief. "I-I don't understand. W-what are you doing here? Why are you here? When did you get here?""Oh, I'm sorry, officer." Mason teased. "I didn't realize I was being brought in for questioning!""Mason!""Just kidding! I'll tell you everything you want to know, I promise. But can I come in?" He smiled sheepishly as he wiped a bead of sweat from his brow. "I don't know how you've adjusted to all this heat! I feel like a vampire in need of shade!"I ushered Mason into my home, climbing the stairs to the top floor where the kitchen was. Sitting two glasses onto the marbled island, I pulled out a pitcher of fresh lemonade and some ice trays.I then walked back to the fridge, staring idly at the ingredients. In truth, I knew I wasn't looking to make a meal. If anything, I wa
Emelia's POVThree days have passed since I arrived in Italy. Accommodations for me were already made, but I wasn't expecting something as luxurious as this! Even though Lady Ruby tried to pass this off as modest, I didn't believe her in the slightest.Glass stairs separated each of the three stories that divided the living area, bedroom and master bath, and the kitchen. Smaller balconies accompanied each floor that could sit a small garden for plants and herbs or a sunbathing area.The real treat, however, was the expansive open terrace where I was greeted by the scent of fresh sea salt and the sound of gentle waves. The bright overhead sun bathed my skin in its warmth, and for the first time in so long, I felt happy.Grandpa Antonio was right—I LOVE Italy!I sat my laptop down on the outdoor table, raising the accompanying umbrella since I'd intended to do a video call. Luckily, work hadn't started for me just yet, so I wanted to take this opportunity to call home and update everyone
Victor's POVMy grandfather didn't know it, but a storm was fast approaching his estate. Lightning, thunder, heavy rains, and damaging winds were ready to tear apart the legacy he'd built. Because I knew that he had to have known about Emelia leaving. There was no way he couldn't have. She was the only one on this planet he probably loved more than me.Which was enough to convince me that he knew about this all along.I sped down the highway with reckless abandon, hardly heeding to the horns that honked at me or the few sheriff's cars I'd whizzed by. I was on a mission to get answers.And I would get them—one way or another.Once we arrived, I shot Rosalie an icy glare. "You're coming inside. Either way, I'll find out you're lying to me."Rosalie nodded her head. "Y-yes sir…"I didn't even dignify my grandfather with a knock on the door as I stormed through his front doors and marched straight for his office. His butlers that would've normally greeted me, or in this case, apprehended