18 — Two Sides To A Coin

I let out a long breath and sat up properly on the queen-sized bed. Rest had stretched longer than I meant it to. Hours had slipped away without me noticing.

It had already turned night.

I had been inside Trevor’s house for most of the day, more like a palace than a home. Everything still felt unfamiliar. Too clean. Too quiet. Too expensive to belong to someone like me. I had not seen him since he walked out earlier, leaving me standing there with questions I did not even know how to ask.

There was something unsettling about it.

He brought me here, then disappeared like I was part of a schedule he no longer needed to check.

I tried not to think about it, but my mind kept circling back to that first room Clarisse showed me, the one she clearly hadn’t meant for me to see.

The bed was still a little uneven, the covers pushed to one side, and a red thong sat at the corner like someone had tossed it there while laughing. It wasn’t something you could overlook, even if you wanted to pretend you didn’t see it.

Clarisse froze the moment her eyes followed mine. Her face drained of color. She murmured apology after apology, whispering that it was a mistake, that she should never have opened that door, that I shouldn’t mention it to Trevor. Then she ushered me out so fast I barely had time to blink.

She took me to another bedroom after that. Bigger. Bright. All polished surfaces and a walk-in closet large enough to make anyone pause. It should have impressed me. Maybe it would have if Trevor wasn’t already working his way under my skin in ways I didn’t want to admit.

I told myself none of it mattered. His life before I stepped into it was his business. He had a past, a reputation, a long list of women who probably tried to catch his attention.

It should have rolled off me.

But it didn’t.

I could still see it when I closed my eyes.

I dragged a hand over my face.

Maybe I should have never agreed to this.

No.

That was not true either.

I needed this. My mother needed this.

A knock came at the door.

“Miss?” Clarisse called softly.

I got up and opened it. She stood there smiling like she had been doing this forever, balancing trays of food carefully in her hands like she was preparing for a banquet instead of a single person.

I blinked.

“Clarisse… we already agreed you can call me Alessia.”

She hesitated for a second, then smiled a little more comfortably. “Yes… Alessia.”

“That’s better. What is all this?”

She stepped inside carefully. “Master said you should eat. He asked me to make sure you stay healthy before the wedding.”

Before the wedding.

Of course.

I looked at the food. Too much for one person. The kind of spread that did not ask if you were hungry, only assumed you would be.

I exhaled.

“Put it down before I feel attacked.”

That made her laugh, and something about that eased the room a little.

We ended up eating together at the small seating area near the window. It was quiet in a strange way, not uncomfortable, just unfamiliar. Like the house had paused to pretend I belonged there.

Clarisse talked a little while we ate. Nothing deep. Just small things about the house, about how long she had worked here, about how “Master” rarely ate properly when he was around.

She stopped herself mid-sentence when she noticed I was watching her.

“I shouldn’t speak too much,” she said quickly.

“Why?”

“It’s not my place.”

I frowned. “You’re literally feeding me in my room.”

That made her laugh again, softer this time, like she was not used to being corrected kindly.

By the time we finished, the clock had moved closer to nine.

***

Trevor still wasn’t back.

I kept pretending it didn’t bother me. That he had a life to run, calls to take, people to meet. That whatever he was doing had nothing to do with me. And it shouldn’t. We barely knew each other. We were strangers wearing rings we didn’t choose.

But the house made it impossible to believe any of that. It was too quiet, too big, too aware of the fact that I was here alone.

I reached for my phone because I hated how much I wanted to. Screen empty. Of course it was. I set it aside like it burned, then picked it up again a minute later because apparently I didn’t have any self-respect left tonight.

Still nothing.

I pushed off the bed and went to the window, needing movement more than an actual destination. The outside lights threw long shadows across the driveway, but there was no car pulling in, no sound, not even the hint of one. Just stillness that pressed against the glass.

I sat back down. Stood up again. My body couldn’t pick a side.

I hated that I was restless. Hated that every second he didn’t walk through the door felt like it meant something it absolutely shouldn’t.

I checked my phone one more time, knowing what I’d see.

Nothing.

I set it down a little too hard, the soft crack of it hitting the table making me flinch. My breath came out uneven, and I rubbed my hands down my thighs just to feel anchored to something, anything.

I was supposed to be calm about this. Detached. Unaffected.

But God, I was doing a terrible job.

My thoughts kept going back to earlier in the day. The way he had spoken. The way he had left like it was routine.

Like I was part of something temporary. I knew that from day one. Nothing about this was meant to last. Not how we met. Not the arrangement. Not the marriage waiting for us. I kept repeating those truths, hoping they would protect me. But every time he looked at me, every time his voice dropped low, every time his hand brushed mine, the truth felt weaker. The attraction was real. The pull was real. And pretending otherwise was starting to feel like lying to myself.

I swallowed that thought before it could sit too deep.

It did not help.

***

My phone lit up.

Hailey.

One message.

A picture.

I opened it without thinking too much.

Trevor.

At a party somewhere in the city.

People packed together so tightly the phone barely showed anything clearly. Just movement, noise, and flashes of color I could not separate properly.

And him in the middle of it like he had never left it.

A woman was on him.

Her arms around his neck like she belonged there. Like she had done it before. Like she did not need permission.

He did not move her off.

That was what stayed with me.

My grip on the phone tightened without me noticing.

Another message came in immediately.

“Where are you? Don’t sit there like nothing is happening. Get up. Dress up. You are not furniture.”

I stared at that for a while.

Then I looked around the room.

Same bed. Same lights. Same silence.

But everything felt different now.

I typed slowly.

What are you talking about?

The reply came instantly.

“Don’t do that. He is at a bachelor party. And you are sitting in his house like you are waiting for permission to exist.”

A link followed.

I opened it.

The headline loaded.

REYNOLDS CEO SPOTTED AT HIS PRIVATE BACHELOR PARTY IN MANHATTAN

I sat down again without realizing it.

So that was it. I knew exactly what I had seen. I just did not know what to do with it.

The phone rang immediately.

Hailey.

I answered.

“I am coming,” she said before I could speak.

“I did not say I was going anywhere.”

“You do not have to. I can hear it.”

I frowned. “Hear what?”

“That you are still sitting there.”

Then she hung up.

I kept the phone in my hand for a moment too long before setting it down.

***

The shower ran longer than I needed it to.

I was not thinking clearly. Just standing under the water, letting it hit my skin while my mind kept replaying the same image.

The picture. His face. That woman.

When I stepped out, the room felt heavier than before. I stood there for a second longer than I needed to, unsure why I could not just leave it behind.

***

Clarisse opened the door after Hailey rang the intercom. I heard her voice before I saw her.

A moment later, Hailey walked in like she already knew the way.

She looked at me once.

Just once.

“Yeah,” she said. “I figured.”

“I did not say anything.”

“You did not have to.”

She walked straight to my closet.

I followed slowly.

“What are you doing?”

“Fixing this.”

“I do not need fixing.”

She laughed under her breath like she did not believe me.

“That is not what you look like.”

She pulled a black dress off the rail and dropped it on the bed.

“You are going out.”

“I am tired.”

“That is fine. You can be tired outside too.”

I did not answer.

She turned slightly.

“He left you in his house and went to a party. You think that does not matter?”

I did not respond.

She tapped the dress once.

“Wear it.”

I stared at it for a moment longer than I should have.

Then I moved toward the closet.

When I came out, Hailey was sitting on the edge of the bed, scrolling through her phone like she owned time.

She looked up once.

“Better,” she said.

I did not respond.

I stood in front of the mirror longer than I needed to.

Hailey came up behind me and adjusted the strap of the dress without asking. Her fingers were quick and certain, like she didn’t need to ask what I was thinking.

“There,” she said. “At least now you look like you are going somewhere. And we are going to have our own bachelorette party.”

I met her eyes in the mirror.

“I was not waiting.”

She gave a small smile like she had heard that before.

“Sure,” she said.

Then she stepped back.

“Bitch, get your shoes. We are going out.”

And this time, I did not argue.

I let out a small laugh anyway. “I mean, it is why the loser put me in a room with a fully stocked walk-in closet, isn’t it?” I said, glancing around again. “Look at the shoes, the dresses… it is to die for. He might be a lying, cheating ass, but the man has taste.”

I exhaled and turned slightly. “Quick question. Should I wear the engagement ring? It is gorgeous. I almost cried when he placed it on my finger. I know you have seen it in pictures, but in real life…”

I walked deeper into the closet toward the jewelry stand. “Here, let me show you.”

I picked it up and held it out to her, the ruby catching the light as I turned it between my fingers.

Hailey gasped.

“And you were sitting here acting all sad when he dropped a bag on your finger,” she said, eyes fixed on it. “You like him, right?”

I ignored the question.

“Should I wear the ring?” I asked again.

She rolled her eyes.

“Tonight, Ally, you are single.”