Chapter 5: The Truth Hurts

Vanessa's POV

I'm surrounded by the ruins of two years of work. Torn canvases, spilled paint, broken frames. Marcus destroyed the portfolio I was building to finally escape the club, to open my own gallery like I always dreamed. Now it's just garbage scattered across my apartment floor.

Derek is still holding Marcus down but neither of them are fighting anymore. Marcus is just crying, this broken sound that makes my chest ache because I did this to him. I made him fall for me knowing I wasn't over Derek, knowing I was just using him to fill a void.

"Let him up," I say quietly. Derek looks at me like I'm crazy but releases Marcus anyway, who just sits there on the floor with his head in his hands.

"I'm sorry," I whisper, kneeling next to him. "Marcus, I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you like this."

"But you did." He looks up at me with red, swollen eyes. "I told you I loved you and you couldn't even say it back. Now I know why."

"I tried to love you. I really did try."

"That's somehow worse." He stands up, wiping his face roughly. "You know what the really messed up part is? I knew. The whole time I knew you were still in love with him. I just thought maybe if I was patient enough, present enough, you'd eventually choose me."

Derek is watching us from across the room, tense and ready to intervene if things go south again. But Marcus just looks defeated now, all the fight gone out of him.

"I should go," Marcus says, heading for the door. But he stops and turns back to me. "You want to know something about your ex-husband? About why he's really here?"

"Marcus, don't—" I can see the malice creeping back into his expression.

"He's being investigated, Vanessa. His company, Cross Enterprises. There's a whole thing about embezzlement and fraud that's about to go public." Marcus looks at Derek with bitter satisfaction. "Ask him about Richard Crane and why he's so desperate to keep you close right now."

My stomach drops. "What is he talking about?"

Derek's face goes carefully blank. "It's complicated. Business stuff that has nothing to do with us."

"Business stuff?" I stand up, looking between them. "Marcus, what are you talking about?"

"I used to work corporate security before the club," Marcus explains. "I still have friends in that world. There's been an investigation into Cross Enterprises for six months. Turns out his CFO has been stealing millions and everyone thinks Derek knew about it." He pauses. "There's also a hostile takeover attempt by Richard Crane, one of Derek's biggest competitors."

"This is none of your business," Derek says, voice hard.

"It became my business when you decided to use my girlfriend as a distraction from your imploding empire." Marcus looks at me. "Why do you think he showed up at the club now, after two years? Why do you think he's suddenly so desperate to have you back?"

"That's not—" Derek starts but I cut him off.

"Is it true? About the investigation?"

Derek runs a hand through his hair, frustrated. "Yes, there's an investigation. But I didn't know about the embezzlement, Vanessa. My CFO was covering his tracks and I was too busy—" He stops. "I was distracted."

"Distracted by what?"

"By trying to find you!" His voice rises. "For two years I've had investigators looking for you, trying to figure out where you went. That's how Jake found out about the club. I've been so obsessed with getting you back that I missed what was happening in my own company."

The admission should make me feel something but all I feel is tired. "So Marcus is right. You came to the club because your life is falling apart and you needed me."

"No, I came because I never stopped loving you. The investigation, the company, none of that matters compared to you."

"How convenient," Marcus mutters. "She walks back into your life right when you need a sympathetic character for when the media tears you apart."

"Get out," Derek growls. "You've said your piece. Now leave."

Marcus looks at me one last time. "I hope he's worth it, Vanessa. I really do. Because you're about to get dragged through hell with him." Then he's gone, slamming the door behind him.

I sink down onto the couch, staring at the destroyed paintings. "Tell me everything. Right now. No more half-truths or omissions."

Derek sits next to me, keeping distance between us. "My CFO, Thomas, has been embezzling funds for eighteen months. He was smart about it, made it look like legitimate business expenses. When the board finally caught on, they launched an internal investigation."

"And they think you knew?"

"They think I should have known. That I was either complicit or criminally negligent." He laughs bitterly. "Turns out being obsessed with your ex-wife isn't a great excuse for missing millions of dollars disappearing from your company."

"What about Richard Crane?"

"He's been trying to acquire my company for years. Now that we're vulnerable, he's making his move. Offering to buy us out before the scandal hits and we lose all value." Derek looks at me. "If I don't find a way to stop him, I lose everything I built."

"So where do I fit into this?"

"You don't. Not in the way Marcus implied." He reaches for my hand but I pull away. "I came to that club because I found out where you were and I couldn't stay away. Yes, my life is falling apart, but that's not why I want you back."

"How do I know that? How do I know you're not just using me as a distraction, like Marcus said?"

"Because if I wanted a distraction, I could find someone a lot less complicated." His voice is raw. "Loving you is the hardest thing I've ever done, Vanessa. You wreck me. You always have. If this was just about having someone around, I would've moved on years ago."

I want to believe him but trust is a fragile thing and mine is already shattered. "I need time to think. About all of this."

"How much time?"

"I don't know. More than one night." I look around at the destroyed apartment. "I can't stay here and I can't stay with you. I need space to figure out what I actually want."

"Where will you go?"

"I have friends. I'll figure it out." I stand up and start gathering what's left of my things. Most of my paintings are ruined but I save what I can, shoving clothes and art supplies into bags.

Derek watches me for a moment, then starts helping without being asked. We work in silence, this strange domestic moment in the wreckage of everything falling apart. When we're done, I have three bags of salvaged belongings and a broken heart.

"Let me at least drive you," Derek says.

"No. I need to do this alone." I look at him and see the exhaustion in his face, the worry, the love that's always been there even when everything else fell apart. "I'll call you when I'm ready to talk. But right now I just need space."

"Vanessa—"

"Please, Derek. If you really love me, give me this."

He nods, jaw tight, and I can see how much it costs him to let me walk away again. "Okay. But promise me you'll actually call. Don't just disappear again."

"I promise." I grab my bags and head for the door, then pause. "For what it's worth, I believe you. About why you came to the club. I just need to figure out if that's enough."

I leave before he can respond, before I can change my mind and fall back into his arms where everything is complicated but at least feels right. The sun is coming up as I walk to my car, painting the sky in shades of pink and orange.

I drive to my friend Sarah's place across town and she opens the door in her pajamas, takes one look at my face, and just pulls me inside. I collapse on her couch and finally let myself fall apart completely, crying for Marcus and Derek and the girl I used to be before everything got so broken.

My phone won't stop buzzing. Texts from Marcus apologizing for destroying my work. Texts from Derek asking if I'm safe. Texts from the club manager asking where I am because I missed my shift. I turn it off and pull Sarah's blanket over my head.

"Boy trouble?" Sarah asks, bringing me tea.

"Is it still boy trouble when you're twenty-eight and destroying everyone who gets close to you?"

"Sounds like man trouble, which is infinitely worse." She sits next to me. "Want to talk about it?"

So I tell her everything. About Derek paying for me at the club, about us reconnecting, about Marcus and the destroyed paintings and the investigation. About how I love Derek but don't trust him, about how I hurt Marcus who never deserved it, about how I don't know who I am outside of the mess I've made.

When I'm done, Sarah is quiet for a long time. Then she says, "You know what I think? I think you need to figure out what you want that has nothing to do with either of them. Not what Derek wants, not what Marcus needed, but what Vanessa actually wants for her life."

"I don't even know where to start."

"Start with the gallery. That's what you've always wanted, right? So start there." She squeezes my hand. "And maybe talk to a therapist, because babe, you've got some serious trauma to work through."