Chapter 3: Silence After the Vows

Cassian Blackridge hated disorder.

He hated loose ends, unanswered questions, and anything that couldn’t be reduced to a clean decision. That was why he was sitting alone in the back seat of his car, jacket folded neatly beside him, tie removed with methodical care while his wedding reception continued without him.

It was handled.

The papers were signed.

The outcome finalized.

The situation resolved.

So why did his chest feel tight?

The city lights streaked past the window as the driver navigated through the streets. Cassian leaned his head back against the seat and closed his eyes briefly.

Avelyn’s face surfaced in his mind without permission.

Not crying.

Not begging.

Calm.

That was what unsettled him the most.

He had expected anger. Tears. Accusations. Some kind of emotional display that would justify his decision, remind him why this marriage could never work.

Instead, she had looked at him with quiet resignation as if something fragile inside her had simply… switched off.

“You’ll sign?” he murmured aloud, recalling the way her pen had hovered for only a second before moving.

Too quickly.

Most women would have fought.

Avelyn hadn’t.

The driver cleared his throat. “Sir… would you like me to return to the venue?”

Cassian opened his eyes. “No.”

A pause. “Your wife”

“Take me home,” Cassian said curtly.

The word wife scraped something sharp inside him.

The house loomed dark and expansive when they arrived. Lights off. Silent. Empty.

Good, he told himself. Exactly how he liked it.

Inside, he loosened his cuffs and poured himself a glass of whiskey, the amber liquid burning pleasantly as it slid down his throat. He stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows, staring out at the city he controlled so effortlessly.

This was the life he had chosen.

Freedom. Order. Power.

And yet

His gaze drifted to the staircase.

Avelyn should have been coming down it by now. Changing out of her dress. Nervous. Hopeful. Waiting for him.

He swallowed.

Stop.

The doorbell rang.

Cassian frowned. “I didn’t summon anyone.”

The housekeeper hurried in from the corridor. “Sir, the driver has returned.”

Cassian’s brow furrowed. “Already?”

The driver stood stiffly in the entryway, eyes lowered. “Mrs. Blackridge declined to return, sir.”

Cassian stiffened.

“Declined?”

“Yes. She said she would not be coming back.”

Something cold slipped into his veins.

“Where is she?” Cassian asked.

“I’m not sure, sir. She left the venue with a guest.”

Naomi.

Cassian recognized the description immediately.

He nodded once. “You may go.”

The house felt larger after that.

Too quiet.

Cassian finished his drink and set the glass down harder than necessary. Avelyn refusing to return shouldn’t have mattered. It changed nothing.

She would calm down. She always did.

Tomorrow, lawyers would handle the details. She would take whatever settlement was agreed upon and disappear quietly from his life.

That was the plan.

Yet as he climbed the stairs, his steps slowed in front of the guest room door.

The room she had used for the past month while preparations were underway.

He hadn’t been inside since she moved her things in.

He opened the door.

The room was spotless.

The bed made with military precision. The wardrobe empty. Even the small framed photo she kept on the bedside table the one of her and Naomi at university was gone.

She hadn’t packed in a hurry.

She had been prepared.

Cassian’s jaw tightened.

On the pillow lay something small and metallic, catching the light from the hallway.

A ring.

Her wedding ring.

He picked it up slowly.

The diamond was flawless. Expensive. Perfect.

Rejected.

For the first time that night, something unfamiliar twisted in his chest.

Not regret.

Not yet.

But discomfort.

She hadn’t slammed doors.

She hadn’t demanded answers.

She hadn’t even taken what she could have.

She had simply… left.

Cassian closed his fist around the ring.

“It’s for the best,” he said to the empty room.

The words echoed back at him, hollow and unconvincing.

Outside, the city continued to glow.

Inside, the silence pressed closer.

And though he didn’t yet understand it, Cassian Blackridge had just made the most expensive mistake of his life.