~~~ACCIDENT!~~~

SLOANE’S POV

My palm still burns.

It is not fading. It is not softening. It sits there like a mark carved into me, a reminder of the exact second I lost control and hit her in front of everyone.

Five years gone, and that is how I reintroduce myself. Not with words. Not with explanations. Just violence.

Good.

She deserved it.

I stand near the edge of the restaurant, trying to breathe through the heat crawling up my chest.

My head is pounding, and my thoughts are loud, messy, and colliding into each other. I came here for a reason. I had something to do. Something important.

I can not even remember what it was now.

All I can see is her face when I hit her.

All I can feel is how easy it was.

“Sloane.”

I close my eyes for a second.

There it is again.

That voice.

I turn slowly.

Selena is walking toward me, Jophiel a step behind her. They are not hesitant. They are not unsure. They move like they belong here, like they own the ground I am standing on.

Like I am the one out of place.

My jaw tightens.

“What do you want,” I say.

It is not a question. It is a warning.

Selena stops a few feet in front of me. The mark on her cheek is still there. Faint now, but visible enough to make something dark and satisfied curl in my chest.

She studies me, slowly from head to toe, and her lips curl.

“God,” she says, her voice dripping with mock pity. “You look like shit.”

I let out a short laugh.

“And you still look like a homewrecking whore. Some things don’t change.”

Jophiel exhales sharply, not to stop us, just reacting.

Selena’s eyes flash.

“Oh, we’re starting there,” she says. “Good. I was hoping you hadn’t grown a spine in five years.”

“I don’t need one,” I snap. “I needed distance. Which I took. Something you should have learned instead of spreading your legs in my marriage.”

Jophiel’s expression darkens immediately.

Selena just smiles.

Slow. Cruel. Enjoying this.

“You’re still stuck on that,” she says. “That pathetic little victim story you tell yourself so you can sleep at night.”

“You slept with my husband.”

“And he came back for more,” she shoots back instantly. “What does that say about you?”

The words hit exactly where they are meant to.

My hands clench.

“You think you won something,” I say, my voice low and shaking with anger. “You think stealing him makes you special.”

“I didn’t steal anything,” she replies. “He walked away from you. Happily.”

Jophiel says nothing. Fuck him.

“Say something,” I snap at him. “Or are you too much of a coward to admit what you did?”

He looks at me like I am something beneath him.

“I don’t owe you anything,” he says.

A sharp laugh rips out of me.

“You owed me loyalty. You owed me honesty. You owed me a damn divorce before crawling into her bed.”

His jaw tightens.

“And you owed me a life that wasn’t suffocating,” he says coldly. “You were unbearable, Sloane. Thought you were better than all of us because you were richer. Bitter, too. Always playing the victim.” He taunts.

I stare at him, and something inside my chest cracks.

“You’re unbelievable,” I whisper.

Selena steps closer, her voice dropping lower, sharper.

“No,” she says. “What’s unbelievable is you walking back in here acting like you matter. You disappear for five years. You should have stayed gone, and now you show up, hit me, and expect what. An apology.”

“I expect nothing from you,” I snap. “You’ve never been capable of anything decent.”

She laughs.

“Oh, please. You’re one to talk. You ran off, and did God know what for five years. You really think you came back better. You look like you’ve been dragged through hell and back.”

“Still better than being you.”

“At least I didn’t have to beg a man to stay,” she says.

“I never begged,” I fire back.

“Please,” she scoffs. “You were practically on your knees for him.”

Jophiel lets out a quiet, amused breath.

I feel sick.. “You’re both disgusting,” I say.

“And you’re pathetic,” Selena replies. “Still clinging to something that ended years ago.”

The words hang in the air between us, thick and heavy.

For a second, no one speaks.

Then something small moves near the glass entrance.

A flash of yellow.

My eyes shift automatically.

And my entire world tilts.

Angela. My daughter. My tiny little baby.

She stands near the glass doors, her tiny hand pressed against the glass as she peers outside. Her curls bounce as she shifts her weight, completely unaware of where she is.

Completely unaware of the danger.

My heart drops so fast it feels like I am falling with it.

“What the hell,” I whisper.

Selena and Jophiel follow my gaze. There is a pregnant pause, and I hold my breath. Fuck

Then Angie urns.

Her face lights up instantly when she sees me. “Mama!”

The word cuts through everything.

Selena goes still.

I do not think I have ever seen her freeze before.

Her eyes flick to me.

Then back to Angie

Then back to me.

Realization settles slowly, darkly, in her expression.

“Oh,” she says softly.

My chest tightens.

I start moving immediately. But Selena steps forward at the same time. Faster. And She reaches Angie before I do.

“Selena,” I snap.

She does not look at me.

She is staring at Angela like she is seeing something new.

Something interesting.

“You have a child,” she says, almost to herself.

“Move,” I say sharply.

She crouches in front of her.

“What’s your name?” she asks.

Angela beams, too innocent to understand what is happening. “Angie!”How did she leave the room? What is she doing here? Where the fuck is the nanny?

Selena smiles, and It is not kind. It is a vicious cruel thing, and chills run down my spine.

“And you called her mama,” Selena says softly.

My stomach twists.

“Selena,” I say again, louder now, “step away from her.”

She ignores me.

Of course she does.

She looks at Lina like she is a puzzle she just solved.

“You had a whole child,” she says, glancing back at me briefly. “Actually, knowing you, probably more than one.”

My jaw tightens.

“That’s none of your business.”

“Oh it absolutely is now,” she replies.

Angela tugs lightly at Selena’s sleeve.

“Doggy,” she says, pointing outside, then turning to me. "Mama! A dog!"

Through the glass doors, cars move in and out of the driveway in a steady flow. A small dog runs across the pavement, weaving between parked cars.

I swallow something bitter. "Angie, come to mummy sweetie."

Selena looks at it.

Then she looks back at Angela. "I'm your mummy's sister, so I'm your aunt!" She informed Angie. Angela should just listen. Fuck. I start to break a sweat. Shit.

Selena takes Angie's hand and reaches the exit.

My heart starts pounding.

“Selena,” I say, my voice low and dangerous, “don’t.”

She pulls the door open.

Cold air rushes inside. The sound of engines grows louder.

Angela's eyes light up.

“Go on,” Selena says softly.

My breath catches. “What are you doing?” I snap.

Selena glances at me, and her expression is cruel.

“You disappeared for five years,” she says. “Let’s see how good of a mother you are now.”

Angela takes a step forward toward the open driveway. Her excitement radiates off of her as she goes to meet the dog in the middle of the road.

Fuck. A car is coming.

"Angela!"