Chapter 2

Ivy's POV

For about five seconds, all I heard was a ringing in my head that just resounded over and over again.

"Nice meeting you, Ivy. I have heard a lot about you." The lady stretched out her hand to me, and I just stared at it, not knowing what to do.

I took her hand, and she gripped it rather tightly, her eyes holding mine.

"Dante talks about you a lot! Literally, all he talks about is Ivy this, Ivy that, Ivy, Ivy, Ivy. I had to see you personally," she said in a rather cheerful way, but I didn't buy it.

I was a lady just like her. I knew when a lady was being sarcastic, mostly in a territorial way. She smiled sweetly, then slid her hand up to his chest and pulled him in for a kiss, leaving her lipstick stain on his cheek.

My heart skipped again.

This was it? This was what he wanted to tell me? That he had a girlfriend.

I stared at Dante, fighting back the bitterness that now coated my mouth. It felt like I had swallowed a bag of cement, and it had glued my tongue to the roof of my mouth.

"Oh, it's so nice to finally have the both of you meet each other. It has been so suffocating, having to keep her a secret all this while," he said in his usual cheerful manner.

She pulled him in again and kissed him deeply.

I squirmed at the pain in my chest, trying not to scream out in pain.

She pulled away again, then kissed him slightly on the lips before finally pulling back.

Dante turned halfway toward me while holding her hand.

“Solange and I have been dating for three months now.”

“Best three months of my life,” Solange said.

“I have been skeptical about coming out with a lady. You know the media reacts to speculations, but with you as my PR manager, I just know that I would never run into career-damaging speculations, and I am so happy to have you here. You are the best.” He said before pulling me in a slight hug.

His arms brushed against my shoulder in a friendly manner, then he kissed my cheek like he always does.

I wanted to cry so hard, to stand up and walk out of there, but I felt glued to my seat, just watching the man I had loved every day for five years in another woman's arms.

I watched the way he looked at her. It was nothing like the way he looked at me, and that was the moment I knew it had all been in my head.

The little chit-chats we had, the playful "I love you"s, everything, it was all in my head, and he never liked me.

It felt as though the air was sucked from my lungs, just watching my walls break down as I begged the gods in the sky that not even a drop of tears should fall from my eyes.

The host walked onto the stage, and the room erupted with cheerful claps and screams.

My attention was suddenly pulled to the host, so I broke my gaze from them and turned to the stage, blinking back tears and forcing myself to do the bare minimum of just looking forward.

"We are here to announce the nominees for the Ballon d'Or award tonight. The nominees are..."

"Daniel Malloy." The projector screen moved to a footballer.

"Travis Grant." About four other players were called.

"And lastly, for the Solano brothers, Voss Solano!” The projector showed Voss on the screen.

He wore his usual smug smile that barely reached his eyes. Every time I saw him, ripples of cold always broke through my body. He looked... wicked. I watched his dark green eyes as he slowly clapped and waved to the screen before it moved away from him.

He was seated about five seats away from Dante’s table, and when I turned to look at him, he was facing his manager and whispering something into his ear.

In a second, he looked up at me and our eyes met. My heart skipped immediately.

His lips stretched into his wicked smile.

I quickly averted my gaze, then looked forward.

“Dante Solano!" The room thundered, and it felt like everywhere literally shook. The projector captured Dante, who charmingly waved at the screen. He blew a kiss to the audience in his usual charming manner, and all it did was make my mouth bitter again.

He was the charming brother. The one who actually smiled, and the one I was head over heels for.

"The winner of the award of the year goes to..." There was suspense in the room, and I could feel everyone on the edge of their seats. I held my breath, patiently waiting for the announcement to continue.

The host pulled a name from the envelope and said,

"The winner for the Ballon d'Or goes to... Dante Solano!" The entire room shook vigorously with joy as they all clapped and cheered for Dante.

The spotlight immediately shone on Dante, capturing him, but at the peak of the moment he turned around and kissed Solange before everybody.

The camera captured them and projected them onto the screen for everyone to see them kissing.

A lump grew in my throat, and I fought to keep a straight face while clapping.

Dante turned to me, and he gave me his usual half hug and a little pinch on my cheek before walking up to the stage.

The host offered him the award, and he was given the stage to speak.

“It's unexpected, of course, and I am truly honored to have been given this. This award isn’t just dedicated to me. It's dedicated to my family, the lineage of great Solanos before me, my father.

This award isn’t just mine. It belongs to the people who stood beside me when it counted most.” His eyes searched the crowd for a moment until they landed on me.

He smiled again, and the tears I had been holding finally fell heavily on my cheeks.

“I also want to use this opportunity to thank the love of my life, and the woman who has captured my heart, Solange Carter.” He said.

The spotlight was instantly moved toward Solange, who cheered from the crowd.

I wanted the floor to open and take me in. I didn’t want to be there anymore.

“Solange baby, I love you very much. From the depth of my heart. And to the rest of the team, thank you very much.” With that, he lifted the award again before descending.

I couldn’t stay here anymore. I had to leave.

As I turned around, I met Voss Solano's wicked gaze staring at me. He wasn’t smiling this time. He was staring at me curiously.

Almost like he was concerned?

I found myself locking eyes with him for goodness knows how long before he looked away.

It felt like I had been sucked into a loop.

I was too emotional to think of anything, so I stood up, turned around, and walked out of the building while battling the tears that threatened my sanity.

After excruciating minutes of looking for a place in the room that didn’t have cameras flicking their blinding lights or interviewers asking me questions, I found my way into the restroom. It was oddly empty. I pushed my way through and locked the door.

“Oh goodness, I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe.” My body shook aggressively as I reached for the sink. I turned the faucet on, then splashed water on my face.

“Breathe, Ivy... breathe. You can do this. You can go out there.” I tried to tell myself, even though my makeup was already ruined and I looked so broken.

A sudden knock on the door took me by surprise. I quickly scrambled around looking for a paper towel to wipe the tears off my face when I turned around to see Voss Solano in the same room as me.

“What? What are you doing here?”