CHAPTER SIX -THE END BEFORE THE BEGINNING

Louise’s POV

Two Days Later

The relationship was over,

Just like my father wanted.

Elsa and I hadn’t spoken since that night, the night I stood outside my own bedroom and watched her give herself to someone else, without hesitation, without guilt, without me.

But there was still the company, the business we’d built together from scratch. We’d celebrated wins. Every corner of that office held a piece of us, of who we used to be.

But not anymore.

I had made up my mind.

I picked up my phone and typed the words slowly, carefully, not with anger, just finality:

“I’m selling my half of the company to you. You can continue without me. We’ll be meeting next week, please come with your lawyer.”

That was it.

No hi,

No how are you,

No I hope you’re okay.

She didn’t deserve softness from me, not anymore. Especially not after the dozen messages and missed calls she’d left me in the past forty-eight hours. I hadn’t read them. I wouldn’t.

There was nothing left to say.

I barely left my room.

My father, in his usual controlling, yet oddly considerate way, had instructed Ms. Agatha, our housekeeper, to bring my meals directly to me. Breakfast, lunch, dinner. All quietly delivered on a tray, always knocked gently, never accompanied by questions. She didn’t ask how I was doing. I think she already knew.

I didn’t eat much. Most of the food went cold.

I just stayed in bed, eyes glued to movies I wasn’t watching, letting the background noise drown out the silence in my head. I wasn’t crying anymore, not the loud kind. This was quieter. Numb. The ache that settles into your bones when you realize something is truly, irreversibly over.

No friends,

No siblings,

Just me.

The silence was loud enough to be company.

I kept thinking about that night, how easily it all collapsed, how love, something that had once felt so unshakable, could vanish in a single gasp, a single name whispered in someone else’s ear.

Was I naïve? Probably.

But I had loved her. Fully. Foolishly.

And she,

She had chosen someone else, even knowing everything we’d shared.

“Father knows best,” I whispered to myself one evening, staring out the window as the sun died slowly behind our tall, silent walls.

Maybe he was right all along.

Maybe love was a distraction, a weakness I couldn’t afford.

Maybe when I got married, I’d forget all of this, Elsa, the company, the pain.

Maybe starting over would be my freedom.

At least, that’s what I kept telling myself.

The next morning, I got out of bed, showered for the first time in days, and sat at my desk. I opened my laptop and began researching the family I was supposed to marry into, the man chosen for me, the life that would soon begin.

If this was the path I had to take, I needed to know who was waiting at the end of it.

A new chapter,

A forced one, maybe,

But a beginning nevertheless.

I went back to Singram to search for Tristan again, and I found his sister’s page. She was tagged in one of the group pictures they all took together.

The Pierres.

Raphael Pierre and Clara Pierre, the parents of Henri, Tristan, and Olivia Pierre. And the additional family member: Léa Pierre, the wife of Henri and the first daughter-in-law of the Pierres.

It was nice to know that I wouldn’t be lonely in the Pierre mansion.

I was looking forward to being friends with Olivia and Léa. One thing was for sure, they all looked really good. The women were stunning, and the men, undeniably handsome.

I heard a knock on my door.

“Come in,” I said. The door opened, and it was Ms. Agatha.

“Good day, Ms. Gael. Your uncle is here and he asked to see you,” she said.

“Thank you. Please tell him I’ll be down in five,” I responded.

I hadn’t seen my uncle for a while, and I was so excited to know that he was around. I quickly changed my clothes and went downstairs to see him.

“There is my not-so-little angel,” he said as I walked down the stairs.

“Uncle Nic!” I screamed happily at the top of my voice, running to give him a hug.

We hugged each other for about five seconds.

“Your dad told me you were back home and you’ve not left your room, so I decided to come see my little angel,” he said.

“Did he tell you he is marrying me off to Raphael Pierre’s son?” I asked, a heavy frown on my face.

“He did, and I know that’s what’s best for the company. Raphael is a very good friend of ours, most especially your dad, and I know they will take good care of you,” Uncle Nic said.

“I don’t have a choice now, do I?” I asked.

My father walked in.

“Well, we will be having dinner with the Pierres next week Saturday, to discuss the wedding arrangements. Before then, Tristan has asked to take you out on a date in two days. He wants to get to know you before Saturday,” my father said, as he sat on the sofa.

“A date?!” I asked.

The last time I went on a date was with Elsa, and it didn’t go as I wanted. Now I had to go on another date?

“Okay, Dad,” I said.

I got up and went back to my room, leaving my dad and uncle some privacy to talk.

Once inside, I went straight to my closet to pick out what I’d wear for the date with Tristan.

I didn’t own any dresses, and I wasn’t ready to pretend to be someone I wasn’t. So I grabbed a white long-sleeve shirt, a pair of white sneakers, and some blue baggy jeans. I folded them neatly and returned to my desk to keep researching the Pierres.

Suddenly, I received a notification from Singram.

“Tristan Pierre liked your photos.”

I guess I wasn’t the only one doing research.