3. The ghost of her absence

3. The ghost of her absence

From the floor to ceiling window of his study, Lucien watched as Dahlia walked out through the huge black gates of Voss manor. She didn't look back. Not once. It was as if she'd erased him from her world long before this morning and that seemed to punch him in the gut. 

"Did she take the alimony?" He asked his assistant— Jace, tone icy. 

"No sir. Mrs Voss didn't take anything. Just her suitcase and handbag" he replied. 

Mrs Voss. 

Lucien's jaw tightened at the way Jace still addressed her. Like she still belonged here. Like she was still his. It scraped something raw inside of him and he hated the way it unsettled him. 

"Jace...Dahlia and I are divorced. And you know what that means..." he said. 

Jace picked up immediately and quickly apologized. "I'm sorry for the slip sir. I will take note in the future". 

He heaved a deep sigh, trying to gather his emotions and focus. "What's my schedule looking like for the rest of the day?" he asked

"You have a luncheon to attend at Briggs Tower and a meeting with the chairman of Von Constructions" Jace tabled with precision. 

Lucien nodded, lowered himself into the swivel chair and flipped a file open. He forced his eyes to the words on the file but they blurred as her name clawed at the edges of his mind. He shut his eyes just for a second and when he opened them again, they were back to their normal state. Cold. Emotionless. 

"We leave for the luncheon in an hour" he said

"Yes sir. I will get the car ready" Jace said and left. As soon as he was alone in the study, he tossed the file aside, his thoughts scattering again. A tight scoff slipped his lips. 

"Aren't you quite relentless Dahlia? Even in your absence you're still a thorn on my flesh". 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"They're divorced?" A crisp voice spoke into the receiver. 

"Yes Miss Vale. Just this morning, Mrs Voss signed the papers" the person at the other end of the line said. 

Sasha smirked. Finally, things were pointing to their right direction. 

"Good. And, I want you to take note— she's not Mrs Voss anymore. She's now plain Dahlia Winters, do you understand?" Sasha enunciated. 

"Yes Miss" the person said. 

"Make this hit the headlines and make sure it doesn't point to me" she ordered, her tone dark as abyss. 

"But Mr Voss..." the person was hesitant.

"He won't do anything. Now do as I have told you!" she instructed. 

The line went dead. Sasha couldn't help but be pleased with herself. After all these years...

"Indeed, the patient dog actually eats the fattest bone" she said to herself. "Dahlia, does it matter how hard you worked? Or how much you loved him? The point is, he's always loved me and he will continue, even in the next life". She let out a sinister cackle, her voice echoing through the ward. She twirled her curls with her finger, the imagination of what the future held for her swelling in her mind. 

Outside her door, Dahlia stood, her fists curled at her side. Tears fell from her eyes mercilessly. She was going to cry but she bit so hard on her lips to avoid making a sound. 

She'd actually come here to see how the woman Lucien loved was doing only to discover that she was doing too well to even plot against her. She turned on her heel and took slow steps down the lobby and entered the restroom. 

She turned on the water tap, the rush drowning her whimpers. She hated him. She hated her. But, she hated herself more. For being such a fool. For turning a blind eye. For even thinking that she could make him love her. It only took her three years to realize. Just how foolish and ignorant she was. 

She lowered her face and splashed the water across her face, hoping it would wake her from her sleep. And maybe it did, because when she looked up again in the mirror, all she saw was someone entirely different. A new Dahlia. She took out her phone from her pocket and dialed a number. 

"Gaux, book a flight for me. I'm coming back" she ordered. 

"Yes Miss!" Gaux said, her voice filled with sweet happiness. 

Back in the ward, while Sasha was still basking in her ocean of fantasy, her phone buzzed. She moved to the bedside table where it lay, the caller ID smearing her eyes. She swallowed hard before picking it up. 

"Yes?" she said.

"What's the update?" the person asked. 

"Can't you just sit still for a second Liam? I'm working on it" Sasha said.

"You know I'm a very impatient man" Liam said. His voice was everything evil and threatening.

Sasha heaved a sigh. "It will happen soon. There's already an opening" she said. 

Liam smirked on the other side of the line. "Great. It shouldn't be hard from now. Perhaps, you already deserve a reward Shay" 

"Don't call me that" Sasha huffed, disgusted at his endearment.

"We should celebrate. Come to the Nine Lives hotel tonight. You won't regret it" he slurred. This made Sasha cringe. She quickly thought of an excuse 

"I'm in the hospital Liam. If I leave it would get suspicious" she said 

"I wasn't asking. It's an order" he stated

"Then, if I come, you can forget about the deal" Sasha fumed

"Is that a threat?" Liam frowned. 

"You know what's more important" Sasha said, gaining her ground. "My body or the Voss empire".