chapter 7: After The Submit

Sebastian’s POV

By the time the summit was over, I was so irritated that I did not want to speak to anyone in the hall. The applause for Ariana and Kylan still echoed in my mind and faintly through the conference hall.

There were people still crowded around the two SinTech representatives, everyone so eager to meet them in the hope of potential partnerships. Investors practically circled them like flies.

Her new name, Aria Forbes, even now, the name sat wrong on my tongue and in my head. Nodding to some people, I stood near the exit of the hall, my gaze fixed on her across the room as she spoke with a group of people.

She was unbelievably calm and composed. And beautiful too. as this city had never tried to destroy her... or like I had rejected her.

Something about that realisation unsettled me more than it should have, because part of me felt jealous and guilty seeing her achieve success after everything that happened between us… and now when things were difficult for me.

Six years ago, Ariana had disappeared from the city broken and publicly humiliated. I remembered that day clearly and the brutal headlines that came with it.

I could still picture her face, shamed and in tears… tears she tried so hard not to show. Yet the woman standing before me now looked nothing like that version of herself, but a totally different person.

Someone beside me chuckled softly.

“They are impressive, aren’t they?”

I turned but didn’t answer.

“That woman just seems… brilliant,” the man continued. “Word is… she practically built their finances herself and in such a short time.”

My jaw tightened at the man’s words.

Of course she did.

She had done something similar at FrosTech, elevating us from mere competitors to the very top of the food chain. That had always been Ariana, the efficient strategist.

Her truly impressive skill set was a dangerous combination… especially now that she was apparently working against me, I thought.

The crowd around her finally dissolved slightly, opening just enough for me to be able to move. Without hesitation, I started to walk toward her. But before I could get close, Kylan Sinclair appeared beside her again.

His hand rested briefly against the curve of her back as he leaned down to say something near her ear.

Seeing that, something sharp twisted unpleasantly in my chest. Ariana looked up at him and smiled. The sight stopped me in my steps, piercing my heart sharper than I expected.

I couldn’t even remember the last time she had smiled or looked at me like that… which had so much intent and meaning.

At that moment, Kylan glanced up suddenly, his dark eyes landing directly on me still standing across the room.

It seemed like the bastard knew exactly who I was. And judging by the slight curve of his mouth… he was enjoying this.

Ariana followed his gaze and our eyes met again. But this time, there was no stage stopping her from reacting, no notable distractions.

For a moment, a very brief moment, neither of us moved. And I waited, holding her gaze firmly, as if expecting some form of reaction… anything at all.

But instead, her expression remained perfectly the same… calm and collected under any pressure. Then suddenly, she looked away. Just like that, she had dismissed me.

Kylan said something quietly to her before guiding her toward another exit at the side of the hall, away from the growing crowd and away from my sight.

By the time I reached the area seconds later, they were already gone. My anger and irritation flared instantly.

“Mr Frost?” someone called behind me.

But I ignored the voice calling after me.

For the first time in years, I felt ridiculed and disrespected in such gatherings. And I hated the feeling. I felt Ariana should’ve at least confronted me.

People don’t just disappear from someone’s life and come back unaffected as she had seemed. But she had looked at me tonight like I was just another businessman in the room.

The thought followed me all the way back to the car as I got in and drove home.

Back home, I loosened my tie as I walked into the living room, my mind still replaying the events at the summit. I walked straight to my study and collapsed on the chair.

Then I pulled up my laptop and started browsing through FrostTech records for the past six years, eager to find where it all went wrong with us.

I was still lost in my thoughts, I didn’t even know when Camilla walked in.

“Sebastian, are you even listening to me?” Her irritated voice pulled me back to reality.

I looked up from my laptop as she stood across the study, her arms crossed over her chest, dressed in expensive clothes… clothes I had paid for with my hard-earned money.

Unnecessary expenses, the thought suddenly flashed in my mind.

“No,” I answered her honestly.

Immediately her expression darkened and she walked over. “Unbelievable!”

I returned my attention to the screen. “Then stop asking questions you don’t want answers to, Camilla.”

But that only irritated her more.

“You’ve been impossible lately!” she snapped. “Every time I talk to you, it’s work, work, work…. This, this, this, that!”

“Because unlike you, Cam, I actually have responsibilities. I have a company to run.”

The room suddenly went silent the moment I uttered those words. Camilla stared at me in disbelief before she opened her mouth to speak.

“Wow. That’s just funny coming from the man who practically begged me to come back into his life!” she screamed.

My fingers paused over the keyboard. There was a time that comment would have struck a nerve… or provoked something in me.

It would have stirred an unbelievable passion that often came whenever I saw Camilla act this way… the sudden manly urge to subdue her.

But now? I just felt tired, exhausted from everything. Because somewhere along the line, the fantasy had died.

And with my life slowly losing the grip on influence and control it once had, I was forced to face reality.

Camilla loved luxury and attention. But me? I wasn’t entirely sure anymore. Maybe she never had.

“You’ve changed, Sebastian,” she said quietly now, studying me carefully with tears in her eyes.

“And so have you,” I responded.

“No,” she replied smoothly. “You just don’t love me anymore.”

That statement unsettled me more than it should have. A bitter smile formed on her lips as she walked toward the bar nearby and poured herself a drink.

“You know what your problem is, Sebastian?” she continued casually. “You only love people when they make your life easier!”

I looked at her sharply. But before I could respond, she added…

“And right now? Everyone around you is becoming inconvenient.”

With that, she dropped the glass in her hand and zoomed off out of the study.

The shock of seeing Camilla that way still sat heavily in my chest as my mother walked into the study shortly.

She must have heard our voices, I thought.

“You’re home.” Mother commented as she slowly shut the door behind her.

I got up, poured myself a drink over the glass Camilla abandoned.

“Yes,” I said, turning to her.

Her eyes narrowed slightly as she studied me. “Something happened.”

I said nothing.

But unfortunately, silence had always been an answer enough around my all knowing mother.

She stepped closer slowly. “This is about the summit, isn’t it?”

My grip tightened slightly over the glass in my hand. That alone told her everything she needed to know.

And when I finally spoke, my voice carried something even I hadn’t heard in a long while… fear.

“She’s back, mother,” I said in a trembling whisper, “Ariana is back.”