Chapter 6 — The Stall

Serena Laurent had been waiting for this moment for so long that she had stopped letting herself think about it directly.

But now she could. Now it was allowed.

She sat curled up on her sofa the night after the family dinner. A wine glass rested on the arm of the couch. She scrolled through her phone with a soft, glowing happiness she had not allowed herself to feel in years.

It was really over.

Kael had said the words himself, out loud, at his family’s table. It's finalized.

Five years of waiting, five years of being the woman on the side, five years of smiling through holidays where she was not allowed to sit next to him. And now it was finally over.

She let herself think about the wedding dress first.

Something simple and elegant, not the kind of dress a woman wore when she was trying to prove something. Serena would not need to prove anything anymore, not once there was a ring on her hand and her name next to his in the papers.

Ivory, maybe, or the softest pale blue. Something that would look beautiful in photos against the gardens at the Sterling estate.

Of course that was where they would have the wedding. Where else would a Sterling wedding take place?

She thought about the venue next, letting the pictures drift pleasantly through her mind. Early autumn, maybe, when the light turned soft and golden over the lawn. Three hundred guests, easily, given who Kael’s family knew.

She could already picture herself walking down the aisle while people who had once treated her like a secret finally had to treat her like the future Mrs. Sterling.

She had waited five years for this. She could wait a few more months to plan it properly.

The next afternoon, Kael came by her apartment after a long day at the office. His tie was loosened and he looked distracted. Serena told herself it was just work stress.

She decided there was no reason to wait any longer.

“I’ve been thinking,” she said, curling into the corner of the sofa beside him. Her voice was light and easy, the way she had practiced it. “Now that everything is finalized… maybe we should start talking about dates. Nothing has to be decided tonight. I just think it would be nice to have something on the calendar. Something to look forward to.”

Kael was quiet for a second too long.

“Let’s not rush it,” he said. He used almost the same words he had told her in the hallway two nights before. Hearing the same answer again made her stomach tighten a little, even before he finished speaking.

“I need a little time to breathe. After everything with the divorce. It’s been a lot, Serena, the family, the board, all of it.”

“Of course,” she said right away. That was what she always said, that was the role she had learned to play so well over the years: understanding, patient, never pushing.

But something inside her: quiet, small, and new, did not fully believe the performance this time, not even from herself.

He left a little while later. He kissed her forehead and told her he would call her tomorrow. Serena stood at the window and watched his car pull away from the curb. The warm happiness from the night before started to cool into something else entirely.

Time to breathe.

She repeated the words in her mind as she stood alone in her apartment. The wine glass sat forgotten on the counter behind her.

Breathe from what, exactly?

The divorce was finished. Elara was gone, out of the house, out of his life, completely out of the picture. Or so Serena had believed with full confidence until about thirty seconds ago.

There was nothing left to need space from. No remaining problem, no unfinished business.

Unless, a small and unwelcome voice in the back of her mind suggested, the real problem was not the end of the marriage at all. Unless it was something else entirely that he needed space from.

She pushed the thought away almost as quickly as it came. She was being paranoid. Five years of being the other woman had left her with a low, constant anxiety. She recognized it now as an old habit, a leftover scar from years of being second.

There was no reason for it anymore. She had won. She just needed to remind herself of that, she needed to let the victory settle in properly instead of picking at it like a wound that had already healed.

She poured herself another glass of wine and sat back down at the kitchen table. She pulled her laptop toward her, telling herself she would look at venue websites and try to get some of that pleasant excitement back before bed.

Instead, without really meaning to, her fingers typed a different name into the search bar. Elara’s name popped up, just out of idle curiosity.

A business article appeared near the top of the results. It had been published that same week. It was one of those industry lists about new companies to watch in the coming year.

Serena almost scrolled past it. Almost.

Then she saw one line buried in the third paragraph:

Among the founders drawing early attention is E. Vale, formerly of the Sterling family, whose new venture has quietly attracted interest from several established investors.

Serena sat very still. The soft glow of the laptop was the only light in the room. A cold, unfamiliar feeling settled low in her stomach. She did not have a name for it yet, but she would come to know that feeling very well in the months ahead.