Chapter Six

The Drive Home

Lila

The gala felt like a fever dream by the time we slipped back into the Bentley. My skin was still tingling from the weight of a hundred eyes, the press of Luca’s hand at my back, the venom in Vanessa’s smile.

I sank into the leather seat, staring out at the golden lights of the city as the driver eased into traffic.

I wanted to close my eyes, just for a second, and forget that this was my life. But the moment I did, I could still hear their voices in the restroom, those brittle, perfect women tearing me apart as if I were nothing.

The car was silent for exactly three breaths. Then Luca’s phone vibrated.

He didn’t look at me as he picked it up.

“Vanessa,” he said, his voice low and calm in the hush of the cabin.

Something cold slid down my spine.

He didn’t even pretend to keep his distance now.

“Yes,” he murmured after a moment. “I saw you leave.”

I turned my head toward the window, pressing my palm against my throat. The city blurred past in streaks of white and amber, but I couldn’t see any of it. I could only hear him.

“No, it was perfect,” he continued, his tone soft in a way it never was with me. “Everyone believes it. You should have seen the board members, they practically fell over themselves congratulating me.”

My stomach lurched at his words and how excited he seemed. 

“Of course,” he said, his voice dropping. “It’s exactly what we needed. No more rumors. No more scrutiny. You and I…we can breathe again.”

I bit the inside of my cheek so hard I tasted blood.

It shouldn’t have hurt. I knew what this was. A transaction. A performance. A lie wrapped in diamonds and signed in ink.

But hearing him talk to her, the relief in his voice, the affection he didn’t even try to hide, made something in me splinter.

I didn’t know which part of me I hated more: the part that wanted to scream at him to stop, or the part that wished he would speak to me like that.

“Yes,” he was saying. “She did fine. A little stiff. But she played her part.”

A little stiff. Like I was a mannequin he’d propped on his arm for the evening.

Vanessa’s voice crackled through the speaker so faintly I couldn’t make out the words. But whatever she said made Luca’s mouth curve into a smile.

The first real one I’d seen on him all night.

I looked away before he could see whatever was written on my face.

He laughed softly, softer than I’d ever heard. “That’s not fair,” he murmured. “You know you’re the only one who can say things like that to me.”

My chest felt tight, each breath shallower than the last.

He was still in love with her. Maybe he had never stopped. We never really talked about that situation. I had just made my assumptions that the affair was over, but clearly it was far from it. 

The thought was so much worse than anything those women had whispered in the bathroom.

“No,” he continued after a pause. “I don’t regret it. I’d do it again. It’s done exactly what I needed. By tomorrow morning, everyone will believe I’m a devoted husband.”

A jagged silence fell. I could feel him watching me in the reflection of the glass. Measuring whether I was listening. Whether I cared.

But he didn’t lower his voice when he spoke again.

“And now you don’t have to hide,” he said softly. “You’re free to come to the penthouse whenever you want. No more secrets.”

Something inside me twisted so hard it felt like my ribs might crack.

I didn’t look at him. I didn’t trust myself not to break.

“I’ll call you later,” he finished, his voice gentler than it ever was with me. “Sleep well.”

He ended the call and set the phone in the cup holder.

The silence that filled the car was worse than any shouting match could have been.

Outside, the city grew darker, the traffic thinning until we were alone on the road. I stared straight ahead, my heart hammering, trying to will myself to stay silent.

But I couldn’t.

“Was that her?” I asked finally, my voice too calm to be real.

He didn’t answer right away. His profile was carved in shadow, impossibly controlled. “You don’t need to know who calls me Lila, that's not part of the deal and you know this.”

“But I do know,” I whispered.

He exhaled once, a quiet sound that could have been irritation. Or regret. Or nothing at all.

“You’re in love with her,” I said, the words tasting like ash on my tongue. “You married me so you could go back to her without the press chasing you.”

He didn’t deny it.

“That’s what this is,” I continued, feeling my composure unraveling, thread by thread. “You made me a shield. A distraction. A way to protect your affair.”

When he finally turned to look at me, his eyes were fathomless. “I never told you this would be anything else.”

“Then why pretend?” I demanded, my voice breaking. “Why make me stand there like a fool in front of all those people? Why smile at me like you… ”

I stopped myself, because the next word was cared, and I refused to give him that satisfaction.

Luca’s jaw flexed. For a moment, something almost human flickered across his face. “Because it’s what you agreed to,” he said quietly. “Because you knew exactly what you were selling when you signed the contract.”

My vision blurred, but I refused to let the tears fall. Not here. Not in front of him.

“I hate you,” I whispered.

His expression didn’t change. But his hand tightened on the armrest, just for a second. “That’s probably easier,” he said. “Hate is cleaner.”

The car turned into the underground garage of the penthouse building. The tires crunched softly over the concrete as we rolled to a stop.

He didn’t move to get out. Neither did I.

The silence pulsed between us, thick with all the things we would never say.

Finally, he turned his head just enough to meet my eyes. “You knew what this was,” he said again, softer this time. Almost weary. “Don’t pretend you didn’t.”

I swallowed, pressing my palm flat to my chest like I could steady the ache there.

“I know,” I said, "I am sorry." 

He pushed his door open without another word and stepped out into the darkness, his silhouette disappearing into the elevator lobby.