Chapter 5

The papers fluttered in the wind and rain, slapping against Cillian’s face.

He instinctively reached up and caught the wet pages.

Cillian’s breath stopped.

“Aveline, don’t do this now,” he said. His voice was raw.

“Do what?”

I looked at the face I had loved for five years. I felt nothing.

It was all dead. Gone with my unborn child. Gone with every last fantasy about this marriage.

“Sign it, Cillian,” I said, my voice flat. “Take whatever you want. Just leave me alone. You make my skin crawl.”

Beside him, Jenna’s eyes flashed with pure joy.

She looked like she wanted to shove a pen in his hand and get me out of her way for good.

But when she turned to Cillian, she saw his fist clench, his knuckles white. The jealousy was back, and she bit her lip, hard.

Cillian didn’t sign.

He ripped the papers in half.

His eyes were a storm of emotions. He was running from something.

He couldn't look at me.

“You’re not thinking straight,” he said, his voice hard, like he was hiding something. He threw the torn paper into the mud. “I’m giving you one chance to take it back.”

Then he spun around.

He didn't even wait for his pregnant mistress. He stormed through the rain toward his armored car. His steps were uneven, like something was chasing him.

I watched him go and laughed. A cold, empty sound.

Regret?

The biggest regret of my life was marrying him.

I didn’t wait. I didn’t go back to the estate. I got in a cab and told the driver to head for O’Hare International.

Two hours later, the plane to Vienna was in the air.

I sat in first class, watching Chicago shrink below me. For the first time in years, I felt light.

I took the SIM card out of my phone. I snapped it in two and dropped it in the trash.

Goodbye, Cillian Donovan.

Forever.

---

Cillian’s POV

The wipers beat against the windshield. The car was dead silent.

Jenna had stumbled after me, pressing her wet body against mine.

Her eyes were red. Her voice was a whiny tremble. “Cillian, how could she do that to you…”

“Shut up.”

I cut her off. My eyes were glued to the rearview mirror. A nameless panic was spreading through me like a disease.

“And drop the pathetic act, Jenna,” I said, shattering her fantasy. “You’d better remember. That baby you’re carrying is Luca’s.”

Jenna froze. The color drained from her face.

“I bought you the mansion. I gave you the money. I put up with your stupid games.” I turned and looked at her like she was worthless. “I did it because Luca was my most loyal man. He died taking a bullet for me. I swore a blood oath. To protect his unborn child.”

For her, I felt only duty. A debt to a dead man.

Love? She wasn’t worth a single hair on Aveline’s head.

Tears streamed down Jenna’s face.

She bit her lip, not daring to say a word.

She finally understood. I was just using her. A vessel to honor my dead brother-in-arms.

I had the driver drop her at her villa and drove back to the Donovan estate alone.

The rain had stopped.

I sat in the car, staring at the lit-up house. I couldn’t get out.

I was afraid to open that door.

Afraid to face the disgust in Aveline’s eyes.

From the inside pocket of my jacket, over my heart, I pulled out a pocket watch. One I never showed anyone.

I flipped it open.

No clock face. Just a faded photograph.

Aveline at sixteen.

In her school uniform, holding her cello, smiling like an angel who didn't know evil existed.

My rough thumb traced her face. A sharp pain stabbed at my heart.

The night of the fire, Jenna was bleeding. She almost lost the baby.

I couldn’t let Luca’s only legacy in this world die. That’s why I ran to her.

At the hospital, I wanted to explain.

But then she looked at me with that cold, mocking tone. Congratulating me like she didn’t give a damn.

The jealousy and rage burned through me.

I was furious that she only ever cared about Finn. Furious that she wouldn't even give me a scrap of her jealousy.

So I used the cruelest words I could find. I deliberately replaced her concert with Jenna’s party. I even smashed her mother’s headstone—all because Finn had been with her when she bought it.

I just wanted her to lose it. For me. I’d even take her hate.

I needed her obsessed with me, even in the most twisted way.

But today, at the cemetery, when she pulled out those divorce papers… I panicked.

“We’ll talk tonight… we’ll fix this.”

I put the watch away, took a deep breath, and got out of the car.

The moment I walked in, the house was silent. Too silent.

“Where’s the Donna?” I asked the butler, pulling off my tie.

He froze, his face pale. “Boss… the Donna left this morning. She never came back.”

My breath stopped.

My face went white. I shoved the butler aside and grabbed my phone.

My hands shook as I dialed the number I knew by heart.

The line was dead.

Disconnected.