LOGIN[Carter’s pov]Olivia didn’t say anything else after that.She just stepped closer.For a second, I thought she was going to change her mind. Stay, argue, push me again until one of us breaks. But she didn’t.She rose slightly on her toes, her hand brushing my arm not holding, not claiming, just there and pressed a soft kiss to my cheek.It wasn’t dramatic.It wasn’t desperate.It was quiet.And somehow, that made it worse.“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said. Then she turned and walked away. Just like that. No looking back. No hesitation.Gone.I stood there longer than I should have, my hand lifting unconsciously to where her lips had touched my skin. The warmth lingered, faint but persistent, like a reminder I couldn’t shake.Something wasn’t right.Not with her.Not with anything she had said. It wasn’t a suggestion. It wasn’t even a request. It was… a setup. Or a warning. Or both.I pulled my phone out, already dialing before I could overthink it. She picked up on the second ring.
[Olivia’s pov]“Come with me,” Carter said, his hand closing around mine again the second we cleared the thickest part of the crowd.His grip wasn’t forceful. But it wasn’t loose either. It carried urgency. Expectation maybe.Like he thought if he let go, I might disappear.I looked at our joined hands, then up at him. His expression hadn’t settled yet. “I can’t,” I said quietly.The words landed between us, heavier than they should have.His grip tightened. “What do you mean you can’t?”I exhaled slowly, trying to steady the storm still moving through me. “Not like this, Carter.” I said.His brows pulled together. “Olivia—” He paused, hesitating. “I tried to fix our marriage and now did everything I could to give you the rightful title.”“No, Carter.” I shook my head, cutting him off before he could pull me back into that emotional gravity I was already struggling to resist. “You don’t get to say all of that and then expect everything to just fall into place.”His jaw clenched. “I’m
[Olivia’s pov]I didn’t realize I was crying until the tears blurred the edges of him.Carter’s voice was steady and painfully honest. It kept echoing in my ears even after he stopped speaking. The room had gone quiet, the kind of quiet that presses into your chest and makes it hard to breathe, but all I could hear was him.My fingers trembled in his as I stood there on the stage, exposed under a hundred watching eyes, my heart cracking open in ways I didn’t know how to control.He had lied.For years.Hidden something so big, so devastating, that it should have shattered everything between us beyond repair.And yet now….He had just told the truth.In front of everyone.He cleared out the misunderstanding about his wife. But somewhere deep down it still didn’t satiate me.My throat tightened painfully as I looked down at him, still on one knee, still holding onto me like I was the only thing anchoring him to the ground.I didn’t know what I was feeling.Anger burned, sharp and justi
[Carter’s pov]A murmur rippled through the crowd.“I’d like to invite my wife,” I continued, the word deliberate, “Mrs. Olivia Jude Velcro, to join me on stage.”The room reacted instantly.Plenty of gasps. Many whispers. People began to expect. I was under peer pressure. All of it pushing toward her.Olivia didn’t move at first.She just stood there. Every eye was on her. Then someone near her clapped. Everyone was pushing her to come to the stage.Then another insisted.And another.Until the entire room was urging her forward. Relentlessly everyone wanted her to come up to the stage.She turned slowly and when her eyes met mine, I saw everything she wasn’t saying. It was not anger, not hurt. She didn’t fear what I was doing either. It was something else.Something that hadn’t left yet. She walked. Each step measured, small and controlled. Like she was holding herself together one second at a time. When she reached the stage, I stepped down to meet her. Not above her.Not tonigh
[Carter’s pov]The corridor felt smaller after I stepped away from her. I stared into her eyes. “What are you going to do?” Olivia asked me but I was too immersed that I ignored her.I had to fix everything.And today was the perfect moment.To claim my wife and to win her back.I walked anyway back into the noise. Back into the polished lies and curated smiles. The kind of room where everything looks perfect and nothing actually is. I knew everyone was there to snag the deal which belonged to me.The moment I stepped into the main hall, reality settled back in my mind, like it had been waiting. I looked behind when Olivia walked up to me. She wanted to talk. To prevent me from making a mess.But now I had to fix things.It was already enough. I had to step up for my wife.Camilla was across the room, already recovered, already playing her part. Laughing lightly at something someone said, glass in hand, posture flawless.Of course she was here to cash over the title as my wife. Peo
[Carter’s pov]The hall hit me like a wall of sound crystal glass clinking. Low laughter wisped in the air. I moved through it anyway. I always do. I hated these kinds of pointless gatherings. If it wasn’t for money I wouldn’t be here.Camilla’s hand rested at my elbow, light yet demanding. The kind of touch that looks intimate from a distance and means nothing up close. I didn’t look at her.She had forced her way into this gathering with me.At the top of the marble steps, the host stepped forward, all polished charm. “Mr. Velcro. We’re honored.”I gave him a nod, already scanning the room. Exits, faces, who mattered and who didn’t. I wanted to get done with this nonsense sooner.“And Mrs. Velcro,” he added, turning to Camilla with a warmer smile. The words hit me like a slap. Harder than they should have.Olivia was right. The world saw her as the other woman.Camilla didn’t miss a beat. “Thank you. It’s a beautiful evening.”I said nothing. I simply couldn’t. I didn’t correct
[Carter Velcro]“Lower your voice, Camilla.” The words tore out of me, rough and lethal. My teeth clenched so tightly my jaw ached.Camilla froze. For the first time, she was seeing a side of me she had never dared imagine. We stood in the drawing room, the air thick and suffocating, and still she h
[Olivia Jude Velcro]What was Carter even saying?He almost lost me. He was worried.The irony nearly choked me. Laughable even.How could I trust a man who had already shattered me once?“And?” I snapped. My heartbeat roared in my ears, frantic and uneven. I forced my face into indifference, though
[Carte Velcro]The party dissolved into silence long after the last guest left. One by one, the lights dimmed, the laughter faded, and the house returned to its hollow grandeur. The friend who had invited Camilla dropped her home, and I stayed back—for my mother. Father was out of town, and Olivia
[Olivia Jude Velcro]“You have to come with me tonight, Olivia. Please.”The word ‘please’ tasted foreign on my tongue, but I meant it. I needed her there with me as my wife. Where she had always belonged. Somewhere deep inside, a foolish hope flickered that if I could just get her to stay beside m







