02. Let's Go Home.

ISABELLE. 

I finished painting early that afternoon. As I massaged my hand, my eyes lingered on my bare ring finger. 

We had been married three years and of the three rings William had made for me, that one was my favorite. 

William custom-made almost everything. How had someone so close to him ended up with the same design? 

I rubbed the place where the ring should have been.

William had said I didn’t need to attend the party, but Chloe had brought me a gift. Even though I never received it, thanking her still felt like the polite thing to do.

And, if I was being honest, Roman’s voice wouldn’t leave me alone.

That damned man.

I went inside to get ready. The party didn’t start until evening, so I had enough time to dress and pick up a gift.

Three hours later, the car stopped outside the Ashford Hotel.

“Don’t wait for me. I will come back with William,” I told the driver. 

He smiled, clearly pleased he wouldn’t have to spend the evening waiting.

Inside, I considered calling William, but the receptionist greeted me before I reached for my phone.

“Are you here for the Ashford party?”

“Yes.”

She directed me to the garden terrace upstairs.

I took the elevator, then followed the sound of voices through a hallway. At the entrance, I accepted a champagne flute from a passing server.

The sun was setting, but the garden was bright with strings of lights and glowing lanterns. Everything looked dreamy. Almost romantic. The guests were few too. About thirty. 

Then I spotted William. He was standing with Chloe and talking to a group. 

I didn’t know what it was that made me stop in my tracks. 

Then I noticed it. Their hands were locked together. 

I blinked twice. Not just locked together. Chloe was leaning against him in that suggestive way that made them seem like a couple. 

I heard Roman’s voice again. He was becoming a ghost in my head now. 

I took a step toward them but before I got close enough to speak, a voice carried across the garden.  

“It’s so good that you two are finally together.” 

“I agree,” someone echoed. “That Bella girl almost came between you.” 

Bella girl? Me?

“Chloe handled it well. There’s no shortage of pretty girls trying to seduce their way up the social ladder.” 

The group laughed. Chloe smiled shyly, but my eyes went straight to William. 

His expression was blank. Unreadable. 

He remained silent. 

Maybe they were talking about someone else. After all, my name was Isabelle. Not Bella. 

“But you have to admit, you can’t blame William for falling for her charms.” 

More laughter. 

A man with a loud voice joined in. “I agree. Her beauty really is one of a kind.” 

“And she was young too,” he added. 

I felt my fingers tremble around the glass. 

No. 

They couldn’t possibly be talking about his wife while he stood right there.

“Beauty only gets you so far. When you are building an empire, what good is a vase that is only useful in the bedroom?” 

“I’m just glad William never married her. Imagine the mess of getting divorced now. Girls like that cling to a rich man for dear life.”

Never married her?

I looked at William, waiting. For a correction. A frown. Anything. 

I wanted to march forward and demand an explanation. But my feet wouldn’t move. 

What would I even say?

That I hadn’t seduced him? That I wasn’t a vase? That William had pursued me for eighteen months?

That the man standing beside Chloe was my husband?

Chloe gave a light cough. “Come on, you guys. Let’s not talk like that.”

She smiled.

“Isabelle is actually a lovely girl once you get to know her.”

Isabelle.

There was no room left to pretend they meant someone else.

William. My husband. The husband I had nothing to worry about.

He stood there and let them mock me.

My ears were burning hot, and my chest was tight. 

If I had to put a word on what I was feeling now, I wouldn’t be able to. It was a mixture of several things all at once. Shame. Anger. Fear. Confusion. 

I turned toward the exit. I couldn’t stay here anymore. 

“All right, everyone!” 

I glanced back and saw Sandra, my best friend, entering from the other side of the garden.

She wore a bold red dress that hugged her figure and showed off her curves.

The kind of dress William would never let me wear.

Why was she here? Was she friends with Chloe?

“Before we get carried away, let’s get to the main reason why we are here tonight.” 

Sandra clapped twice.

A line of uniformed attendants entered behind her, each carrying a bouquet of red roses. They placed the flowers around Chloe, who lifted a hand to her mouth and blushed.

I looked at her shoulder, still pressed against William.

Then he stepped away.

Relief flickered through me. I hated how grateful I was for that small distance.

A second later, William went down on one knee and opened a velvet box.

I turned fully and started toward them. Surely, this wasn’t what it looked like.

I pinched myself. Hard.

I had to be dreaming. Otherwise, why would my husband, my legally married husband, propose to another woman? 

Was there something he said last night that I missed? 

Or did I manage to slip to another dimension? Maybe another dimension where William and I didn’t end up together? 

“Chloe, will you marry me?” William said, and I lost control of my fingers. 

The champagne flute slipped from my hand and shattered against the paving stones.  I felt the cold liquid splash over my foot. 

William turned toward the sound. His eyes found mine. 

It was not just him. Every head in the garden turned towards me. 

I waited for him to stand. He didn’t.

I had every right to be angry. Every right to demand answers. But with all those eyes on me, I suddenly felt like an outsider.

They knew why they were here. Sandra knew. Chloe knew.

Even William’s friends knew.

I was the only one who had come to a welcome party.

I didn’t know what Roman had seen in that photograph, but he was right.

I should have been worried.

I dropped the gift bag I had brought with me and ran. 

I ran through the garden and into the hall and only stopped when I was standing in front of the elevator. 

I didn’t know what I was expecting, but nobody chased after me. Not William. Not Sandra. 

Up until the elevator’s doors closed, I didn’t hear a single step. 

He saw me, right? William saw me? 

My knees buckled as the elevator began to descend, and I slid to the floor. 

“God,” I wheezed. 

Then I tried to breathe. 

In. Out. In. Out. 

The elevator reached the lobby.

I forced myself up and ran again. I knew no one was chasing after me, but I kept running anyway. 

And I didn’t stop until I saw him. 

Roman. 

He was leaning against his car just like yesterday. 

Waiting. 

Almost as though he knew I was here. As though he knew I would come running out like this. 

Our eyes met. 

He pushed away from the car and walked toward me with quick strides. 

He didn’t say a word. His arms closed around me and pulled me against his chest. 

It was only then I realized how badly my body was shaking. 

I should have pushed him away. William would be furious if he saw another man holding me like this. 

But somewhere between seeing my husband give another woman a ring and how badly my body was shaking, I didn’t. 

Instead, I wrapped my arms tightly around Roman.

His palm settled against my back.

“Come here, Princess,” he whispered. “Let’s go home.”