เข้าสู่ระบบChapter 96Estelle✦༺⚜︎☠︎⚜︎༻✦We’d sold out of three designs in the first week. The Vogue feature had gone live yesterday, and my Instagram had gained fifteen thousand followers overnight. Emma had called me “London’s most exciting new voice in sustainable luxury,” which felt both incredible and terrifying in equal measure.Tonight was the official celebration—an evening event for investors, press, influencers, and a handful of people, thanks to Reid’s endless connections and recommendations.“You need to stop touching your hair,” Millie said, slapping my hand away from my head for the third time in ten minutes. “Or you’ll ruin my handwork. Now breathe before you pass out and ruin your very expensive dress.”I groaned, then rolled my eyes in exasperation. The dress was expensive—one of my own designs, a deep beige silk that hugged every curve and made me feel like the woman I’d been pretending to be for the past two months. Confident. Successful. Absolutely not dying inside over a m
Chapter 95Estelle✦༺⚜︎☠︎⚜︎༻✦Melissa was stunning as always. That was my first thought when I walked into the café and saw her sitting by the window. Gorgeous as usual, from the auburn hair, pretty face, designer clothes worn with effortless grace, to that sexy figure that never ceased to faze me.I swallowed the sting of jealousy that rose from my throat. “Estelle!” She stood, smiling warmly. “It’s so lovely to see you.”I smiled awkwardly, half expecting a gun in my face.We ordered coffee and settled into what should have been an awkward meeting between enemies but somehow… wasn’t.We talked for two hours. Mostly about my branding and designs and how she’d like a couple of pieces from the boutique. Not once did she mention Sicily or her family or anything that would connect her to Kegan.It was almost unsettling how normal it felt.“I have to ask,” I finally said, unable to help myself. “Why are you really here? We don't like each other very much. This is incredibly generous
Chapter 94Estelle✦༺⚜︎☠︎⚜︎༻✦The boutique opening was officially in three days, and I was absolutely losing my mind.Not in the excited, butterflies-in-stomach way I’d imagined. More in the I-haven’t-slept-in-forty-eight-hours-and-I’m-pretty-sure-I-just-put-my-keys-in-the-refrigerator way.“You need to eat something,” Reid said, appearing with a sandwich I hadn’t asked for.“I need to finish the window display.”“You finished it an hour ago. Then you took it apart and started over. Twice.” He set the sandwich on the counter. “Estelle, you’re over stressing.”“God forbid a girl wants perfection on her big day.”“You’re having a breakdown.” He said it gently, without judgment. “Which is completely understandable given the circumstances, but you still need to eat.”Reid had been a godsend these past weeks. Patient when I was impossible, helpful when I was drowning, present without being pushy. He’d connected me with more investors, smoothed over issues with suppliers, even helped me wal
Chapter 93Kegan✦༺⚜︎☠︎⚜︎༻✦I had my people dig into Carrie’s claims, into her leverage, into what she actually knew and what she was bluffing about.I also—against my better judgment—had them look into Estelle.The boutique was real. The suppliers were real. The feature in Vogue was scheduled for next month.She was doing it. Actually building the life she’d wanted.Without me.And there, in every photo from the boutique’s Instagram account, was a face I didn’t recognize. A man. Always just out of frame, always carefully positioned to look casual but obviously present.Dylan noticed me staring at one of the photos during a meeting.“That’s Reid Whitmore,” he said. “Finance guy. Old money. Connected to half of London’s elite.”“I didn’t ask.”“You were staring at his picture with the intensity of someone planning a murder. I thought I’d save you the research time.” Dylan grinned. “He’s been seen with her a lot lately. Helping with the boutique. Taking her to galleries. Very cozy.”“I
Chapter 92Kegan✦༺⚜︎☠︎⚜︎༻✦Six weeks.That’s how long it has been. I stood on the balcony of my bedroom at dawn, watching the sun rise over the vineyards, a glass of whiskey in my hand even though it was barely six AM. Sleep had become a stranger—two, maybe three hours a night if I was lucky. The rest of the time, I worked. Trained. Drank.Anything to keep my mind from wandering back to London.Back to her.“You look like shit,” a voice said from behind me.I didn’t turn. “Good morning to you too, Melissa.”She moved to stand beside me at the railing, already dressed for the day in riding clothes. She’d taken to going out early, riding the horses across the estate before anyone else was awake.“Couldn’t sleep again?” she asked.“Sleep is overrated.”“So is pretending you’re fine when you’re clearly not.” She took the glass from my hand and took a sip, grimacing. “Whiskey before breakfast. That’s a new low, even for you.”“It’s medicinal.”“And very pathetic.” She handed the glass ba
Chapter 91Estelle✦༺⚜︎☠︎⚜︎༻✦“I think I’m going to be sick,” I said, setting down my ice cream.“Estelle—” Vivian started.“No, I’m serious. I just—” I pressed my hands to my stomach. “The thought of him with her. Of him touching her the way he touched me. Of him—”“Hey, hey, breathe,” Millie said, rubbing my back. “We don’t know that anything happened. We’re just speculating.”“We shouldn’t have said anything,” Vivian added, looking genuinely guilty now. “I’m sorry. That was shitty of us.”But the seed was planted. The image was in my head.Kegan, back in Sicily, realizing that Melissa was right there. That she understood him in ways I never could. That she wouldn’t make him choose between love and control because she already knew how to live in his world.“I need to know,” I said suddenly.“Know what?”“If she’s there. If Melissa is in Sicily with him.” I grabbed my phone, hands shaking slightly. “Those fundraiser pictures. From the charity gala. We need to see if she was there.”“







