Heart Wrenching

Thea didn’t remember the drive back to the estate. Ethan had asked twice if she was all right, and both times she had only nodded, eyes fixed on the rain-streaked window.

The city blurred by and Thea felt her heart shatter even more with each mile. Every word Gina had spoken replayed itself in her head until the only words ringing in her head were that one sentence…

‘I believe you.’

Thea's grip on her purse tightened, biting back the need to cry. That was all she ever wanted. That was all she had ever wanted to hear, and now that someone had told her that, she had no clue how to feel.

By the time the car swept through the w gates of the Blackwood penthouse, she was struggling to keep herself together.

“Ms Blackwood,” Ethan called suddenly, jerking her back to reality.

Thea glanced up, her eyes slightly wide open. Ethan sighed, he knew something was wrong. And it was clearly because of the woman they ran into earlier.

“We're here..”

Thea glanced around the environment, they were really here.

“Thank you.” She muttered as she pulled the door open and let herself out of the car.

She didn't realise how fast time had passed and looking around now, it was already late in the evening.

Thea walked into the house, one step after the other.

“Ms Blackwood.” It was Butler John.

“Evening, John.”

“Would you like to…”

Thea met his gaze with a small smile. “I would like to be left alone for tonight. Please..”

Butler John nodded and with a wave of his hand, the entire hall emptied of the staff, giving her the privacy she needed.

She drifted to the kitchen and pulled out a stools, taking off her coat and leaning over the island with a sigh.

The cook had gone for the night, the counters gleamed, and a single lamp under the cabinets threw a warm glow over the dark granite.

She opened a cupboard and pulled out a bottle of wine without looking at the label. When she pulled the lid, ready to pour down its contents straight from the bottle. She didn’t bother with a glass at first, then remembered herself and reached for one, her hand trembling.

The first mouthful burned pleasantly, spreading heat down her throat and into her chest. She slid onto one of the stools at the island, elbows on the marble, and let her head drop into her hands.

She could smell the faint sweetness of Seth’s cologne lingering in the room; he always left a trace of it wherever he went. Tonight it made her feel lonelier.

She tried to rethink the revelations of the evening: what on earth does Gina know? What did she hear from the said phone call she overheard from Posy?

Thea exhaled, her heart felt heavy. All the secrets she’d been carrying felt like stones in her pockets. She's been holding on to it for so long…

She was on her second glass when she heard the elevator chimed open. Footsteps crossed the hall.

Seth.

He came into view still in his suit, tie loosened, rain glittering on his shoulders. His expression softened the moment he saw her hunched at the counter.

“Thea?” His voice was quiet, a question more than a greeting. “It’s late.”

She lifted her head. “I know.” Her voice sounded brittle to her own ears.

His eyes scanned her in silence. An open wine glass, a half filled glass cup in hand. He's never seen her drink. Ever. He shrugged out of his jacket, walking closer to her.

“You okay?” He asked, despite knowing the answer to his question.

“I couldn’t sleep.”

He leaned a hip against the counter opposite her, studying her face. His dark eyes took in the wineglass, the bottle, the way her shoulders curved inward in full detail this time.

“What’s going on?”

Something in the gentleness of the question undid her. She had meant to keep everything locked behind her teeth, but the words came like water through a cracked dam.

“I saw Gina tonight,” she heard herself say.

Seth didn’t react, only tilted his head a fraction. “Your stepmother.”

“She stopped me outside the cake shop.” Her laugh was short and without humor. “She said she believes me.”

“About?”

“About Posy,” Thea said, and then it all tumbled out. “She said she believes me. The fact that I was drugged on the night of my engagement to Runes. The fact that it was all planned out by Posy out of jealousy…” Thea chuckled. “I didn't realise how badly I wanted to hear her say that…”

Seth sighed. He could almost understand her.

“Hey…”

“And then there's me..fighting to expose Posy for what she did to me. Fighting to make Balmero mine because I knew she couldn't run the company. I couldn't let g9 because Balmero was…it was…”

“You built it up. Seeing it crash out hurts.”

“Yes! And there's Runes. Sleeping with Yumi.” She chuckled, a hint of hurt in her eyes. “He called me names despite the fact that he's been cheating on me long before my incident happened.”

“And Posy? She posted that video online for everyone to see. I was going to let it go, to forget all that until she posted that video. I want to ruin her life in more ways than one but seeing Gina today….hearing her tell me she believed me, I…” she broke down in tears..

“That's all I wanted to hear. That's all I wanted and it's…I feel like a monster.”

“Hey..” Seth got closer, his hand over hers as he stared at her. “Ypure not a monster.”

“How do you know that?”

Seth went silent. He was the monster for using her and treating her the way he did.

She stared at the swirl of wine at the bottom of her glass. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this,” she whispered. “I shouldn't have.”

“You’re exhausted,” Seth said. His tone held no judgment, only a steadiness she hadn’t expected. “You’ve been carrying this by yourself.”

She turned to him, searching his face. “You’re not…angry?”

His eyes met hers. “At you? No.”

Thea shook her head. “You should be. You should think I’m manipulative, scheming…”

“You’re surviving,” he said simply. “And you’re telling me the truth. That’s more than most people ever do.”

Something tightened in her throat. She pressed her fingers to her eyes, but a tear escaped anyway, hot against her skin.

“You don’t understand. I am planning to get even with Posy. I intend to ruin her life and Runes for the way they treated me! If any of this comes out, I’m finished. You’re finished.”

Seth reached out and covered her hand with his. “Look at me.”

She did. His hand was warm, steady.

“It’s late,” he said softly. “Come upstairs. You need rest.”

But she couldn’t let go yet. “Do you…” She swallowed. “Do you really love me, Seth?”

The question hung between them. She hadn’t meant to ask; it had risen from somewhere deep in her mind. For weeks she had been trying to make sense of his sudden shift.

The way he had begun to treat her not as an acquisition but as something…precious. It scared her more than his indifference ever had.

His gaze didn’t flicker. “Yes.”

She blinked at him. “Just like that?”

“Yes.” He said it again, a little firmer, as if he wanted her to feel the weight of it. “I didn’t expect to. When we first met, it was only an agreement. But somewhere between your fire and your silence you got under my skin. You’re the only person in this city who tells me the truth even when it hurts. You don’t hide what you think of me. You don’t play the games they all play. And when you walked into my life that night…” He paused, searching for the words.

“I thought you were a mistake. Now I think you were the only real thing that’s happened to me in years.”

Her breath caught. She had imagined a hundred possible answers but not this plain sincerity. It sounded almost like a confession. She wanted to believe him but her chest ached with doubt.

“I don’t know how to feel,” she whispered.

“You don’t have to decide tonight,” he said. “Just know it’s true.”

She stared at him, the kitchen light casting soft shadows across his face. He looked tired but not guarded, not calculating. For the first time since she’d met him he looked…real.

Another tear slipped down her cheek. She let it. “Seth…”

He brushed the tear away with his thumb. The touch was gentle, hesitant, as though he was afraid she might flinch.

“Come to bed,” he said again, low. “We’ll face the rest in the morning.”

She didn’t move. The warmth of his hand against her skin, the smell of rain and cologne, the quiet steadiness in his eyes…all of it broke through the armor she’d been holding for months. Before she could second-guess herself she leaned in and kissed him.

It was soft, tasting faintly of wine and rain. His hand slid to the back of her neck, holding her, and for a moment the kitchen and the penthouse and her troubles vanished. There was only the two of them and the sound of their breath.

When she pulled back she kept her forehead against his, eyes closed. “I’m scared,” she murmured.

“I know.” His voice was almost a whisper. “But you’re not alone anymore.”

He stood and held out his hand. She hesitated only a heartbeat before taking it. The wineglass sat abandoned on the counter, a dark red crescent left at the bottom, as Seth led her out of the kitchen toward the sweeping staircase.

As they climbed, Thea glanced once over her shoulder at the darkened hall. Tomorrow she would have to decide what to do with Gina’s evidence, whether to trust her, how to play Posy’s wedding…

But tonight, for the first time in a long time, she allowed herself to lean against someone else, to breathe.

And that someone was Seth.