Chapter 9

ETHAN’S POV

Amelia didn’t know I saw her talking to Julian, nor did she know I saw him kiss her knuckles. 

I’d been uneasy since Amelia walked away from me. 

The way she looked at me before leaving twisted something deep inside, and waiting ten minutes without her returning felt unbearable. 

I hated myself for upsetting her, even though I could list a million reasons why I was right to say what I did. 

None of them eased the suffocating weight in my chest. So, I excused myself and went looking for her, hoping to apologize.

What I didn’t expect was to see her smiling and chatting with Julian Pierce, the man I’d just bragged wasn’t her type.

 Watching him kiss her knuckles, like it was his right, cut deeper than I could’ve imagined, especially since I’d been aching to do the same but couldn’t.

 I turned and walked away, hurt and angry. 

Here I was, torn up over her, ready to make amends for my words, while she was busy charming a new acquaintance. 

The irony stung. I couldn’t bring myself to return to my mother, Victoria’s group, so I grabbed a drink from a waiter’s tray and stepped outside. 

When I came back a few minutes later, I saw her dancing with another man. My anger, which had briefly cooled, flared again.

 Her body swayed to the music in his arms, and I couldn’t stand it anymore.

 I marched out once more. The music pounded in my ears, and the sight of her dancing haunted me, though, strangely, it didn’t hurt as much as Julian kissing her knuckles.

I returned to the room, expecting to see her still dancing, but she was gone. 

My mother was now dancing with a man, and I noticed Julian with another woman on the dance floor.

 I sighed, grabbed another drink from a passing waiter, and headed to the balcony for some fresh air.

 I needed it badly. The party buzzed on, but I couldn’t focus since I’d seen Amelia on the red carpet, stepping in looking as seductive as sin itself.

 I rested my hand and the base of my wine glass on the handrail, taking small sips now and then. 

My thoughts were a mess, and I hated it.

 I tried to clear my mind, but the way she smiled at Julian kept creeping back, and it drove me mad.

I glanced back at the room, where people danced, talked, and laughed. 

Then I spotted her again, now chatting with a man I knew all too well, Nathaniel Brooks. 

She was laughing, and when he leaned down to whisper something in her ear, she laughed again. 

My grip tightened on the wine glass stem until my knuckles turned white, nearly snapping it. 

I sucked in a deep breath to calm myself and turned back. 

The moon lit up the scene like a fairy tale. 

The roses grew tall, their buds glistening with dew. 

But alongside them were lilies flowers I used to love but had come to despise nine days ago, right around the time Amelia arrived. 

Lilies, they say, symbolize purity. Purity? I doubted that. I’d given her the nickname Lily because her beauty was as captivating as those flowers, but now I questioned if lilies were as pure as people claimed.

 They were like white lotuses, beautiful and innocent on the surface but dangerous to touch. 

And Amelia, my Lily, was just as dangerous to the heart as those flowers were to the hands. 

There was nothing innocent or pure about it either.

I sipped my wine again, staring with contempt at the white lilies growing beside the roses. 

Now, I hated two things in this hotel: those flowers haunting my thoughts and the woman I’d named after them, who I couldn’t escape.

I finally tore my gaze away from those beautiful but treacherous lilies and looked up at the sky. 

The moon was full and bright, and for a moment, it pulled me back to that night at my mansion when I’d kissed Amelia’s lips for the first time. 

My Lily had looked so innocent, so tantalizing, and she’d drawn me in like no one else ever had.

“Ethan,” a voice called, snapping me out of a memory I didn’t deserve. 

I would’ve welcomed the interruption if it had been anyone else, but that voice was Amelia’s, I knew it too well. A voice I both loved and hated. 

The image of Julian kissing her knuckles flashed in my mind, and I took a sip of my wine, ignoring her completely.

 She didn’t deserve my time, not when she treated me the same way.

 “Why are you out here? I’ve been looking for you,” she said.

 When I didn’t respond, she pressed on. “I came out for some fresh air. I didn’t expect to see you.”

I scoffed, not in the mood to talk. Then I felt her hand on my shoulder, and my whole body stiffened. 

She must’ve noticed because she pulled back instantly.

 “Sorry about that,” she said softly. 

I sighed, my eyes drifting back to the lilies in front of me.

 From the corner of my vision, I saw her, her perfectly manicured fingers on the handrail. 

They looked so soft, and I hated the urge that surged through me to touch them, to feel them in my palm, to kiss them the way Julian had.

I grunted under my breath and, to fight the urge, spoke up. 

“The party’s still going, Mrs. Harper. I’m sure someone’s already looking for you.”

 Julian’s face popped into my head, and though I hated it, I wanted to hear what she’d say.

Amelia sighed, and I turned to her, finally taking in her appearance without the distraction of that assistant, Lucas Bennett, she’d been waltzing around with earlier. 

She wore a black gown with a wide opening at the back, partially covered by her wavy, deep brown hair. 

But when she moved, and her hair shifted, I caught glimpses of her flawless back, something I’d noticed when she was dancing in that other man’s arms earlier.

Her lashes were long and dark, her lips a vivid blood red that screamed seduction, just as I’d thought when I first saw her tonight like the devil’s wife. 

Unlike her usual slender frame, she looked fuller, her curves accentuated perfectly. 

Her gown, studded with tiny diamonds across the chest, sparkled under the moonlight, clinging to her body and highlighting every feature.

 My gaze shifted involuntarily to her flat stomach, her rounded hips, and the slit in her gown that revealed her exquisite legs with every step she’d taken earlier.

I forced myself to look away just as she said, “You’re angry with me, aren’t you?”I turned back to her.

 “Mrs. Harper, I’ve only known you for nine days. Why would I be angry with you? Have you done something I don’t know about?”

“Ethan, you know what I’m talking about,” she said, her transparent brown eyes glinting in the moonlight. 

Her skin looked almost ethereal under its glow. 

She held my gaze, not with the shy timidity I used to love in my Lily, but with the confidence of a woman who could command a room. 

How had she changed so much? “You’re angry, I know you are. But if you let me explain, maybe you won’t be anymore.”A bitter smile tugged at my lips. 

“What are you talking about, Mrs. Harper? What do you need to explain?”

“Stop acting like you don’t know who I am,” she said, and I could hear the hurt she didn’t voice. 

“I know exactly who you are,” I said, my tone sharp. “You’re Mrs. Amelia Harper, widow of Edward Harper. Who in New York doesn’t know you? Your husband’s wealth is legendary. In case you forgot, he used to dine with my family when I was a kid.” I forced a smile, but the pain in my gray eyes betrayed me.

“You don’t need to remind me,” Amelia whispered. “And I’d appreciate it if you stopped calling me Mrs. Harper.”

“That’s like asking me to disrespect a man I’ve admired my whole life. Even in death, Edward deserves that much.”

“Ethan…” she started, but someone interrupted.

“There you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” a man said, dressed in a black tux like every other guy here.

 His hair was a mix of gray and black, his dark eyes sharp with intelligence as they landed on me.

 “Ethan Caldwell, good to see you out here.”

“Likewise, Mr. Brooks,” I replied, plastering on a smile while inwardly wishing I could shove him off the balcony.

“I just came to fetch this lovely lady. She promised me a dance,” Nathaniel said, turning to Amelia.

 “May I have it now, my dear?”Amelia smiled, her red lips parting to reveal a dazzling set of white teeth that could charm anyone including the two men standing in front of her.

 “I’m a woman of my word, Nathaniel, but please, let me finish with this gentleman first.” She turned to me, that same smile still in place.

 “Alright, Ethan Caldwell, I’ll save the last dance for you.” Then she looked at Nathaniel. “Let’s go have that dance.”

“With pleasure,” Nathaniel said,offering his arm. She looped hers through it, and they walked back into the room together, leaving me staring after them, my blood boiling with a murderous edge.