CHAPTER 3: THE WOMAN BESIDE HIM

The woman beside Alexander Sterling had a name.

Victoria Hale.

I discovered that at exactly nine fifteen the following morning, when Clara walked into my office carrying a tablet and an expression that suggested she had just uncovered a scandal.

“Boss, you need to see this.”

I looked up from the sketches spread across my desk. “If it's another meeting invitation from Sterling Holdings, decline it.”

“It's not a meeting invitation.”

She placed the tablet in front of me.

A photograph filled the screen. Alexander stood outside a luxury hotel with Victoria's hand resting on his chest. Her face was tilted toward his, and his expression looked serious enough to convince anyone that their relationship was more than a business arrangement.

The headline read: A NEW QUEEN FOR THE STERLING EMPIRE?

I stared at the picture longer than I intended.

“Interesting,” I murmured.

Clara studied me carefully. “You're not upset?”

“Why would I be?”

“Because you and Mr. Sterling used to be together.”

“Used to be the important part.”

I returned my attention to my sketches, pretending the photograph hadn't awakened memories I had buried for three years.

Alexander had never enjoyed public displays of affection. When we were together, he rarely held my hand in front of other people. He claimed he preferred keeping our relationship private.

Yet there he was, allowing an entire crowd of photographers to capture Victoria standing intimately beside him.

Perhaps he had changed.

Or perhaps I had simply never mattered enough for him to make the effort.

“Who is she?” I asked.

“Victoria Hale. Her family owns Hale International, one of the largest investment groups in the country. Rumor has it that their companies are planning a merger with Sterling Holdings.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“And the public romance?”

“Possibly part of the arrangement.”

I let out a quiet laugh. “How romantic. Nothing says eternal love quite like a corporate merger.”

Clara smiled, but her expression quickly became serious.

“There's something else. Victoria reportedly knows about your history with Alexander.”

That caught my attention.

“How?”

“Someone has been talking.”

I leaned back in my chair.

Three years ago, Alexander had kept our relationship away from the public eye. Only a handful of people knew we were together. If Victoria knew about me, someone from his inner circle had told her.

I wondered what story she had heard.

That I was a temporary distraction?

That I had abandoned him?

Or that I had been the woman who loved him too much to recognize when she was no longer wanted?

“Find out everything you can about the proposed merger,” I instructed Clara. “But keep my personal history out of the investigation.”

“Understood.”

After she left, I tried to concentrate on work. Unfortunately, the photograph remained in my mind.

By noon, I had reviewed the same design three times without making a single improvement.

I hated myself for caring.

I hated that a man who had broken my heart could still occupy space in my thoughts without permission.

Most of all, I hated the small, humiliating question that kept returning.

Had he ever looked at me the way he looked at her?

My phone rang.

An unfamiliar number appeared on the screen.

“Isabella Reyes speaking.”

“Miss Reyes, this is Victoria Hale.”

I straightened in my chair.

“Well, that's unexpected.”

“I hope I'm not interrupting anything important.”

“You are, actually. I'm working.”

“Then I'll be brief. I'd like to invite you to lunch.”

I glanced at the clock.

“Why?”

A soft laugh came through the speaker.

“Because there are things two women should discuss privately, especially when they have a man in common.”

My fingers tightened around the phone.

“I don't have a man in common with anyone.”

“Of course not. You're his past, and I'm his future.”

The words were delivered pleasantly, almost sweetly.

That made them worse.

I could have refused. I should have refused.

Instead, I accepted.

If Victoria wanted to play games, I wanted to know the rules.

At one o'clock, I entered an exclusive restaurant overlooking the city. Victoria was already seated near the window, dressed in cream silk with diamonds glittering at her ears.

She looked exactly like the sort of woman Alexander's world would welcome.

Beautiful. Wealthy. Perfectly composed.

She smiled when she saw me.

“Isabella. You look even more impressive in person.”

“And you look exactly like your photographs.”

Her smile tightened slightly.

We exchanged polite greetings before the waiter brought our drinks. For several minutes, Victoria spoke about fashion, business, and the international market. She was intelligent, articulate, and clearly accustomed to getting what she wanted.

Then she placed her glass on the table.

“Let's talk about Alexander.”

“Let's not.”

She laughed softly. “You're defensive.”

“No. I'm simply uninterested.”

“Then you won't mind hearing that we're expected to announce our engagement soon.”

For a moment, the restaurant seemed to grow silent.

I kept my expression neutral.

“Congratulations.”

Her eyes narrowed as though she had expected tears, anger, or some desperate attempt to reclaim him.

“You don't seem surprised.”

“Why would I be? He's a free man.”

“Alexander can be difficult,” she continued. “He doesn't trust easily, and he rarely allows anyone close enough to understand him.”

I almost laughed.

I knew what Alexander was like when he was afraid, when he was exhausted, and when he believed the world expected him to be perfect. I had seen the man behind the expensive suits.

But I wasn't going to offer Victoria that knowledge.

“I'm sure you'll figure him out.”

She leaned forward.

“There's one thing you should understand. Alexander doesn't like losing. If he believes something belongs to him, he will do whatever it takes to get it back.”

I met her gaze.

“People aren't possessions.”

“Tell that to him.”

“I already did.”

For the first time, Victoria's smile disappeared.

She studied me carefully before reaching into her handbag and retrieving a small envelope.

“I thought you might want to see this.”

Inside was a photograph of Alexander and Victoria standing together at a private event. On the back, someone had written a date.

It was dated three years ago.

My stomach tightened.

That was the same month Alexander and I had ended our relationship.

I looked up slowly.

“Where did you get this?”

Victoria folded her hands.

“Alexander and I have known each other for a long time.”

“You were together while he was with me?”

“I didn't say that.”

“But you want me to believe it.”

She tilted her head.

“Believe whatever you like. I'm simply telling you that you may not know Alexander as well as you think.”

I stared at the photograph, searching for an explanation that would make sense of the date.

Then Victoria delivered the final blow.

“He never told you about the agreement between our families, did he?”

My heart began to pound.

“What agreement?”

Before she could answer, a familiar voice came from behind me.

“Victoria.”

Alexander stood beside our table, his face cold with fury.

His gaze moved from Victoria to the photograph in my hand.

Then he looked at me.

“Isabella, whatever she told you, don't believe it.”

For the first time since my return, I saw genuine fear in his eyes.

And suddenly, I understood something terrifying.

There was a part of my past with Alexander Sterling that I had never known.

And someone had just decided it was time for me to discover the truth.