Echoes Of The Old Me

  The deadline Lily gave her came and went.

Victoria didn’t reply to the message. She didn’t go to any meeting. She simply let the 24 hours pass in silence.

Lily responded with a new message the next morning:

“You just bought yourself three more days. After that, I start burning things. Starting with your precious little reputation.”

Three days.

That was all the time that she had left to figure out her next move. 

____________________

The next two days passed in a strange, heavy fog.

Victoria stayed at her own loft most of the time. Sebastian didn’t push her to come over. He only sent her short messages instead - “Thinking about you”, “Miss your taste”, “Be safe” -and she replied with single words or emojis. Both of them knew the real conversation was hanging in the air like it was smoke.

She tried to paint.

For the first time in weeks, she actually finished something that she had intentionally started. 

It was a self-portrait - or at least, it started that way. A woman was standing in front of a mirror, half of her face in soft, glowing light, while the other half was swallowed by deep shadows.

The brushstrokes on the dark side were aggressive, almost violent. She painted it in one long, feverish session and didn’t stop until her hands were cramping.

When she stepped back and looked at it, she felt a lump in her throat.

This was her now.

Split in two - the old Victoria and the new one fighting on the same canvas.

On the third morning, Marcus showed up again, this time with pastries and a worried frown shining through his expression.

“You look like shit,” he said honestly as he set the bag down.

“And these new paintings you're coming up with these days … they’re incredible, Victoria. Darker than anything that you have ever done. The gallery is losing their minds over them. But I’m more worried about you than the sales.”

Victoria forced a smile and sipped her coffee.

“I’m fine. I'm just… going through a lot right now.”

Marcus studied her for a long moment.

“You’ve changed,” he said gently.

“The girl I knew would never disappear for days at a time. She would never let a man - even one who is as powerful as Sebastian Montez - consume her like this. You used to talk about how your parents raised you to protect your integrity. What happened to that girl?”

The question hit her like it was a punch from a hulky boxer. Victoria looked down at her hands, still stained with paint.

“She met someone who made her really feel alive for the first time,” she whispered.

“And now she doesn’t know if she can survive going back to who she was.”

Marcus didn’t push for more after that. He just hugged her tightly before leaving.

That afternoon, Victoria did something that she had not done in years - she went to the small storage unit where she kept her parents’ old paintings. She pulled out one of her mother’s pieces - it was a soft, hopeful sunrise over the ocean - and sat on the floor, crying quietly as she looked at it.

Her mother used to say, “Even when the world is dark, you can choose to paint the light.”

Victoria wondered what her mother would think of her now - sleeping with a man who destroyed lives, who is lying to everyone, and how she was slowly becoming part of the darkness.

That evening, Sebastian called her. His voice was low and warm, but she could hear the tension that was hiding underneath.

“Come over,” he said.

“I need to see you. Not for sex. Just… Just to be with you.”

She went.

They didn’t have sex that night. Instead, they lay on his huge couch watching an old movie, her head on his chest, his fingers slowly playing with her hair.

It felt almost normal. Almost safe.

At one point, Sebastian spoke into the quiet.

“When I was young, I used to dream about having a simple life. You know, a small restaurant, a wife, kids maybe. Then Lily showed me what real power tasted like… and I never looked back.”

He paused.

“Until you.”

Victoria looked up at him.

“Do you ever truly regret it in some moments? What you did to Marco Vale?”

Sebastian was quiet for a very long time.

“Every single day,” he finally admitted.

“But regret doesn’t change anything. It only makes you weak.”

He kissed the top of her head.

“I’m trying to be better for you, Victoria. But I’m still the same man who did those things. I need you to decide if you can live with that.”

Victoria didn’t answer. She just held him tighter.

Later that night, while Sebastian slept beside her, Victoria stared at the ceiling.

Three days.

That was all the time that Lily had given her.

And she still had no idea which of the devils that she was going to choose.