Ticking Clock

   The next morning, Victoria woke up before Sebastian.

She slipped out of bed quietly and went to the terrace with a cup of coffee. The ocean looked calm today, but she felt anything but that. She felt chaotic.

The three days Lily had given her were slowly ticking into two. She had just over 48 hours to decide whether to betray the man sleeping in the bed behind her… or let Lily destroy both of them.

She sat on one of the lounge chairs, pulling her knees to her chest. The wind was cool against her skin. She closed her eyes and let memories wash over her.

_________________

She remembered being fourteen years old, sitting on the floor of her parents’ studio while her mother painted.

“You have a gift, my love,” her mom had said, brushing paint off Victoria’s cheek.

“But gifts come with responsibility. Never use your art to lie and never use it to hurt people. Promise me.”

“I promise,” young Victoria had said solemnly.

Her father had laughed from across the room.

“Our little truth-teller. The world needs more of you.”

Victoria opened her eyes and wiped away a tear. That little girl would be disgusted with her right now.

She let the realization of who she was becoming dawn on her - she was sleeping with a man who had destroyed someone’s life, she was lying to her friends and she was painting darker, more sensual work that sold because of who she was fucking, not because of its truth.

And the worst part of the whole inner chaotic spectacle was that she still wanted him. Even now that she knew what he had done and knowing what he was still capable of doing. 

The sliding door opened behind her. Sebastian stepped out wearing only sweatpants, his hair messy from sleep. He looked beautiful in the morning light.

He didn’t say anything at first. He just sat down beside her and pulled her onto his lap, wrapping his arms around her from behind. His chin rested on her shoulder as they both looked at the ocean.

“You’re thinking about leaving me,” he said quietly. It wasn’t a question.

Victoria swallowed hard.

“I’m thinking about who I’m becoming.”

Sebastian was silent for a long moment.

“I used to hate myself for what I did to Marco,, and for what I did to get here,” he admitted.

“For months after it happened, I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror. But then the restaurants started doing well. The money came, like Lily said it would. The power came. And I told myself that the ends justified the means.”

He turned her gently so she was facing him.

“But you…” His thumb brushed her cheek.

“You make me remember the man that I wanted to be before Lily got to me. You make me want to be better. Even if I don’t know how.”

Victoria’s heart ached.

She leaned forward and kissed him. It was soft at first, then deeper and needier. Sebastian’s hands slid under her shirt, stroking her bare back, but he didn’t push for more.

When they pulled apart, he rested his forehead against hers.

“I’m not a good man, Victoria. I never claimed to be. But I’m yours. Completely. If you’ll have me.”

Tears slipped down her cheeks again.

She wanted to believe him.

She wanted to run.

She wanted both at the same time.

That afternoon, Sebastian had to leave for a few hours to handle restaurant business, but before he left, he kissed her slowly and looked into her eyes.

“Whatever you decide,” he said,

“I won’t force you to stay. But if you choose me… I’ll protect you with everything I have."

After he left, Victoria sat alone in his villa for a long time. She opened her phone and looked at Lily’s last message again.

Three days.

She had already used one.

Her finger hovered over the reply button. She could end this right now. She could tell Lily everything she knew. She could try to save herself.

But then, she remembered Sebastian’s voice last night - quiet and almost vulnerable.

“I’m trying to be better for you.”

Victoria closed her phone without replying.

She walked back to the bedroom and crawled under the covers, pulling Sebastian’s pillow against her chest. It still smelled like him.

She was running out of time.

And every second that passed made her choice feel more impossible.