//Ch 4//

[Isabella Hayes]

“Mrs Cole? Mrs Cole, are you still there?”

The assistant’s voice drowns out as something in my brain clicks into place, but that can’t be right. The call… the reason he was so happy… it couldn’t have been because of her.

I never worried about Olivia, even though Adrian’s parents believed she would still come back. I was never worried because Adrian only ever talked about her once or twice, and he’d described her as a painful part of his life he would never go back to. Why would I worry about a woman he never showed signs of missing?

I don’t even know if it’s the same Olivia. Or if she’s the reason for the switch-up in his personality. This is too much. I’m in my head, and I’m sure this is a misunderstanding.

“Mrs Cole?” The assistant repeated.

I shook myself out of my stupor, realizing some of the maids were staring. “Right. Thank you.” I mumbled, not even sure what I meant by those words. My thumb hovered over the end button, and I pressed down on it.

A text came in just as I did that.

Celeste Bennett: Don’t be late. Richard has something important to announce today.

My mother’s text was another nail on the head. I forced myself to breathe and not think. I beckoned one of the butlers and told him to get a car ready for me.

I shut off my phone, shoving it into the deepest part of my purse, before walking out of the house.

On the drive to my stepfather’s house, I tried not to think about Adrian. Olivia. Or even my mother, and how disappointed she’s going to be when I show up alone.

The driver suddenly lowered the divider between his seat and the back area where I was.

“Mrs Cole, a call is coming in for you.”

My eyes remained on the passing road, my fingers tightening into a fist in my lap.

“From who?”

“Mr Blake.”

I turned my head slightly; surely I’d misheard the name. Ethan Blake. Adrian’s best friend. He hadn’t been at my charity event, but he’d donated and sent a note saying he’d be there for the next one. He was out of the city.

We weren’t friends. Ethan was the brother Adrian always wanted, but never got. Ethan was polite to me, kind, but always a bit distant. I could never read him or get comfortable around him. He was a quiet person who stayed on his own most of the time.

His family is practically the royalty of Valoria. The only reason he’s in Aurelia is that it's the capital of Valoria. While Adrian is a millionaire, Ethan’s family's net worth is in the billions. And despite having a hefty trust fund and royal lineage, Ethan has earned every dime that makes him a billionaire.

You can understand why he makes me nervous.

Why he would be calling me, I have no clue. How he knew which driver I took, I also have no clue. But I’m not in the mood to talk to anyone. In the six years I’ve known Adrian, Ethan has only said a few words to me. No more than a hundred words, that’s how quiet he is.

“Tell him I’ll call him later.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The divider rises once more, and I emptied my mind. If I think too hard, I might cry, and I cannot cry before I get to my stepfamily’s home. They can smell weakness. The ride is shorter than I wanted it to be. I need more time to compose myself.

When the car comes to a stop, I take another breath in before stepping out. The lights are on, and my mother is standing by the door. Her look tells me she’s not impressed with what I’m wearing.

I’ve given up long ago when it comes to having a decent relationship with her. My stepsisters got the mother I wish I had. The one who never criticised them. The one who thought every small thing they did was amazing. The one who cared if they were hurt or left out.

She told me when I was eleven not to ruin her marriage with my attitude. I’d simply told her that one of my stepsisters had torn the photo I kept of my dad. Since then, I’ve learned that she wanted to move on with her life, and my existence was a problem. But abandoning me would have been distasteful. That’s the only reason she kept me around.

“You’re late.” Her shrill tone carried on.

“Sorry. I was stuck helping Adrian.”

She narrowed her eyes as I started approaching. “Really? Then where is he?”

“The work dragged out. So I figured one of us should show up. We can’t both cancel.” The lie came easily. Honesty would be treated as a weapon against me. I’m twenty-seven, not that ten-year-old who expected more from her mother. I know my place within this family is at the bottom.

Her mouth twisted. “You should have cancelled and sent him instead.”

I shrugged even though it stung. It would always hurt. I’m her daughter. I can’t stop my feelings from getting burned.

No matter how hard I try.

“I hope what the public is saying isn’t true. If he divorces you, I’ll never speak to you again.”

The word divorce was hard to swallow. Adrian wouldn’t leave me; people don’t know our relationship. They’re making guesses about one incident. Hasn’t anyone ever made a mistake?!

“He wouldn’t do that,” I muttered. She stopped me from crossing into the house by circling her fingers around my arm. Her nails are sharp, and she tightened her grip, digging them into my skin.

“Keep that attitude out of my home, Isabella. I will slap some discipline into you if you stir up trouble. I know what kind of girl you are. You hate to see me happy. But I will not stand by and allow your nonsense to wreck my marriage. Understood?”

I’d be baffled if I hadn’t heard this same speech at thirteen. At that time, she thought I was trying to corrupt my stepsisters and insisted I be sent to boarding school. It took begging for her to even consider telling Richard to put me through college after I graduated.

They never thought I’d meet Adrian there. They thought I’d get a degree and suffer from endless debts.

Even marrying him didn’t get me respect. It only proved to my mother that I was selfish and always trying to ruin her happiness. She actually said, and I quote, ‘How dare you embarrass me like this? What would people think of me? You getting married before my pride and joy would make people think I’m a bad mother.’

As I said, it stung that she thought of me as a harbinger of death upon her marriage, but it wasn’t surprising.

I gave her my best nod, ignoring the physical and emotional pain.

She finally released my arm from her grip and strolled ahead of me. I exhaled, pressing a hand against my chest.

I can do this. I can survive this. Then, when Adrian returns, I’ll talk to him. Naomi had a point. I need to say what I’m feeling, or he won’t know it’s wrong. Talking to him will clear up everything. I’m sure of it.