AVA's pov
I knew something was wrong the moment the front door clicked openâquietly, like guilt had a sound. I didnât look up from the dining table. I couldnât. My hand trembled too much to lift the wine glass without spilling it, and I refused to let him see me break. Not tonight. âKillian,â I said, my voice steady despite the storm inside me. âYouâre late.â There was silence. Then the soft click of his shoes on the marble floor, measured, unapologetic. âI had a meeting.â A lie. He didnât even bother to make it convincing anymore. âI see.â I finally raised my eyes to him. He looked immaculate, as alwaysâtailored suit, perfectly tousled hair, tie slightly loosened like he wanted to appear effortlessly exhausted. But his eyes gave him away. They didnât hold the warmth I used to know. They held something colder now. Distance. Resentment. Maybe regret. But not for me. I rose from my seat slowly, deliberately. âI made dinner.â Killianâs jaw ticked, his eyes darting briefly to the table Iâd spent hours settingâcandlelight flickering, silverware gleaming, his favorite wine breathing next to untouched plates. âI already ate.â Of course he had. With her. I swallowed the bitter taste rising in my throat and nodded. âRight. How silly of me to think we still did things like⌠eat together.â He didnât answer. Instead, he slipped off his jacket and walked toward the living room. His phone buzzed. He glanced at it and smiledâthe kind of smile I hadnât seen directed at me in months. I didnât need to ask who it was. I already knew. I followed him slowly, heels clicking like a countdown. âKillian. I need to ask you something.â He sighed, not even bothering to hide his irritation. âAva, can we not do this tonight?â âWe havenât done anything in a long time,â I said quietly. âSo forgive me for asking if the woman youâve been sneaking off with is the same one who sent me flowers. From your name.â That got his attention. His shoulders stiffened. âWhat are you talking about?â I held up the card. âTo Ava Blake, the woman whoâs too good for a man who lies. From Killianâjust not yours.â He stared at it like it might explode in his hands. âThat wasnât from me.â I stepped closer, close enough to see the guilt flicker in his expression before he masked it. âSheâs bold,â I said. âSending flowers to your wife. To our home. She must be very confident.â Killian didnât deny it. He didnât offer a name. No excuse. Just silence. It was worse than an argument. It was confirmation. I took a slow breath and whispered, âHow long?â He looked me in the eyes thenâand for a moment, I thought I saw shame. But it disappeared as quickly as it came. âLong enough,â he said. And just like that, something inside me shattered. Ten years. Ten years of loving him. Of building his world. Of defending him when people said I deserved better. Of begging my father to invest in the company he nearly bankrupted. Of playing hostess, housewife, and the perfect woman, all for a man who couldnât even lie with conviction. And now, he stood in front of me, unapologetic. Unbothered. But I wasnât going to beg. Not anymore. I straightened my shoulders. âThen letâs not waste any more time.â He blinked. âWhat are you talking about?â âIâll leave,â I said, voice calm. âYou want to be with her? Fine. Be with her. But Iâm not going to stand here and make it easier for you.â His brow furrowed. âAvaââ âI gave you everything, Killian. Not because I had no other choiceâbut because I chose you. You donât get to rewrite that just because youâre bored.â I stepped around him, heading for the stairs. âIâll pack tonight. But before I go, I want you to remember something.â He said nothing. I turned back at the top of the stairs. âYou built your empire with my fatherâs money. My name opened doors for you. My silence covered your mistakes. So when I leave, Iâm not just walking awayâIâm taking back whatâs mine.â His face hardened. âYou canâtââ âWatch me.â And with that, I turned and walked into the bedroom. The same one we used to share. The same one heâd made foreign with his absence. I didnât cry. Not tonight. Tonight, I burned the girl who waited up for her husband. And in her place, I became a woman heâd wish heâd never underestimated. I didnât slam the door. That wouldâve given him too much satisfactionâproof that he still had power over me. Instead, I closed it softly behind me, the way you close a chapter. I stood in the middle of the bedroom, my bedroom, the one I decorated with soft ivory and warm gold, the one where I once imagined us growing old together. The irony burned now. These walls had heard my laughter, my whispered prayers, my sobs muffled into pillows when he came home late reeking of someone elseâs perfume. I opened the closet, eyes scanning over the rows of clothes I hadnât worn in months. I used to dress for himâsilks, lace, soft cashmere. Now, I couldnât even remember the last time he noticed what I wore. Or if he even noticed me at all. A bitter smile tugged at the corners of my lips. âLong enough,â heâd said. Long enough for me to become invisible. Long enough for her to become the center of his world. My fingers reached for the suitcase, dragging it out from under the bed we no longer shared. I moved mechanically at first, tossing in jeans, a few blouses, the kind of pieces that didnât scream Ava Blake, Perfect Wife. I paused on a silk nightgownâchampagne-colored, delicate, one he once said made me look like a goddess. I shoved it to the back of the drawer. There would be no more goddess for him. As I zipped the suitcase, my phone vibrated on the nightstand. I didnât need to check the screen. My mother had been calling all week. She knew something was wrong. Mothers always know. But I wasnât ready to hear the âI told you so.â Not yet. Not when I still felt like I was bleeding internally and trying to keep the wounds hidden under couture and lipstick. I sat on the edge of the bed, gripping the suitcase handle like it was the only anchor I had left. My heart pounded so loudly it echoed in my ears. It wasnât fear. It was clarity. Cold, sharp, and brutal. He betrayed me. He chose her. Now I had to choose myself. The door creaked open behind me. I didnât turn. âAva,â Killianâs voice was lower now, unsure. Like heâd only just realized I meant it. I stood slowly, facing him with practiced calm. âI told you Iâm leaving.â He stepped into the room, hands in his pockets. He always looked composed when he didnât know what to say. âDonât do this. Youâre being emotional.â I almost laughed. Emotional? I had been silent for years while he slowly chipped away at the woman I used to be. âNo, Killian. I was emotional when I found out. I was emotional when I realized I had been loving a ghost. But now?â I picked up the suitcase and looked him in the eye. âNow Iâm just done.â He reached for me. âYouâre overreacting. You donât have to go.â âAnd you didnât have to sleep with someone else. But here we are.â I stepped around him again, heading down the stairs. My heels were loud this time. Deliberately loud. Let him hear me leave. âWhere will you go?â he asked, following. âIâll figure it out.â I paused near the entrance, my hand on the door handle. âYou did.â He flinched. But I wasnât finished. âI stayed when you had nothing. I built you with my own hands. And you threw me away like I was part of your past instead of your future.â My voice trembled, not with weakness, but with fury. âSo donât ask me where Iâll go. Ask yourself who youâll be without me.â He didnât answer. Not even a plea. Coward. I opened the door, stepping into the night. The air was cool, briskâalmost like it was welcoming me into a new life. Behind me, Killian called my name once, quietly. I didnât look back. Four Days Later The city skyline looked different when you werenât trapped in a marriage. It wasnât a cage anymoreâit was a challenge. An opportunity. I sipped my coffee on the rooftop of the Blake Financial Group buildingâmy fatherâs company. My company, now. Iâd taken a leave years ago to support Killianâs startup, but I never really left. My name still held weight. My instincts still had value. And after everything Iâd given up for him, I was ready to take it all back. A knock on the glass door behind me pulled me from my thoughts. âMaâam,â Lauren, my fatherâs former assistant, now mine, stepped forward with a tablet. âThe board meeting starts in ten. Everyoneâs asking if youâll be leading todayâs pitch.â I took the tablet, scanning the screen. The proposal was solidâsomething Iâd refined late last night while the world slept and my heart refused to. âI will,â I said calmly. Laurenâs lips curled into a smile. âItâs good to have you back, Ava.â It was more than that. It was the beginning. I walked into the boardroom with my chin high, heels striking polished floors like thunder. The executives turned. Some of them barely remembered me from my last real appearance. Some didnât recognize me at all. But they would. I took my seat at the head of the table, placed the file in front of me, and began, âThank you for being here. Letâs discuss how we take back whatâs ours.âAVA I froze. My robe was lying on the floor, Killian shirt barely hanging over one of my shoulders and his hand- God, his hand was still on my thigh. I gasped and Killian caught me doing it. He jerked his head up where he had been kissing the inside of my knee in a most sinner-like manner. His eyes were savage, copper-coloured in the dimness, keen with parental alarm. He gazed in my eyes, then at the door. Another creak, I hastened up in such a fury the world reeled, lust did not get my heart pounding this time though, from fear. The type of fear that set in in your stomach and then creeps up inside you like dangerous poison. "Did you invite anyone?" In a menacingly low voice Killian asked. I shook my head. âNo person comes here without an invitation..â He already started pulling his half-buttoned pants. I took the robe, and threw it around me, my fingers were shaking, the door creaked again then i heard a voice. "Open up, Ava. We need to talk." Killia
Ava His hand remained on the knot of the robe which she had just dropped and there i stood, naked not weak, as this was not the girl who used to beg. This woman was the one who got betrayed and lived through it. This was woman who drank her sorrow and sprayed it all over like perfume. He came to me with the movement as though something in him were crawling toward me. He was breathing faster, his eyes were darker and when he touched my waist i did not filinch. âYou should not be here" she said, and i could not move, she did not put her lips aside, he did not reply he only kissed me, and God,--I loathed that still I melted to it. It was not soft, not sweet, not worried or slow, It was fire in the mouth, teeth, tongue, bruising kind of kiss. His hands went down my back as though to get to know me again. Such as all of my skin that he used not to pay attention to before had to be adored. He leaned me against the wall and was kissing my neck until my toes were cur
I whispered it so loudly it frightened me, though, and I knew this time no one was in the room with me. Just me turning a light bulb in a corner, a stench of red wine in my tongue, and a couch on which I just got too cold to sit. I was yet in the gala dress, with the zippers down and wads. My makeup was smeared, and my phone was shaky in my hand as though it knew that it had done something wrong. Grayson was having sex with her in a bed which was not mine with my lawyer . It is the same woman who said I was courageous to walk away. The same woman who held my hand and told me âYou deserve peace, Ava.âThe woman whom I believed would be my ugliest end to life. They were smiling in the photo. Not that sort of smile folks show when they are tipsy. The nice clothes which they put on after they have won. She had on the silver necklace that I bought her as a gift on her birthday. A reward of appreciation .it appeared as a trophy and Grayson? His hand was on her hip. That was the h
Avaâs POV The gown was smoothing and soft against my hips as a piece of silk, red bold, and loud like me. I was not planning to bump into Killian at the Joe Corp Gala, however, i had no intention to conceal myself. The heels were high, the cleavage was low and the expression on his face was presumable. He was at the centre of the room with a drink in his hands standing frozen as i entered. The music went on but he stopped, all his body seemed to stop. I just passed by him as i did not recognize him, as though i had not learnt by heart every hair on his face, every fib in his tones, like he wasn't the man who kissed me at night when making love to another person. Killian Joe hurled this loss on my head. He would not repeat itânot even under the level gaze of his grey eyes which seemed able to burn apologies into my flesh. Just behind i heard a smoother voice say âMs Blake.â Like a pre-arranged chest-stroke, Grayson was so exactly timed, his hand began to slide i
KILLIAN's povIt was supposed to be romantic.The private orchestra, the full ballroom at Langston Towers, the press discreetly tipped off, ready to capture Ava Blake walking into an apology so grand it would rewrite everything.I stood in the center of the candlelit hall, waiting.But Ava didnât walk in.She stormed in.Dressed in blackâagain, always black lately, like mourning the man I used to beâand flanked by two board members. The camera flashes burst behind her like lightning.She didnât even blink at the arrangement.âReally, Killian?â she said coolly. âYou ambush me with violins?âI tried to step forward. âI wanted to show you Iâm not giving upâââThis isnât a K-drama,â she snapped. âYou donât get to cheat, lie, ruin everything, then roll out a red carpet and expect redemption in four acts.âThe reporters began whispering. Filming. Loving the chaos.I lowered my voice. âAva, Iâm trying. Iâm begging youâââDonât beg,â she said. âNot unless youâre ready to do it in front of eve
The press conference started at precisely 10 a.m.A wall of flashing cameras. Microphones like drawn swords. And meâcenter stage.I stood at the podium inside Blake Financialâs atrium, a massive steel-and-glass structure that housed the countryâs top investment minds. But today, the focus was on something else entirelyâme.âIâd like to thank you all for coming,â I began, calm, deliberate. âAfter a brief absence, Iâm returning to take full leadership of Blake Financialâs upcoming strategic merger. And I will also be spearheading our next acquisitionâbeginning with Ricci Technologies.âA ripple spread through the crowd like a dropped stone in still water.The mention of Killianâs companyâpublicly, intentionallyâwasnât just business. It was bloodsport.I smiled coolly. âWe intend to work closely with the board of Ricci Technologies to restructure and reposition their assets for greater long-term viability. Which includes a full audit of internal leadership.âTranslation: your seat isnât