جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 10

Elena's POVI shut myself in the bedroom and tried to calm down. My head was full of static.Every corner of this room held memories of him and me.Our wedding night. A thousand-plus nights of marriage since, all of them spent here.Yesterday he had still been holding me, soothing me to sleep.Today, a woman with my face had walked through the door.They'd been lovers ten years ago. James had never gotten over her death — in three years of dating and marriage, he'd never once taken me anywhere near the sea.All of it, because of her.He had only ever fallen for me, married me, because I reminded him of her.I looked at my face in the vanity mirror, and something inside me broke. I dropped to the floor and gagged.I didn't want to think any further. I couldn't stop.They were downstairs right now. What were they saying? What were they doing? I didn't know.I was the wife. I was the one with a ring. And I didn't even have any standing to call them out.She'd been there first. It was that

Elena's POVI knew this would put James in a hard spot.I knew, too, that the reason he'd asked for a divorce so quickly was that he wanted to spare me more pain.But he should have remembered something about me. I keep my word.A promise made stays made. I don't take it back.I had sworn to walk through this life with him. I wasn't going to give that up overnight.Three years dating. Three years married. None of those memories were fake.I'd been with him long enough. I refused to believe there hadn't been a single moment when he'd actually loved me — me, not the resemblance.I remembered every step he'd taken to win me over. Every night and day he'd treated me like I was something precious. How was I supposed to walk away from that?Our marriage had been registered with the Council of Elders. As long as I refused to sign, James had no legal grounds to remove me.I'd chosen the most foolish way to fight, just so he'd be forced to face what he really felt.I wanted to keep believing he

James's POVThe moment Elena left, something in me went dry and dead.The divorce was processed quickly — suspiciously fast, even.I barely saw her.Every document, every step, was handled by her lawyer.She didn't show up.No questioning, no stalling, no window for me to take any of it back.It was as though she really didn't care anymore.After that day, I never saw Elena again.She vanished from my life completely. As if she'd never been there at all.…Vicky stayed.This was the life I had pictured a thousand times.I'd thought once she came back, everything would settle into place.It didn't.For the first few days, she was the woman I remembered.She leaned against me, soft and warm, talking quietly. There was that hint of dependence I'd missed.But things started shifting.She got short with the staff, demanding."Do I really need to say it twice?""I don't like the smell. Make it again."That high, untouchable tone wasn't one I knew.I stood off to the side and watched, and som

Elena's POVThe day I left James, I didn't look back.I didn't take anything with me. Just one suitcase.I had already given him back the pendant.Walking out, I touched my throat without thinking.It was empty.The wind hit my collarbone. I noticed the cold.That was when I understood I'd gotten used to it being there.Used to it enough that it would take time to stop missing it.I didn't go straight to a new city.I went, first, to where we'd met.The terrace at that gala.I stood there a long time.The night wind came down off the height, cool. The lights of the city spread out in the distance, like a quiet sea of stars.That year, I had stood on this same terrace.Alone.He had walked over and started talking to me.In that moment, I'd taken it for fate.Looking back now, it had been a farce.I gave a small laugh. I didn't stay long. I left.Some places aren't worth lingering in.Stay too long, and you only embarrass yourself.After that, I went to the seaside town.It was the plac

James's POVBy the time I got to the wasteland, the fire had lit up half the night sky.The truth was, I'd known something was off the moment Vicky left the manor that day.The perfume on her was heavier than usual, thick enough to make my head ache. And she had specifically told the staff to talk me out of going anywhere.I didn't stop her. I followed at a distance.The moment I saw her arrive at the door of Elena's studio, I knew. None of the unease I'd been carrying for weeks had been my imagination.Vicky had been lying to me.That perfume of hers had been covering her own scent. It had been jamming my ability to track Elena.That's why I hadn't been able to find her. Not because Elena had vanished without a trace. Because Vicky had blocked every road that led to her.I followed her out to the wasteland. From a long way off, I caught the smell of lamp oil.The next second, the fire went up.My chest seized like a fist had closed around my heart."Elena!"I went in like a madman.Th