Part 2Stood Up on Our Wedding Anniversary

The next morning, I woke to an empty space beside me.

I opened the bedroom door to the sound of laughter.

A sound this cold, silent villa had never known.

I stood at the top of the stairs, looking down.

Julian, the man who hadn't set foot in our kitchen in the five years we'd been married, was frying eggs.

The innocent-looking woman and the sweet little girl were playing happily on the sofa.

A bitter, mocking smile touched my lips, and my eyes began to sting.

For a sickening moment, I felt like I was the intruder.

The harmonious atmosphere shattered the moment I reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Elara," Julian said, carrying a plate, his expression perfectly normal.

"When are you sending them away?" I asked. It was the first time I had ever used such a tone with him.

He didn't answer. Instead, he placed Lily in her high chair, made sure she was settled, and only then did he look up at me. His eyes held that restrained, tightly controlled impatience I had come to despise.

"I told you. She needs to go to school here."

A flash of irritation went through me. "Don't tell me the great Julian Marriott can't handle a simple school enrollment! Are you trying to keep the child close, or the woman?"

"Elara!" he cut me off, his voice a low warning. "Watch your tone. Mona is Lily's mother. The child is too young to be separated from her."

At the sound of our raised voices, the little girl shrieked and flung a bowl of hot porridge directly at me.

"I hate you!" she wailed. "You're the bad lady who broke up Mommy and Daddy!"

A searing pain shot through my leg. I winced, my eyes flashing towards her.

"I'm so sorry, she didn't mean it. She just misses her father so much," Mona said, quickly stepping in front of the girl, blocking my view.

I struggled to breathe past the tightness in my chest.

It was only then that I saw it clearly. The three of them looked like a perfect family.

And I was standing on the opposite side, a ridiculous obstacle.

A wave of fury washed over me, and I lost my composure. I stared coldly at Mona. "Do you really think the Marriott family would want an heir who, at five years old, is still a rude, ill-mannered little brat—"

"Elara Vance!" Julian's voice was like ice, instantly extinguishing my anger. He faced me, his expression colder than I had ever seen it, devoid of any emotion.

"Lily is my daughter. As my wife, you will accept her presence. And today, you were unbecoming."

With that, he scooped up the tearful little girl and walked away.

Mona, naturally, picked up his briefcase. She glanced back at me, a flicker of triumph in her eyes.

The noisy villa fell silent once more.

A bitter taste filled my mouth. In Julian's eyes, I was the perfect Vance heiress, his elegant and composed wife. I wasn't allowed to have my own emotions. I was never, ever to lose my composure.

As the sound of the car engine faded, the strength seemed to drain from my spine, and I slumped forward.

Julian, you let me down after all.

Five years ago, during the global financial crisis, the Marriott and Vance families, the two titans of the city, had proposed a marriage alliance to fight off foreign capital. As the only Vance daughter, I chose the recently divorced Julian Marriott.

I knew he had an ex-wife and a daughter. But I thought, who doesn't have a past? Who doesn't have someone they remember fondly?

In our marriage, Julian was a near-perfect husband.

But now that a true exception to his perfectly controlled world had appeared, I realized I wasn't as calm as I thought I could be.

...

The next day was the Marriott family patriarch's birthday banquet. As Julian's wife, my attendance was required.

That evening, Julian arrived at the villa precisely on time.

In the car, an invisible wall stood between us. After a long silence, Julian seemed to relent. He sighed, raised the privacy divider, and moved to sit beside me.

"Elara," he said, breaking the silence. "The title of Mrs. Marriott will always be yours."

I felt the warmth of his hand covering mine and was momentarily dazed. I knew this was his way of making peace. The city lights flashed across his handsome face, and for a moment, his deep eyes reflected only me.

He held my hand all the way into the banquet hall, and I felt a flicker of hope.

But that hope was quickly extinguished.

"Julian," a voice called out. Mona, dressed in a stunning traditional gown, was greeting guests as if she were the lady of the house. She smoothly took the birthday gift from his hand before turning to me with a look of feigned, timid surprise. "Oh… Mrs. Marriott."

I frowned but kept my composure in the crowded room. My eyes, however, demanded an explanation from Julian.

"She is Lily's mother," he said, his gaze unwavering. "It's Grandfather's birthday, and he wanted to see his great-granddaughter."

The fragile hope that had just begun to bloom within me withered and died.

"She's standing here, in the Marriott family home, playing hostess. Where does that leave me?"

Julian finally seemed to register my words, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.

I pulled my hand from his, the warmth instantly replaced by a spreading chill.

A man like Julian Marriott, a perfect heir forged in the brutal wars of high society, couldn't possibly be blind to Mona's intentions.

He wasn't intervening.

He was allowing it.

Feeling the curious stares of the other guests, I forced the bitterness from my face and became the perfect marriage partner once more.

The lights and chatter swirled around me, my thoughts a tangled mess. Before I knew it, I had wandered out to the long veranda in the back garden to clear my head.

This was where Julian and I had first met.

Our story began in the deep autumn, we came together in the summer, and now, in the dead of winter, we were drifting apart.

"The great Elara Vance, being provoked to her face and still holding back?" a low, magnetic voice teased from behind me.

I turned. It was Caleb Blackwood, the current head of the Blackwood family.

"This isn't like you," he said, draping his jacket, which smelled of pine, over my shoulders, chasing away the cold. "Just say the word, and I can make her disappear."

I didn't find the offer strange in the slightest. In our world, if you weren't ruthless, you became a casualty of family politics.

"There's no need. She's not a real threat."

Caleb suddenly moved closer, his cool presence enveloping me. "Then why are you out here drinking your sorrows away?" He placed his hands on my shoulders. "When you chose your marriage alliance, I was too slow to deal with the obstacles in my own family. But now… can you consider me?"

Caleb had always been a charming rogue around me. Seeing him so serious now, I was struck by how much he had changed from the boy I once knew.

"I'm still married to Julian, you know."

He shrugged. "I'm willing to be the other man. I'd be honored."

I laughed and playfully punched his arm. I was about to reply when a strong arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me back.

Julian stood there, his face dark, glaring at Caleb. The temperature around the two alpha males seemed to drop several degrees.

"We're going home," Julian said, his voice clipped.

In the car, he raised the divider.

Then, to my astonishment, he leaned over me.

This was nothing like his usual tender kisses. This was a brutal, bruising claim that made me wince.

After a long moment, he pulled back, panting, his deep eyes swirling with an emotion I had never seen before.

"Elara," he rasped, "stay away from him."