The town car was a vault of quiet.
Vance didn’t speak.
He stared out the window.
I wanted to asked Vance what was he had hiding from me, what was it on his phone that made him looked trouble.
He had told me we needed to be honest in private if we wanted to keep our partnership.
He had been honest, but not this time.
I wanted to demand the answer.
But looking at his expression, I didn’t know if I have a right to ask.
“She saw it,” I said finally.
“Even though it wasn’t there.”
”The mind sees what it fears most,” he said, his voice flat.
“The suggestion was enough.”
”It felt… cruel.”
He turned his head slowly to look at me.
“Was what they did in your bed not cruel?”
I had no answer.
He faced the window again.
“The car will take you home. I’ll be in touch tomorrow regarding the Harrington follow-up.”
He was dismissing me.
The partner was gone; the CEO was back.
And he wanted me to leave.
When the car stopped at my building, he didn’t get out.
He didn’t even say goodbye.
The warmth from the party vanished as though it had never existed.
Once again, he was only my CEO.
Zane was waiting in the dark living room.
“You came home,” he said, his voice rough.
“Where else would I go?”
”His place.” It wasn’t an accusation anymore.
It was a fear.
I walked to the kitchen and took a glass of water.
He followed behind closely.
“Look at me. Please.”
I turned and leaned against the counter.
I looked at him.
The man I’d married was gone.
In his place was someone hollowed out.
I had done this to him.
“What do you want me to say, Zane?”
”Tell me it’s not real.
Tell me it’s just a job.
Tell me you hate me.
Just don’t tell me you’re with him.”
The raw pain in his voice shattered my control.
It broke the composure I tried so hard to maintain.
“It started because of you!” The words tore out of me.
“I had to make you see!”
”I see it!” He stepped closer, desperate.
“I took you for granted.
For years.
I never believe you could ever leave.
And now you’re leaving, and you’re going with him.”
”It’s not about him,” I said, but the protest was weak.
“He looks at you like you’re his whole world,” Zane whispered.
“And you look at him like he’s the only one who’s ever listened. Who’s ever understood. Where does that leave me?”
The tears in my eyes burned, but my voice went cold and clear.
I needed to know.
After everything, I deserved to know.
“What do you love about me, Zane?”
He blinked, thrown.
“What?”
”I know you love me, in your way.
What do you love about me?
Tell me.
Right now.”
He stared, struggling.
“You’re… you’re incredible. You’re strong. You’re smart. You keep me grounded. This life—it wouldn’t work without you.”
Strong.
Smart.
Grounded.
For a pillar.
Not for the love of your life.
Not for the person who takes your breath away.
Never beautiful.
Never funny.
Never brave.
Never the woman who made his heart race.
A quiet laugh escaped me.
“So…”
I nodded slowly.
“You love me because I’m useful.
Because I make your life work.”
”That’s not what I meant—”
”It’s exactly what you meant.” The last illusion dissolved, leaving nothing but a clean, painful truth.
“You love what I do for you. ”
His face fell.
“Nerissa—”
”But you don’t know who I am.”
For years…
I had mistaken being needed for being loved.
Maybe that was my mistake.
Maybe that was his.
I didn’t know anymore.
But for the first time…
Someone had looked at me before wondering how I could be useful to them.
That thought frightened me more than anything else.
“You are wrong, I love you Nerissa. Truly you…” he tried to defend himself.
I shook my head, and pressed my lip together.
“Then why did you always run to her first?”
He paused.
“Wasn’t her, the first person you thought about when you were happy and get promoted? When you were confused and angry? You always chose her over me.”
I held his gaze.
“So tell me honestly, Zane… Which one of us was your wife?”