Chapter 100

Isabella

I stepped out of the car, exhaling slowly, as if that could calm the storm in my chest. My heels clicked against the pavement as I crossed toward her. Charlotte.
She stood beneath the jacaranda tree, clutching her bag to her front like it could shield her from me. She looked almost the same. Taller in memory, maybe. But the brown gown clung to her in a graceful way that made her look like a woman who had finally settled into herself.
Except for the ring. That ring was new.
“I didn’t know you got married,” I said, arms folded across my chest. My voice came out too sharp, even for me.
Charlotte flinched. Just a little. “I… yeah. It was very quiet.”
“To the point where your former best friend wouldn’t even know?”
She smiled. Soft. Hesitant. Guilty. “We had a statutory ceremony. Just two witnesses. No party. No cake. No fuss. Luke and I wanted it that way.”
Luke. A new name.
She always had names I didn’t know. That was the thing about Charlotte. She collected men the way some people collected books. A shelf of lovers and Doms, all neatly tucked away. But this time, someone had apparently made it all the way to husband.
I wondered if he was a Master. Or if she had given away that life like I had. There were so many things to catch up on. So many things I didn’t know about her. So many she didn’t know about me. But I...
“You didn’t even tell me,” I said, unable to stop myself even if I knew I was being silly. How would she tell me? We were no longer friends. “I know we weren’t talking, but still.”
“I didn’t think you’d want to hear from me after everything,” she murmured. Her voice was light, but her eyes searched mine, flickering with a fear I didn’t want to comfort.
“Maybe I didn’t,” I admitted. “But that doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt.”
The silence between us was heavy. I noticed the way the sun caught her wedding band. It shimmered, almost mockingly. Almost as if to say everyone was happy. Everyone had found love. Except me.
My chest tightened at the thought that the one man I loved had even forgotten about me.
“How are you?” she asked.
If she had asked me that two weeks ago, I might’ve sobbed right there in front of her. But not today. My dream car was parked just behind me, and Levi was talking about marriage now. To me. Arranged or not.
The thought stirred something stubborn in my chest.
Hope.
Yes, I had planned not to indulge that feeling. Planned to let go of him as soon as the contract ended. But who’s to say I must? Maybe my best revenge would be staying married to him. Not losing. Not bowing out.
“I’m fine,” I said, lifting my chin.
Charlotte looked like she didn’t believe me, but she nodded. “I just moved here from Italy. I came to see you.”
“How did you find out where I lived?”
“I have my ways.”
I nodded, not daring to ask.
“You could’ve called.”
She tilted her head. “Would you have picked up?”
I didn’t answer. Instead, I glanced at the time. “I was about to leave when you showed up.”
“I’ll keep visiting,” she said softly. “Until you want to talk to me.”
I exhaled and turned toward the stairs, saying nothing. If I opened that door, I’d bleed again. And I was done bleeding for people who let me go like I meant nothing. Just because I was framed for a crime that anyone who knew an iota about me would know I never did.
But Elena was good. Oh, Elena was really good. Even I started to believe I had done it. That I had killed him.
I swallowed, unwilling to remember.
When I walked into the apartment, I saw that Caroline had company. That in itself was shocking.
Two girls sat on the floor of the living room, giggling as they braided each other’s hair. They looked up as I entered, quieting slightly. Caroline stood in the kitchen, refilling their glasses with lemonade like a perfect little hostess.
She wasn’t the easiest person to befriend. She had always preferred silence. Solitude. The meticulous fold of paper crafts over the chaos of socializing. Even as the best student in her class, valedictorian-in-waiting, I had noticed she turned down every party invitation.
Her classmates were eager to bask in her brilliance, but she shut them all out.
Matt used to worry. Thought she was growing into someone cold. Closed off. He tried dragging her to a few parties, but it never worked. Caroline didn’t like noise. Didn’t like strangers. Hated blaring music. Hated people touching her waist when she danced.
I remember the night she left Matt stranded at a party and came home alone. It was nearly midnight, and I nearly had a stroke seeing her at the door. Barely seventeen. On the streets of New York by herself.
Matt had gone ballistic when I told him. Said he didn’t even notice she’d left. Too busy with his friends. Too caught up.
Caroline had looked for him for an hour before walking out on her own. She told us the lights gave her a headache. The music made her dizzy. She couldn’t even hear herself think.
But Caroline was an open book. That’s how I always knew what she needed before she said it. She didn’t pretend. She didn’t perform. And she was safer in her quiet than most of us ever were in noise.
Today, seeing her with two friends was something like spotting a rare eclipse. And I liked it. I found that I loved having a sibling. I loved them.
I headed into the room and came out with my bag after changing into simple pants and a top.
“I’m heading out now, ladies,” I said, smoothing my shirt. “Don’t burn down the house.”
Caroline gave me a look. The kind only sisters could pull off. “They’re just staying till five.”
I nodded. “Don’t let them talk you into any TikTok dances.”
That earned me a groan from one of the girls. “She’s too stiff for that.”
I smirked, tossed Caroline a wink, and walked out.