Chapter 107

Chapter 61

Carlotta took a hesitant step forward, her gaze darting around the room before finally settling on Amber. Her cheeks flushed a deep red, whether from embarrassment or the weight of what she was about to say, Amber couldn’t tell. “About… about the things you said outside, a few moments ago, when you saw me with Luca…” Carlotta started, her voice wavering. “You disrespected him more than you disrespected me, you know.”

Amber stiffened, her arms crossing over her chest defensively. The accusation, though softly spoken, carried enough weight to sting. She stayed silent, watching as Carlotta fidgeted, her fingers twisting in front of her.

“Because…” Carlotta swallowed hard, her blush deepening. “Because as much as it embarrasses me to admit it, the truth is… he’s never cheated on you. Not with me, not with anyone.” Her voice faltered, and she looked down at her feet, unable to meet Amber’s eyes.

Amber blinked, caught off guard. She had expected many things from this conversation, but not this. “I never said he did,” Amber replied lightly, though there was a cautious edge to her voice. “I always knew he was faithful to me… at least for the brief nine months we were married.”

Her words were nonchalant, almost dismissive, but Carlotta wasn’t finished. “No!” she interrupted, her voice rising slightly, her tone insistent. “You don’t understand.”

Amber’s brow furrowed as she tilted her head, confusion written all over her face. Carlotta’s expression was earnest now, her gaze fixed firmly on Amber, as if willing her to understand.

And then it hit her.

Amber’s breath caught as realization dawned, her eyes widening in shock. “You’re saying…” she started, but the words trailed off. She couldn’t finish the thought, couldn’t quite wrap her mind around the implication.

Carlotta nodded, her voice quieter now but no less firm. “After your divorce,” she began, pausing to let the words settle, “he was never with me, either. Not in any way that you’re imagining.”

Amber felt her knees weaken as the weight of Carlotta’s confession bore down on her. Her mind reeled, racing back over the years, over all the assumptions she had made. She had always believed that, after their marriage ended, Luca had run straight back into Carlotta’s arms. It had been a bitter comfort, a narrative she had clung to in her darkest moments, justifying her pain with the belief that he had moved on, found solace in the woman he had left behind.

But now that belief was unraveling, leaving her exposed to a truth she hadn’t been prepared to face.

Carlotta took a deep breath, her voice softening as she continued. “I won’t deny that I hoped he would, at first. I thought… I thought that maybe, after you, he’d come back to me. That I’d get a second chance. But he didn’t. He couldn’t.” Her gaze faltered, and she looked away, her voice tinged with a sorrow Amber couldn’t ignore. “Because he was still in love with you.”

Amber’s heart slammed against her ribs, the air in the room suddenly feeling too thin. “Why are you telling me this?” she whispered, her voice barely audible. She didn’t know if she was asking Carlotta or herself.

“Because you deserve to know the truth,” Carlotta replied simply. “And because, for all the years I’ve resented you, I don’t think you ever truly understood how much that man has always loved you. Even when you didn’t believe it yourself.”

Carlotta’s voice cracked as she began, her hands clasped tightly in front of her like she was physically holding herself together. “The truth is…” she said, her tone filled with a bitter laugh that didn’t reach her eyes. “If I had been any other self-respecting woman, I would’ve left him the second time too. I should have.” She shook her head, letting out a laugh so hollow it made Amber wince. “But I’m a foolish idiot, aren’t I?”

Her lips curled into a wry smile as she looked away, as though ashamed of her own reflection. “I had once wanted him so much, too much, and when I couldn’t have him, he became that impossible dream, that treat always just out of reach. When he came back to me, I thought—no, I convinced myself—that this was my second chance, my moment to have what I had always wanted. That everything would go back to normal when we got married.”

Carlotta let out another laugh, this one sharp and self-deprecating. “But now? Now I doubt there was ever a ‘normal’ to return to.”

Her shoulders slumped, her confidence crumbling in front of Amber’s eyes. “Never mind that,” she said softly, waving a hand as though brushing away her own pain. “When Nico was born…” Her voice caught at the mention of the little boy, and she took a deep breath before continuing. “When Nico was born and I saw him again at a family gathering—not long after you gave birth, when you were still recovering—I asked him how he was. How he was doing. Just a simple question, really.”

Her voice trembled as she paused, her eyes distant, as if reliving the moment. “And he smiled. God, how he smiled. And do you know what he said? He said he’d never loved anything more in his life than his little boy. That the only thing that came close was his mamma.”

She blinked, and when her gaze met Amber’s, there were tears shimmering in her eyes. “Not long after that—weeks, maybe—you left him.”

Amber felt the heaviness in those words, though Carlotta’s tone carried no blame. Just a resigned sorrow, the weight of loss etched into every syllable. “And suddenly,” Carlotta continued, her voice softening, “with the encouragement of my family and his, I was back in his life.”

She gave a bitter smile, her tears now falling freely down her cheeks. “By the next month, we were ‘together.’ Officially. Attending parties, galas, smiling for the cameras. Kissing behind closed doors. Telling each other lies about a relationship that never really existed.”

Carlotta exhaled shakily, as though the weight of her words was exhausting her. “It was nothing more than pretense,” she said, her voice quiet but filled with conviction. “We fooled the world. Hell, we even fooled ourselves. He pretended he was over his wife and child. And I…” She paused, her lips trembling as she tried to hold herself together. “I, the forever fool, pretended that he loved me.”

Her voice broke, and tears streamed down her face, the years of buried pain finally spilling out. “He was so desperate to feel something, anything close to what he had with you, that he asked me to marry him. And I—” She let out a shaky laugh that dissolved into a sob. “I was so desperate to believe it was real that I said yes.”

Her hands trembled as she wiped at her tears, looking at Amber with a rawness that was impossible to ignore. “But it wasn’t real. None of it was real.” Her voice dropped to a whisper, filled with the kind of sadness that clung to the air, suffocating in its intensity. “And I think… deep down, I always knew that.”

“It was over the moment you came back,” Carlotta said softly, her voice tinged with a mix of resignation and bittersweet acceptance. She turned her gaze toward Amber, her expression unreadable but her eyes filled with a weary truth. “I knew how he looked when he was in love—how he looked at you before. I’d seen it before, back then, and suddenly, there it was again.”

Amber froze, her throat tightening. She wanted to deny it, to challenge the claim, but the words wouldn’t come.

Carlotta continued, her tone measured yet heavy with emotion. “He had eyes for no one but you whenever you were in the room. And when you weren’t? He buried himself in his work, almost like he was punishing himself for needing the distraction.” She paused, exhaling shakily. “It’s sad, though. Sad that you never noticed.”

Amber blinked, her lips parting slightly, but no sound came out. She remained silent as Carlotta stepped closer, her voice gaining an edge of urgency. “You never noticed the signs, Amber. Never noticed the wine or water glass in front of you being filled before you’d even taken your last sip. Never noticed the standard American breakfast on the table every morning, even though he only drinks coffee and eats fruit at that hour.”

Amber’s stomach clenched as Carlotta's words sliced through her. Her mind flashed back to those breakfasts—she had never once questioned them, too preoccupied with other matters to recognize the small, deliberate acts of thoughtfulness.

Carlotta shook her head, her voice softening. “And the tea. Earl Grey. Your favorite, right? You never noticed the boxes that started appearing in the kitchen, filling up the cupboards, even though he doesn’t drink it.”

Amber stood rooted to the floor, paralyzed by the weight of Carlotta’s revelations. Her limbs felt heavy, as if made of stone, her head shaking slightly, unable to process what she was hearing. No, she hadn’t noticed. Not a single one of those things.

“But I did.” Carlotta’s voice was sharper now, laced with the pain of a woman forced to watch the truth unfold in front of her eyes. “I noticed everything. From the moment you showed up on his doorstep, the place he bought for you to stay. And I...” She let out a bitter laugh. “I, the forever shameless hussy, stood there pretending to be happily engaged to a man who had never even touched me.”

Her breath hitched as she pressed her hands to her chest, as though trying to hold herself together. Amber couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak. She felt like every piece of her had been dismantled and laid bare.

“Your health concerns?” Carlotta said, her voice breaking slightly. “They were a shock to his system. An eye-opener. The idea that he could actually, permanently lose you... It was too much for him. He didn’t say it, but I saw it in his eyes. Every single day.”

Carlotta paused, her chest rising and falling as she gathered herself. Then, finally, she stepped back, her expression resolute but her eyes glistening with unshed tears. “Look,” she said, her voice gentler now, “I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I just... I needed to say it. Because it’s clear you don’t see what everyone else can.” She took a step closer, meeting Amber’s wide, shocked eyes. “He loves you. He’s always loved you. And whether or not you believe it, you need to see it. Be glad, Amber. Be happy with him.”

With that, Carlotta straightened her posture, her shoulders squaring as though she were reclaiming her dignity with each movement. For the first time since she arrived, her head was held high. Without another word, she turned and walked out of the kitchen, her footsteps purposeful. Amber listened as the sound of the apartment door opening and closing echoed through the space, leaving behind an unsettling silence.

Carlotta was gone. This time, there was no hesitation in her departure. No lingering glances, no second-guessing her decision to leave. Just the faint hum of the refrigerator and the suffocating stillness of the room.

Amber remained in the same spot, her hands clutching the counter for support. Her breath came unevenly, her mind racing with everything Carlotta had just said. For the first time in what felt like forever, she allowed herself to feel it all—the confusion, the heartbreak, the unbearable weight of truths she hadn’t been ready to face.

And somewhere beneath all that, the flicker of something else. Something terrifying and fragile. Hope.