Chapter 128

Everything Nova thought she knew about her family, whatever version lodged in her head was now unravelling as a string of unsavoury lies and half-truths. Lies carefully planted and fostered into a firm, unshakeable tree that was now rotting from the inside out. Her stomach churned angrily, bile tickling her throat and promising to spew from her mouth if she were to think on her misconceptions any longer. Was she really that naïve? She scoffed at herself as the uber driver she hired pulled up at her destination.

The entire family really thought of her as nothing but a stupid, clueless child…didn’t they? Her head spinning, her eyes unfocused as she stumbled to the front door. The motor on the car vaguely clouding her auditory senses.

One thing was for certain, she was a fool. As idiotic as the day she thought she was able to fix a known abuser and submit enough to have him actually treat her with respect. She was a fool then and she was a fool now. What else was she to assume if everyone treated her as a child?

She’d left her mother’s house at the insinuation that Skylar had some attachment to Colin. To both of her brothers. How was she to seek answers or clarification from a mother she didn’t trust, so she headed back home, to Austin. Nova found him wandering about in the hallways, heading back towards his study no doubt.

“Is it true?” She called out to him, watching as he paused, taking his time in turning to face her. He raised a well-shaped brow at her and she could almost hear him saying, “I am not a mind reader,”

“Was Skylar and Colin a thing?” she waved her hands around, unable to worry about the manner in which she said the words. His eyes darkened at the mention of Skylar and Colin and Nova wondered if her mother had indeed told a lie. She prayed it to be nothing but the musings of a delusional woman and was even willing to face Austin’s wrath at the allegation.

“Where have you been?” He worked hard to pry the rows of his teeth apart as he spoke but it was useless, “Did Skylar tell you that?” The thought of her admitting his love affair with Colin causing his muscles to tense.

“No, our mother did. She is very proud of your fight with Skylar.” Nova mocked, flipping her hair over her shoulder and standing her ground.

“I bet she is.” Austin grinned savagely. It was no secret that Emma wanted his union with Skylar to be dissolved. The woman had never sought to hide her intentions but that didn’t alter the reality. Skylar and Colin were more connected than he had hoped to see and that truth was messing with his mind. Considering his mother’s emotions or anyone else’s for that matter was not his concern.

“Was she lying?” Nova prodded. Waiting to hear that her mother’s ranting was just that…an insignificant, untruthful rant. Austin glared at her blankly, his eyes blinking back a few times until he finally parted his lips to speak.

“The truth is Skylar and Colin procreated a child and I married Skylar to give that child a father and a stable home.” His tongue grew heavy in his mouth as he explained the situation in the broadest terms possible.

Nova felt as if someone punched her in the stomach…no, having been punched before this she characterised as worse. She looked up to Skylar and Austin. She idolised their relationship and now she was finding out it was all a polished lie.

“I think you need to revisit the meaning of stable.” Her voice cracked but she kept her features stoic.

“The child has been lost, there is no need for us to continue this charade.” He hid his hands away in his trouser pockets, the tips of his fingers growing cold and numb.

Lost? Was there a miscarriage? Imagine she found out she was about to be an aunt and in the same breath the blessing was yanked away. She couldn’t imagine what Skylar was feeling.

“Charade, what charade? Are you saying you never cared about her?” Nova switched her mind back to being angry. And she should be angry, angry that they all lied to her and had her running about like a fool but she felt more compassion than anger. They’d lost an unborn member of their family and instead of healing, everyone was fighting.

Austin considered this, his eyes refocusing to a nondescript spot above Nova’s head. “Skylar is in love with Colin and vice versa.”

“And yet she married you. There must be some feelings on both your ends to solicit such a decision,”

“What I feel or don’t feel is irrelevant. Skylar made her choice and I won’t dissuade her from it.”

Nova shook her head, “I won’t describe you as feeling anything,” she began, the hurt carefully masked in his eyes giving it all away. This had everything to do with love and jealously and nothing to do with some stupid arrangement. “Did both of you think marriage was supposed to be some stupid arrangement you can enter and exit as you please?”

“This really isn’t any of your business Nova,” he was becoming agitated but Nova didn’t care. She ignored his set down, realising that despite his annoyance, despite his aversion to the topic, he preferred to still talk about her and that spoke volumes to Nova.

“Skylar doesn’t do anything Skylar doesn’t want to. And she wouldn’t have just married you and stayed married to you because she was pregnant. But both of you are plain stupid when it comes to your feelings,” she said, having nothing more to say to him as she dashing upstairs to her room.

Was there any hope for two people who preferred to believe their own idiotic assumptions? So what if she lost the baby? Did all the time they spent together meant nothing to either of them?

***

Skylar’s mood had been improving as the day progressed. After six cups of coffee to tide her over from her restless night, she’d finally said one word to Paris. That in itself was an improvement considering that she strolled into work, passing everyone without so much as a greeting. If she was honest, her mental facilities were barely functioning to keep her awake much less to recognise anyone or even form polite sentences.

She usually hated when someone thought it perfectly fine to take out their stresses on the people around them, but Skylar couldn’t find the cheat code in herself to pretend. Hell, if someone asked her how she’d even gotten to work today she wouldn’t be able to answer. Last night to this morning was a blur. And she was thankful for that. Why would she wish to remember one of the most painful moments in her life? She cringed at the state of her emotions last night. Hoping that Austin would emerge and beg her to stay. To talk things through. But she was a fool to even wish it. How could you seek to fix something you never had?

Skylar shook her head, looking on her desk for any remaining work she would do, but alas she’d run through all of her tasks. Keeping busy all day had kept her mind

clear of Austin, clear of the email she drafted to her attorney to have the marriage dissolved…

Staring back at the email, her fingers quivered over the ‘send email’ prompt. Her hands sliding off and retreating at a knock on her door. She sniffed, clearing her throat and regaining her composure as Paris peeked in.

“Colin Meyers is here to see you.” She said but Skylar was too surprised to do anything but gesture with her hands that he is allowed.

Great. Having Colin visiting her at work was just what she needed to cleanse her mind of her husband or rather the soon to be ex-husband. *How perfect…* She wondered what his purpose was? Gloating perhaps?

Colin stepped carefully in, Paris shutting the door behind him. “I’ve been tormented enough by the Cyner/Meyers clan in last two days, so if you’re here to continue that I suggest you turn right around and leave.”

“And you think we have nothing in common.” He teased with a slight drawl, “I am not here to trouble you, but I heard that you and Austin have decided to split up.”

“News sure does travel fast,” she leaned back in her chair and laughed. The bastard was probably happy to be rid of her.

“Nova seemed upset about it and confronted our mother thinking she had something to do with it,” he said, hoping Skylar would elaborate but she just smiled.

Damn it! Skylar mentally smacked herself. In her fit of madness, she’d neglected to inform Nova of the situation and she promised she’d call the girl as soon as she could.

“Why are you here?” She asked him, talking about Austin was not something she wanted to do. It pained her and she’d promised herself that she’d shed no more tears.

“Because I care about you,” Colin had averted his eyes, rising them up to hold her gaze. "And I have come to claim you again."