Chapter 185

Chapter 185
ISABELLA

“With this crazy traffic?” Charlotte shot me a look, one hand gripping the steering wheel as she glanced at the clock on her car’s dashboard, as if that glowing digital display could somehow make the jam dissolve. “Let’s say thirty minutes, if we’re lucky. I just hope Mateo doesn’t leave the office early. He tends to vanish without warning. And I don’t think we can afford to miss him today, because who knows what Mr. Ferrari Senior is planning. Tomorrow might be too late. So, we need to get the ball rolling today…”
Hearing her say that made my heart skip, just a little—the way it does when dread signals beneath hope. I forced a smile, leaning back into my seat.
“Calm down,” I murmured, watching the blur of the cars passing on the other free lane through the window. “He’ll be there. I can feel it.”
Charlotte arched a brow, glancing at me briefly. “Since when did you become an optimist?”
“Wait, what?” I giggled. “I guess since I got engaged to Levi,” I said, unable to stop the soft smile that spread across my face as I looked down at my hand. The diamond caught the late afternoon light, throwing fractured reflections across the car ceiling. I couldn’t believe there was a time I’d thought of selling it—this beautiful, ridiculous, breathtaking thing.
I would sell anything else before I’d let go of this.
This was the symbol of us—of Levi and me.
Of love, hard-earned and harder-kept.
And even if it fell apart, I wanted something to remind me that once, we had tried and celebrated this love in front of everyone.
My chest tightened at that thought—the possibility of losing him slowly creeping in.
“I need to get a duplicate of this ring,” I said suddenly, holding my hand up as the diamond winked at me. “It’s not safe to wear it everywhere. It cost too much for me to be flaunting around like this.”
Charlotte laughed softly. “Trust me, it’s a good look for where we are going, but you are right on that. I was going to suggest it even, but I didn’t know how you’d take it.”
“Of course I’d take it well. You’re my friend.”
The word friend sat oddly on my tongue—warm, strange, kind of bittersweet. It had been so long since I’d said it to her or to anyone.
So long since I had a friend.
Her grip on the wheel loosened, and she smiled faintly. “I know. But we only just reconciled after years, and… it’s best we take things slow. Friendship’s just like relationships, you know. It takes time to heal after it’s been broken—even if you’ve forgiven and forgotten.”
“Well, it’s been a long time,” I said, smiling despite the little leftover ache in my chest. “But I think I’m fine now. Maybe we’ll need to spend more time together to get things back to normal, but don’t hesitate to tell me anything. I mean it.”
Charlotte didn’t reply. The traffic had started to move, and she focused on the road, her eyes fixed as she tried to get us completely out of it.
I leaned back again, feeling the vibration of the engine through my spine. For the first time in months, I didn’t feel completely lost. Just a woman in a car beside an old friend—driving toward whatever came next.
The road thinned out as we left the worst of the congestion behind. The city shifted—less noise, more light. A calm stretch of highway that almost felt like a sigh of relief.
Charlotte broke the silence. “Sometimes he works through the weekend,” she said, eyes on the road. “The man who’s supposed to help you—Mateo. He’s… relentless.”
“Oh?” I asked, pretending indifference but feeling my pulse quicken.
“Yeah. I don’t know what kind of man sustains that kind of work. I don’t think he’s on drugs, but he’s definitely not normal.” She laughed, though there wasn’t much humor in it. “The man barely blinks.”
I shrugged, though my fingers fidgeted in my lap. “Maybe he’s just focused. Obsessive, maybe.” My voice was softer now. “Someone who can handle all this.”
Charlotte shot me a quick glance. “You sound nervous.”
“Do I?” I smiled faintly. “Maybe I am. The way you describe him makes it sound like we’re meeting a ghost.”
She laughed again, but her laughter was short-lived.
Outside, the light turned gold—a late sun painting the city in amber. I watched the skyline rise and blur through the window, thinking about Mateo, about Levi, about all the things that could shift in the next few hours.
And then, almost unconsciously, I whispered, “I just hope we’re not too late.”
Charlotte didn’t answer. She only pressed her foot on the accelerator, and the car surged forward.
“So,” I said softly, turning toward her, “tell me what’s been up with you.”
Charlotte gave a small, sideways smile. Her eyes stayed on the road. “Nothing much, really. Just work.”
She let out a short laugh, the kind that tried to sound light but failed halfway. “After you left for Italy, I met someone online. At first, he seemed perfect—sweet, polite, attentive. He knew all the right words to make me feel… seen.”
The way she said seen made me tilt my head. There was a bitterness in it, and I could already tell it didn’t end well.
“Then,” she continued, her jaw tightening, “the moment I said yes to being with him—engaged to him, even—he switched. Overnight. The charming man disappeared, and what was left was a controlling, gold-digging piece of trash. He became cruel with his words, always demanding to know where I was, who I was with, what I was thinking. He wanted my account details, my passwords—everything.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. “Damn.”
“Yeah,” she said, giving a humorless shrug. “I did my digging. Turns out, he was bankrupt and was owing a shit loan of money to a casino. Using me to climb out of his fucking mess.”
“Fuck,” I whispered, the word slipping out before I could stop it.