Chapter 9 When in Rome, secrets unravel.
THIRD PERSON’S POV.
“But why a vacation,” Trisha’s skepticism seeped through the phone. “I have a bad feeling about this Serena”.
“I don’t know, I was suspicious at first, but Jonathan convinced me to go,” Serena put the phone on speaker as she continued to stuff clothes into her travel bag. “He’s going to come meet me there later in the week”.
“Hmm, it all feels very strange. Why did your father refuse the proposal at first, only to agree to it later?”. Trisha wasn’t backing down.
“ Well he hasn’t actually agreed, he said he would think about it.” Serena paused, “do you think it's cold in Italy this time of year, I don’t know if I need more cardigans”.
“Serena Marie Gregory, don’t tell me you are packing cardigans and vests to Italy?”
“Uhmm, what else am I supposed to pack?”. Serena said squeezing more sweaters into the bag.
“You are going to Italy in April, this is the time for chic dresses, silk skirts, you know, fashionable clothes,” Trisha couldn’t believe her ears, “please leave your Cashmere sweaters in your house Serena “.
“Well I’ll take my chances”. She checked her Cartier watch, the one her grandfather had given her for her seventeenth birthday. “If I don’t leave now I’ll be late for my flight. Bye baby, I’ll text you when I land.”
“Okay, have a safe flight love you. And try to enjoy Venice”.
Downstairs, Jonathan was already waiting for her, when he had offered to drop her off at the airport, Serena thought it was out of love, she had no idea he just wanted to make sure she got on the plane.
“Good morning baby, you look beautiful this morning”. He said forcing a smile.
That was a lie, she looked the same way she did every other day. A red cashmere vest, plain blue jeans paired with spotless white sneakers and her hair was packed in the same sleek bun, Jonathan thought she was hard to look at and the knowledge that he would have to marry her and see her like this everyday made his chest tighten.But now Horace had saved him from that fate, all he had to do was get her on that plane.
“C’mon, we don’t wanna miss your flight.”
At the airport Jonathan handled everything meticulously, from visa, to the boarding pass to charming the immigration officers. Serena, feeling a bit restless, wandered toward the airport's service bar to get some iced tea.
She immediately regretted that decision.
Lounged back in dark grey sweatpants, a fitted black shirt and dark shades hiding his eyes was none other than Damian Crowne, he was flipping casually through a sports magazine but his eyes caught hers immediately.
“Serena, what are you doing here?”. He said standing up.
“I’m…waiting for my flight “. She said, forcing herself to look away from the dark ink trailing over his muscular arm. She didn’t know he had tattoos. She wondered when he got those. She had also never seen him dressed so casually before. “Are you traveling too?”.
“No, my mom is flying in, I’m here to pick her up”. He frowned slightly, last he checked she didn’t have any trips planned in her calendar. He made a mental note to call the personal investigator keeping tabs on her. “Where are you headed?”
“Venice,” she murmured, hesitating for a moment, then added "Venice, Italy”.
“I know where Venice is," he said, his expression unreadable. Memories flickered, When Serena became Valedictorian in high school, her grandfather had taken her and Damian on a trip to Venice. It’s one of his favorite childhood memories. It was also where they had shared their first and last kiss.
Serena tried shifting the conversation “Wow, that’s true. You have a mother, sometimes I forget you didn’t just fall from the sky”.
He raised a brow in amusement, she was joking with him, for the first time in a long time she wasn’t being serious around him. He tried to hide the smile forming on his lips.
Before the conversation progressed any further, Jonathan came in to view, and Serena tensed immediately.
“Hey, here you are”. Jonathan said putting a possessive hand around her shoulders, marking territory, “ it’s time to board”.
Damian eyed the hand on her shoulder, good thing he was wearing glasses, jealousy was not a good look on him.
“Oh. Goodbye Damian “.
“Bye Serena, have a safe flight”.
As he watched them walk away, Damian’s fists clenched. Why was she going on this trip? He also wondered if they were going together, the thought of Serena and Jonathan together in Venice sparked a heat of anger in him,
Venice in April was breathtaking with mild sun, cool breeze and rivers that shimmered like glass. From her hotel window, she could see the city glowing in soft spring light. Serena had been here a week but not even the splendor of this beautiful city could cheer her up.
All she could think about throughout her flight was the time she and Damian spent in Venice all those years ago.
She had gone through high school focusing solely on her studies. Keeping her grades immaculate, which she did, she had even been her school’s valedictorian. But Trisha had convinced her that she couldn’t go to university without having kissed a boy first, “it’s just not Normal”, Trisha had said.
So one random night while she and Damian walked down the dimly lit streets of Venice , she asked him to kiss her. Damian looked at her like she had grown an extra head, frozen, caught between shock and disbelief. Panicked that he might laugh or say no, she quickly explained that it wasn't about feelings ,it was about curiosity, an attempt to check a box before university, and he was the only boy she talked to, she added.
He had wrapped his hands around her waist and tilted her head back slightly, their lips meeting in a shy, trembling kiss that sent a strange, warm flutter through her chest. It was one of the most significant memories from her childhood, buy they never spoke of it again. Life simply continued as if nothing had happened.
She caught herself smiling and immediately shook her head, as if shaking off the memories. Picking off her phone from the bed, she unlocked it. No messages from Jonathan, he was supposed to have arrived a couple of days back but she hasn’t heard from him since she called him a week ago to say she had landed safely.
She shrugged it off, forcing herself to believe he was simply busy.
Serena then decided to dress up and go out to a nice restaurant that night. She'd been locked up in that hotel room since she arrived in Venice, No human interaction, no real conversation, just her own voice echoing back at her. She was starting to feel like a ghost, drifting through a city meant for the living.
She pushed herself off the bed and went to dig through her suitcase for something decent to wear. But the sudden vibration of her phone stopped her in motion, she sat back fin the bed pulse quickening, she expected it was Jonathan. Finally she thought.
But the message was from an unknown number.
Instantly, her heart began to hammer against her ribs, she hesitated, then tapped the bubble. It opened to an instagram link.
Clara had convinced her to stay off social media for the duration of her trip, to clear her mind and enjoy the trip. And Serena honored that. Almost, something about this message clawed at her chest. A heaviness. A warning. It felt wrong.
She clicked it anyway.
At first, the page refused to load. The spinning wheel taunting her. The knot in her throat tightened, fear creeping up her spine.
Then finally, the screen brightened.
An image.
An article.
A headline.
Her vision faltered. Her breath caught halfway.
WEDDING OF THE YEAR:
MILLIONAIRE HEIRESS AND BIGSHOT STOCK BROCKER SET TO TIE THE KNOT. #Clathan
Her mind went blank. Completely blank.
Then, “No. No, this isn’t… this can’t be…”
Her eyes darted over the words again, as if a second reading would change them.
It didn’t.
Below the headline was the photo
Clara and Jonathan.
Smiling. Holding each other. Looking like two people announcing the happiest news of their lives
Tears blurred her vision, hot and immediate.
But even through the hurt, her mind scrambled for escape.
Maybe it’s fake. Maybe it’s edited. Maybe this is some stupid joke.
Maybe Clara had posted something for a campaign. Maybe Jonathan was just standing beside her. Maybe… maybe…
Her heart clung desperately to any explanation that wasn’t the truth. But the longer she stared, the more the denial crumbled. The smiles in the photo weren’t posed. Their bodies weren’t stiff or staged.
They looked… in love.Comfortable.Familiar.
In that small, beautiful hotel room in Venice, while the city glittered outside, Serena Gregory felt her world crack down in the middle. Her legs trembled, her chest ached and the room around her spun, she wanted to scream, she tried pinching herself to wake up from this nightmare. But all she could do was stare at the screen frozen, as a single thought hammered in her mind:
What the hell is going on?!