Chapter 170
Violet's POV
In the parking garage below, I stared up at the building where Alex lived his secret life away from me. The lights in his penthouse had been on for an hour, then dimmed, but by midnight I still hadn't seen Grace come down. My fingernails were bitten down to the quick, and I could taste blood where I'd worried my lip raw.
She's still up there.
The thought burned through me like acid. Grace had once again effortlessly walked into his life and stolen everything that should have been mine.
Lucas emerged from the building's service entrance, carrying several bags from high-end stores. Even from this distance, I could see the macarons inside. Alex's favorite dessert had always been dark chocolate, something bitter to match his moods. He'd never touched anything sweet or delicate.
As Lucas approached his car, I rolled down my window. "Bringing gifts to the happy couple?"
He startled, then composed himself with calm. "Miss Cooper. I didn't expect to see you here."
"Don't you know your boss never eats late-night snacks?" I stepped out of my car, my heels clicking against the concrete. "And he certainly doesn't touch French pastries. Too sweet, too... soft."
Lucas's expression remained neutral, but I caught the slight tightening around his eyes. "Grace has injured her hand. Alex is concerned about her comfort. And Grace enjoys sweet things, so Alex has been... expanding his preferences."
Expanding his preferences. The words hit me like a slap.
"How touching," I managed, my voice steady despite the rage building in my chest. "And when exactly did this transformation occur? When did the man who once told me he found sweetness 'revolting' suddenly develop a taste for macarons?"
"The moment Grace appeared in his life," Lucas said quietly, something almost gentle in his tone. "When your heart belongs to someone, you don't need to see them to want to take care of them."
I felt something crack inside my chest. "And what about when I was in the hospital? When I needed him?"
"That was different, and you know it."
Different. Because I'd never been enough. Because even after knowing each other for so long, I'd never inspired the kind of devotion he showed a woman he'd known for only months.
Lucas gathered his packages and headed for the elevator. I watched him disappear, then looked back up at the darkened penthouse windows.
Why wasn't I enough?
---
Lucas's POV
I set the bags quietly outside Alex's door and sent a brief text: Supplies delivered.
As I headed back to the elevator, I found myself hoping Grace would help Alex find his way out of the darkness that had consumed him for so long. The man deserved happiness—real happiness, not the complicated mess of guilt and obligation that had defined his relationship with Violet.
Maybe now he can finally heal.
When I reached the parking garage, I was surprised to find Violet's car still there. She was slumped in the back seat, one hand pressed to her stomach.
"Miss Cooper?" I approached cautiously. "Are you alright?"
She looked up at me with glassy eyes. "I think... I think I need to go back to my hotel. My stomach—it's killing me."
I frowned. She looked genuinely ill, her face pale and drawn. "Should I call an ambulance?"
"No!" The sharpness in her voice surprised us both. "No hospitals. It's just... it's an old problem. I just need to get back to my room."
Against my better judgment, I found myself helping her into my car. She gave me the address of a five-star hotel near the airport.
"I came back from Aetheria without telling anyone," she explained weakly as I drove. "My family doesn't know I'm here. Neither do the media."
---
At the hotel
The hotel was elegant and discreet, exactly the kind of place where wealthy people went to hide. I helped Violet to her suite, noting how she leaned heavily on my arm.
"Thank you. You can just get my medicine from my bag and then leave," she whispered as I helped her to the couch.
I took her bag and found the stomach medication inside, handing it to Violet.
I stood there and didn't leave.
"Why aren't you leaving?"
"I need to watch you take the medicine," I said.
She stared at me in shock. "What?"
"I need to make sure you take the medicine," I said, pulling out my phone and starting to record.
"What are you doing?" Her illness seemed to evaporate in the face of her indignation.
"This is to make sure you don't use this situation to manipulate Alex," I said calmly. "I've seen how you operate, Miss Cooper. I won't let you turn a moment of genuine distress into another weapon against him."
Her face crumpled, and for a moment, she looked genuinely broken. "You think I'm faking it?"
"I think you're in pain," I said gently. "But I also think you're capable of using that pain to hurt others. So please, take your medication, and then I'll leave you in peace."
She fumbled for the pill bottle, her hands shaking. After she'd swallowed them, she looked up at me with tears in her eyes.
"I can't sleep alone tonight. I know how pathetic that sounds, but I'm flying back to Aetheria in the morning, and I just... could you stay? In the living room? I'll pay you—five thousand dollars to stay until my flight."
I studied her face, seeing the genuine desperation there. "I don't need the money, but I can stay until you board your plane."
She nodded gratefully, curling up on the couch like a wounded animal.
At least this way, I can make sure she actually leaves.