Chapter 108 SIGHT SEE.
\~~~LUCIANO.
I got back home that evening, the kind of evening where the sun had already dipped below the horizon and the shadows in the house felt longer than usual. The streets had been quiet on the drive back, almost mocking me with their normalcy. Everything looked the same, smelled the same, yet it felt… off.
When I opened the front door, the silence hit me first. It was too quiet and too empty. My footsteps echoed unnaturally across the marble floor as I made my way to the bedroom. And then I saw it.
The file.
It was lying on the bed, neatly placed. My eyes dropped to the corner of the bed, and there it was too, the ring. My ring, removed. She had left it behind like it was nothing.
I didn’t move at first, just stared at it. A strange cold feeling crept into my chest.
It wasn’t anger, nor was it fury. It was… something else. Something heavier.
I picked up my phone and dialed a number, “Get up here,” I said, my voice calm.
He appeared in my room almost immediately, “Yes, Boss?”
“Did you drive Raina somewhere today?” I asked him.
“Yes, Sir. I dropped her off at her parents’ house as instructed,” Gabriel said carefully.
I didn’t respond as my eyes stayed on the file and the ring.
“Do you want me to go bring her back?” he asked hesitantly, reading the tension in my silence.
“And why would you do that?” I hissed, not even looking at him.
He didn’t answer. He just shook his head slowly, as if he understood without needing to say anything. Then he turned and left the room.
I remained standing there for a moment, letting the silence swallow me whole.
The room felt bigger than ever. It felt cold and empty too. This had been my room first, then the room we shared. The room I had considered ours. And now it felt like I didn’t belong here at all.
I went into the bathroom. Her toiletries were gone and every little thing she had left behind was gone. She hadn’t even bothered to leave a trace.
I didn’t panic, I didn’t scream and I didn’t even raise my voice.
I just… stayed calm and collected like always.
And yet, my chest ached and my hands trembled slightly as I returned to the bed and sat down. My eyes landed on the file again.
She had signed it.
I opened it slowly, as if touching it might burn me. Her part was done. She hadn’t stated what she wanted for alimony. She had simply signed and left. Just like that.
Why did it hurt so much?
She wasn’t the first woman I had ever dealt with. She wasn’t the first I could walk away from, or replace. Of course, I could find another.
There were hundreds of women out there I could call mine, dominate, control, take, and make whatever I wanted. And yet… my chest ached like someone had ripped it apart with bare hands.
Why did her signature make me feel like I’d lost something I’d never truly had?
I let the paper slip from my hands. It fell quietly onto the bed.
I needed air. I needed to move. I couldn’t sit here and let the room, the house, and the silence suffocate me.
I left the bedroom and passed through the hallways that still smelled faintly of her perfume and passed the dining area, where she used to sit across from me with that indifferent, and teasing smile.
I walked out the front door. The cool evening air hit my face. My lungs felt like they might finally take a deep breath again.
Halfway to the car, Viktor intercepted me.
“There is a word going around, Boss,” he said. “Mr. Volkov has been…”
I cut him off in my head. What an apathetic idiot I was.
Mr. Volkov was Irina's father but right now, I couldn't care.
“Are you okay, Boss?” he finally asked. His voice sounded softer than usual, and for some reason, that irritated me. I wasn’t weak. I didn’t need his concern.
“Let’s go somewhere,” I said abruptly walking to the car.
Viktor slid into the driver’s seat without hesitation, but he kept his eyes on me. “Where?” he asked.
“A bar,” I said simply.
He turned sharply, tilting his head. "What did you say?"
"You heard me."
"And why a bar? You have a whole bar at home. Filled with every kind of alcohol. So..."
"Would you rather I drive myself?" I snapped, my voice sharper than intended.
He didn’t answer immediately. Just shifted in his seat. Then, after a long pause, he said, “Ms. Raina signed the papers.”
I snapped my brows together. "And what does that have to do with going to a bar?"
He said nothing, just adjusted in his seat and drove on. "I understand. Don't worry. I will get you there soon."
“What is it that you understand?” I demanded, irritation mixing with the strange ache in my chest.
“Nothing, Boss,” he said finally. “Don’t worry. I will get you there safely.”
I narrowed my eyes on him. “Viktor, I am not heartbroken!” I snapped, waving my hand to emphasize it.
“Right, Boss,” he said, calm as ever. “You just wish to… sightsee.”
I glared at him, but for once, I didn’t say anything.
“Stop the car. Get out. And never show your face to me again,” I ordered, my tone absolute.
Viktor merely nodded. “After we get you to the bar, Boss.”
Psychopathic idiot.
“Idiot.”
“Do you want a silent bar, or one raving with wild music, boss?”
“If you say one more word, I’d put a bullet through your skull,” I hissed, and then looked out of the window.
“The one with wild music, though,” I said softly, almost inaudible, but trust Viktor to catch it.
“Here we go, boss,” he said, and I could feel the grin in his voice.
God, I don’t like this boy.