Chapter 65 up
Selina did not plan to come.
That was the first lie she told herself.
She told herself it was coincidence. That she had simply been in the area. That the building—glass, steel, and quiet authority—had only happened to rise in front of her as she drove past.
But she had known the address long before she arrived.
She had memorized it days ago, after seeing it buried in one of Adrian’s shared schedules. Not highlighted. Not explained. Just there.
Vanesa Adrian Wibisana – 14:30
No context.
No justification.
Just presence.
Selina sat in her car across the street, engine idling, fingers tight around the steering wheel. She watched people enter and exit the building with purpose. None of them hesitated. None of them looked like they were about to dismantle their own dignity.
She could still leave.
That option existed. It had always existed.
But leaving would mean accepting the uncertainty.
And uncertainty had begun to feel like suffocation.
She stepped out of the car before she could change her mind.
The lobby was colder than she expected. Not physically. Emotionally. The air carried a kind of restraint that made every movement feel deliberate.
The receptionist looked up.
“Yes?”
Selina’s voice did not shake. She was grateful for that small mercy.
“I’m here to see Vanesa Wibisana.”
The receptionist paused, fingers hovering over the keyboard.
“Do you have an appointment?”
No.
Selina almost said it. Almost admitted the truth.
Instead, she said, “She’s expecting me.”
Another lie. Softer. More dangerous.
The receptionist studied her for a moment, as if measuring something invisible, then nodded.
“Please wait.”
Selina sat.
Every second stretched. Her heartbeat felt too loud in her chest, as if it might expose her before she even reached the door.
She wasn’t angry.
Not exactly.
Anger was clean. Anger was simple.
This was something else.
Fear, sharpened into resolve.
A few minutes later, a woman in a dark suit approached her.
“Ms. Wibisana will see you.”
Selina stood, legs steady despite the chaos inside her.
She followed the woman down a long hallway lined with glass walls. Inside each office, people worked with quiet intensity. No wasted motion. No visible doubt.
This was Vanesa’s world.
Controlled.
Precise.
Unapologetic.
The assistant stopped at the final door and opened it.
Selina stepped inside.
Vanesa stood near the window, back partially turned, sunlight outlining her silhouette in pale gold. She didn’t look surprised.
That unsettled Selina more than anything.
Vanesa turned slowly.
Her expression was calm. Not cold. Not warm.
Aware.
“Selina,” she said.
Not a question.
Recognition.
Selina hadn’t realized how much she hated that.
“You know who I am,” Selina said.
Vanesa’s gaze remained steady. “Yes.”
No apology.
No explanation.
Just fact.
The assistant closed the door behind her, leaving them alone.
The silence that followed was not empty. It was charged. Dense with everything Selina had imagined, feared, and resented.
Selina crossed her arms, more to hold herself together than to appear strong.
“You’ve been meeting with Adrian.”
Vanesa did not deny it.
“Yes.”
The simplicity of the answer felt like a provocation.
Selina’s jaw tightened.
“You didn’t think that was something I should know?”
Vanesa tilted her head slightly, studying her.
“I wasn’t aware I was required to report my professional meetings to you.”
Professional.
The word landed like an insult.
Selina stepped closer.
“Don’t do that.”
Vanesa’s expression didn’t change. “Do what?”
“Pretend this is just business.”
Vanesa was quiet for a moment.
Then she said, carefully, “It is business.”
Selina laughed softly, without humor.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I expect you to believe whatever you choose,” Vanesa replied.
There was no defensiveness in her voice. No attempt to persuade.
That composure made Selina feel suddenly, painfully exposed.
“You’ve been everywhere,” Selina said. “Every decision. Every conversation. He says your name like it’s inevitable.”
Vanesa didn’t interrupt.
Didn’t argue.
Just listened.
Selina hated that too.
“You don’t leave,” Selina continued. “No matter what happens, you’re still there.”
Vanesa’s eyes flickered, something unreadable passing through them.
“I don’t control where I’m needed.”
Selina’s hands curled into fists.
“That’s convenient.”
Vanesa took a slow breath.
“This isn’t about convenience.”
“No,” Selina said. “It’s about proximity.”
The word hung between them.
Vanesa didn’t move.
Selina searched her face for something—guilt, arrogance, superiority.
She found none of it.
Only certainty.
And somehow, that was worse.
“Do you still love him?” Selina asked.
The question escaped before she could stop it.
Vanesa’s expression did not fracture. But something shifted behind her eyes. Something quieter. More dangerous.
“That isn’t a question you came here to have answered,” Vanesa said.
Selina felt heat rise in her chest.
“Answer it anyway.”
Vanesa held her gaze.
“I don’t make decisions based on what I feel,” she said.
It wasn’t an answer.
It wasn’t a denial either.
Selina’s breath caught.
“That’s not what I asked.”
Vanesa was silent.
And in that silence, Selina understood something she hadn’t wanted to admit.
Vanesa wasn’t competing.
She wasn’t trying to win Adrian.
She was simply… present.
Unmoved.
Unapologetic.
Unavoidable.
Selina felt suddenly small in a way she hadn’t anticipated.
“I was there,” Selina said quietly. “When he needed someone. When everything was falling apart.”
Vanesa nodded once.
“I know.”
The acknowledgment felt like a blade.
“You know,” Selina repeated. “And you still came back.”
Vanesa’s voice remained calm.
“I never left.”
The words hit harder than any accusation.
Selina’s chest tightened.
“That’s not fair.”
Vanesa’s expression softened, but not with pity.
“Fairness has never been part of this.”
Selina looked away, just for a second.
That was all it took for doubt to seep in.
She had come here expecting hostility. Defense. Justification.
Not this.
Not someone who refused to frame herself as either villain or victim.
“Why?” Selina asked.
Vanesa didn’t pretend not to understand.
“Why are you still here?” Selina clarified. “Why don’t you let him go?”
Vanesa’s answer came without hesitation.
“Because he hasn’t asked me to.”
The truth of it hollowed Selina from the inside.
Adrian had never asked.
Not explicitly.
Not completely.
He had stayed.
With Selina.
And yet—
Selina met Vanesa’s gaze again.
“You think that means something.”
Vanesa’s expression remained steady.
“I think it means he makes his own choices.”
Not victory.
Not claim.
Just reality.
Selina felt her control slipping, emotion cracking through the careful structure she had built around herself.
“You’re destroying everything,” she said.
Vanesa’s eyes sharpened slightly.
“No,” she said quietly. “I’m existing.”
Selina shook her head.
“That’s not neutral.”
“No,” Vanesa agreed. “It isn’t.”
The admission stunned her.
Vanesa stepped closer, not threatening. Not apologetic.
Honest.
“You didn’t come here because of what I’ve done,” Vanesa said.
Selina’s throat tightened.
“You came here because you’re afraid of what he hasn’t.”
Selina froze.
The truth landed with devastating precision.
She wanted to deny it.
She couldn’t.
Vanesa’s voice softened, just slightly.
“I’m not your enemy.”
Selina laughed, but it sounded fragile.
“You don’t get to decide that.”
“No,” Vanesa said. “You do.”
The silence stretched again.
Selina realized, with a kind of distant clarity, that nothing she said here would change the fundamental reality.
Adrian’s choices.
Vanesa’s presence.
Her own fear.
None of it could be undone by confrontation.
She had come here expecting resolution.
There was none.
Only clarity.
And clarity hurt more.
Selina straightened.
“I won’t lose him,” she said.
Vanesa didn’t respond with challenge.
She simply said, “Then don’t.”
No threat.
No surrender.
Just permission.
Selina turned toward the door.
Her hand rested on the handle for a moment before she spoke again.
“If he chooses you,” she said quietly, “it won’t be because you fought for him.”
Vanesa’s voice followed her.
“No,” she said.
A pause.
“It will be because he chose himself.”