Tucker’s Wrath
The door slammed behind him with enough force to rattle the chandelier.
Tucker’s steps were heavy, sharp against the marble floor. The servants scattered like dust, instinctively vanishing into shadowed corridors. He shrugged off his jacket and hurled it over the back of the chair, breathing hard.
Scarlet’s laughter still echoed in his ears.
That red dress. The curve of her smile. The way she leaned into Michael like the space between them belonged to a lover, not a stranger. It was all thereflashed across a hundred camera lenses, burned into his skull.
He poured a drink. Didn’t sip itthrew it back, throat raw.
The doors behind him creaked open.
He didn’t turn. “You have five seconds to leave before I start throwing things.”
Scarlet’s voice, low. “I didn’t know they’d be there. I didn’t know what Gabrielle planned.”
“You always don’t know.” He spun, eyes sharp. “You didn’t know five years ago. You didn’t know yesterday. Do you know anything, Scarlet, or are you just that good at playing dumb?”
Her jaw clenched. “It wasn’t what it looked like.”
“No?” He stepped forward. “Because it looked like my wife draped herself over another man for half of Phoenix to see.”
“You think I wanted that? You think I planned that circus?”
He laughed, bitter and hollow. “I think you walked into it willingly.”
“I thought it was a charity event. Gabrielle told me”
“Gabrielle told you?” He barked a laugh. “Christ, you’re smarter than this. Since when do you trust Gabrielle with anything?”
Scarlet crossed her arms. “Since your family keeps stabbing me from every angle and you don’t lift a damn finger to stop it.”
“I’ve been defending you since the day you walked back into this house.”
“No,” she snapped. “You’ve been testing me. Every look, every word, waiting for me to fail so you could say, ‘I knew it.’”
His eyes flared. “And look. You finally gave me proof.”
Scarlet closed the distance. “That’s not proof. That’s manipulation. Wyatt’s behind this. Gabrielle’s his pawn. Open your eyes.”
“You burned the only thing that proved you ever told the truth,” he said. “The letter. Remember that? You tossed it into the fire like it was meaningless.”
“It wasn’t meaningless. I did it because I didn’t want to be used anymore.”
“You should’ve let me decide what it meant,” he growled.
“You never would’ve forgiven me if it had stayed.”
“I never forgave you anyway.”
There it was. Cold. Final.
Scarlet’s throat tightened, but she didn’t blink. “Then why did you let me stay?”
Tucker didn’t answer.
She stepped closer. “Why did you pull me into your bed? Into your life? If you hated me so much, why didn’t you send me away the first night?”
He said nothing.
“Because you wanted me to suffer,” she whispered.
His voice dropped. “You hurt me.”
“I loved you.”
“You left me.”
“Because your father threatened to destroy you,” she cried. “Don’t you get it? I gave you up so you could live.”
“And now you’re living in my house, wearing my name, kissing other men on camera like it was nothing?”
“I wasn’t kissing him. I was talking.”
“You were touching him.”
Scarlet’s shoulders heaved. “You think I’d cheat on you in public? At an event sponsored by your family? What kind of idiot would do that?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “What kind of idiot trusts you twice?”
Silence.
Long. Brittle.
She whispered, “I came back for you.”
“No.” He shook his head. “You came back for a deal. You came back because you were desperate, and I happened to be the rich fool stupid enough to take advantage.”
Scarlet’s lips trembled. “You don’t mean that.”
“I mean every word,” he said. “This marriage was a business arrangement. That’s all it ever was.”
Her hands dropped to her sides. “You’re lying.”
“Am I?”
“You’re trying to hurt me.”
He stepped forward. “Is it working?”
She stared at him like she didn’t recognize him. Like the boy she once loved had been hollowed out and filled with ice. “You’re not this cruel.”
“You don’t know who I am anymore.”
“I do. That’s the problem. I see him. Under all the pain. All the anger. He’s still there.”
He sneered. “Then he’s weak. Because I don’t feel anything for you anymore, Scarlet.”
“Then why are you shaking?”
He froze.
She stepped closer. “Why can’t you look me in the eye when you say it?”
“I don’t love you.”
“You still do.”
He turned away. “Get out.”
“Tucker”
He whipped back. “I said get out.”
She flinched, breath caught. “You don’t mean that.”
“I’m done. With the lies. With the games. With you.”
Scarlet’s chest caved in. “Where would I even go?”
“I don’t care.”
Her eyes burned. “You’re just going to throw me away again?”
He didn’t speak.
She stepped back. “After everything I’ve done for you?”
“You did it for yourself,” he snapped.
“I gave up everything for you.”
“You left.”
She exploded. “Because he threatened your life, Tucker! Because he told me he’d ruin you if I didn’t disappear. I was twenty-three. Alone. I thought I was protecting you.”
“Stop making yourself the victim.”
“I’m not,” she said. “But I am the only one here telling the truth.”
He moved past her, heading for the door.
She called after him. “You think throwing me out will fix what’s broken inside you?”
He stopped.
“It won’t,” she said. “It’ll just make you lonelier.”
Tucker turned his head slightly. “At least I’ll be alone on my own terms.”
Scarlet’s voice broke. “You don’t mean that.”
“Pack your things. Be gone by morning.”
She didn’t move.
He opened the door. “Don’t make me call security.”
She laughed, bitter. “Of course. Can’t have the staff see your heart break.”
His fingers tightened on the handle.
She walked past him slowly, deliberately. “You may have built an empire, Tucker, but you’re still just a scared boy hiding behind walls.”
He didn’t respond.
She stopped in the hallway. “And when you realize what you’ve done… I hope it haunts you.”
Then she walked away.
And Tucker let her go.
Because it was easier than admitting he was already ruined.