Chapter 13 013
Alejandro's POV
I eased off the gas, slowing the car to a crawl as we pulled up to the jewelry store.
Just glancing at the familiar storefront sent a rush of hot blood pounding through my chest, flashbacks crashing in like unwanted guests.
This was the place, the exact same one where we'd planned to pick out our rings all those years ago.
Her excitement back then, the way her hazel eyes lit up at every sparkle... it twisted something deep inside me now, turning nostalgia into a bitter knot.
My jaw clenched involuntarily, fingers tightening around the steering wheel until my knuckles whitened.
I turned to her slowly, but Rhea sat immobile, staring straight ahead like a statue carved from metal.
No reaction, no glance my way. Just a rigid silence she'd wrapped herself in since we left the station.
"Get out, Rhea," I said. My voice was calm, but it was the kind of calm that preceded a landslide.
She didn't blink. She didn't even acknowledge I'd spoken. The silence between us was loaded with emotions, and it irked me to the point of a slow-boiling fury.
With a sigh, I killed the engine and got out, the cool evening air doing nothing to temper the heat building under my skin.
I rounded the hood, yanked open her door, and waited. She didn't move.
"I don't want to go in there with you," she said, her voice quiet but steady.
I let out a sharp hiss of breath and closed my eyes for a second, fighting the urge to roar.
"Rhea, I'm going to say this exactly one more time. If you don't follow my instructions, you are going to find out very quickly just how unpleasant I can make your life."
Still, she sat there. Defiant.
Frustration snapped my restraint. I grabbed her wrist—feeling how small and fragile she was—and tugged her out of the seat.
She struggled, her feet scuffing against the pavement, but I was easily stronger. I backed her up against the frame of the car, pinning her there.
I was careful not to actually bruise her, though a dark part of me wanted her to feel a fraction of the pain I was carrying. I was held back by a thin, fraying thread of the man I used to be.
"Let go of me," she hissed, her eyes swimming with tears that she refused to let fall. "You're hurting me."
"I'm pretty sure you read the contract," I said, giving her wrist a firm shake to emphasize the point. "Section four: you do not disrespect me, and you do not disobey me. You signed your life over to me for the next 235 days. Act like it."
A bitter, broken laugh escaped her lips. She shook her head, looking at me with soul-deep exhaustion.
"What am I to you, Alejandro? An animal? A robot you can just program to follow your lead?"
She wrenched her arm away from my grip.
I didn't chase it. I just stood there, watching her, a chaotic storm of memories hitting me all at once.
I wanted to find the Rhea I used to know. The girl I used to tickle until she begged for air. The one I'd leave my penthouse for, just to crash on her tiny dorm couch and wake up tangled together.
The Rhea, who'd spent an entire day baking batch after batch of cookies and brownies, flour dusting her nose, all because she knew they were my weakness.
The girl who'd been my shadow, my confidante, my everything.
Hell, we'd even joked about eloping to some quaint village countryside, marrying in a simple ceremony with the locals as witnesses—'just for the plot,' she'd say with that infectious giggle.
I'd pictured it all: her in a flowing dress, wildflowers in her hair, that innocent smile lighting up the world.
But those images blurred now, tainted by the photos Elena had shown me; the evidence of Rhea's betrayal, glaring and undeniable.
I'd dropped to my knees that night, begging Elena to say it was a lie, but she wouldn't. She couldn't.
The proof was there, shattering the beautiful illusion we'd built.
I looked away from her, unable to stomach the sight of her face for another second, and stormed into the shop.
Inside, the air was cool and hushed, scented with polished metal and faint perfume from the displays.
Rows of glass cases gleamed under soft spotlights, showcasing diamonds, emeralds, and sapphires that winked like captured stars.
Mr. Chen, the kind-eyed Chinese jeweler who'd been running this place for decades, looked up from behind the counter.
His face split into a toothy smile, wrinkles deepening around his eyes in genuine surprise.
"Alejandro!" he exclaimed, setting down a loupe with a clink. "It's been... what, three years? I never expected to see you back here."
I didn't really look at the jewel inside—all those pearls and heavy gold bands were just a blur.
Mr. Chen and I went way back; he'd been the one to help me design the ring I was going to use for the proposal.
He'd spent months sourcing the stones and obsessing over the details. But when everything went up in flames, I never went back for it. I just left it there to collect dust, a reminder of a life I didn't get to have.
He wiped his hands on a cloth, still grinning at me like no time had passed.
"Finally, you're back! I've kept that ring in the safe for three years now. People offered to buy it, but I wouldn't let it go. It always felt like it belonged to you and that girl."
I blinked, caught off guard, but I kept my face flat so he wouldn't see it.
He kept it? All this time?
"You still have it?" I asked.
Mr. Chen let out a warm, rumbling laugh.
"Of course. You paid for it in full, but it was more than that—I could see your heart was in the work. Stay here, let me go get it."
He disappeared into a back room, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
What was the point of digging up that ring now? Whatever meaning it once had was ashes, a symbol for a love that turned out to be a lie.
I drummed my fingers against the glass, staring at nothing.
Then the air in the shop shifted. I didn't even have to look to know she had stepped in.
I looked over my shoulder to find Rhea hovering by the door, her arms crossed tight like a shield.
A young sales assistant drifted toward her with a practiced, friendly smile, ushering her further inside.
"Please, come in! Feel free to look around. We just got some incredible new pieces today."
Rhea managed a tight, polite smile and took a few steps in.
Watching her, I could almost see the ghosts of our old "window shopping" trips. Her eyes used to light up at the smallest, most delicate things, even while she insisted we were just looking.
I'd always end up buying it anyway: the necklace that caught the light, the earrings she'd try on and then immediately take off as if they were too expensive to touch.
She'd scold me for it later, hands on her hips, telling me I was spending too much, and we didn't need any of it. But that look in her eyes always gave her away.
"Beautiful girl," Mr. Chen's voice pulled me back as he returned. He placed a small velvet box on the counter with reverence.
"Surely you have picked the right ring for such a beautiful girl."
The center stone was a rare blend of our eye colors—my gray and her hazel—held in place by platinum.
Tiny diamonds flanked the sides, catching the light like sparks.
I remembered the day the design was born; a random conversation that had turned into a deep connection.
I'd asked her what her dream ring looked like, and without missing a beat, she described our eyes.
I'd always been obsessed with her hazel irises. To me, they were meadows caught in the first golden burst of a sunrise.
And she... she loved my eyes because they reminded her of stormy clouds and the scent of rain—her absolute favorite weather. She said she felt most at home when the sky was gray, just like me.
I flipped the box open, and there it was: the ring we'd designed in our heads long before it became a reality.
I stared at it, imagining the version of me that was supposed to slip this onto her finger at an altar.
But now? I shook my head, dispelling the ghost, and snapped the box shut.
"Why didn't you sell it?" I asked quietly. "I never came back."
Chen chuckled. "You paid for it in full, son. But beyond that... this ring was destined for her finger. I knew it would find its way home."
As if. I thought bitterly, the irony glaring.
"Pack it up," I said, sliding it back. "But I'll take something else too."
Mr Chen nodded, and signaled to his assistant to box the original, then pulled out a tray of designs.
I scanned them, my fingers hovering until one caught my eye; a heavy gold band, crusted with raw, brilliant gems that glowed against the velvet.
I've always had a thing for gems. Even as a kid, I used to collect stones, obsessed with the way they held the light. They felt solid, permanent, and rare, the exact same way Rhea had felt to me for five years.
She was my gem. I didn't know what she was to me now, but the feeling she pulled out of me was still the same.
Whether I liked it or not, she still made me feel that same rush of discovery, that same need to protect something precious.
I chose gold this time because it was indestructible. No matter how hot my fire for vengeance burned, my love for her was like that gold: distorted by the heat, maybe, but impossible to destroy.
I paid for the new ring, and we left.
In the car, the silence was suffocating. She gave me the cold shoulder, staring out the window at the blurred streetlights.
I reached over and took her hand. She resisted, her fingers tensing, but I forced my grip.
She wouldn't look at me, but I could see the reflection of a tear tracking down through the glass of the window.
I took the gold band and slid it onto her finger.
The diamonds caught the glow of the dashboard, sparkling in the dark. It was a perfect fit. The second it was on, she yanked her hand away as if my touch had scorched her.
The rejection stung, a sharp jab to the chest that quickly turned into a dull ache.
It made the old questions roar back to life: if she hated me this much, why hadn't she just left when she lost feelings?
Why go through the effort of cheating, of shattering us from the inside out? Why twist the knife with another man when she could have walked away with her dignity intact?
I didn't ask. I just gripped the steering wheel, shifted into gear, and drove us deeper into the night.