Chapter 101

Cordelia tried the ring on each of her fingers, one by one.

The band was a touch too large even for her ring finger—it slid around loosely—though it looked far prettier on her hand than it had in the display case.

She handed the ring back to the sales associate. "Do you have this in a smaller size? Something that would fit a pinky finger?"

The associate glanced at her, puzzled. "Not in this style. A few other designs might, but we don't carry many."

Pinky rings weren't exactly in high demand. Most stores barely stocked them.

Cordelia nodded and didn't press further.

The pinky ring idea had been a whim, really. She wasn't anti-marriage or anything. She just felt this inexplicable urge to prove something.

It was childish. She knew that. But she wanted to do it anyway.

She browsed the rest of the jewelry in the store, drifting from case to case, but nothing caught her eye. Everything felt flat. Uninspiring.

She decided to leave.

"Cordelia, what a coincidence."

Two women approached from the front. Cordelia offered a faint curve of her lips—barely a greeting—and turned to go.

Keeping up this polite charade was exhausting.

"Stop right there!"

Sable, standing beside Sloane, made no effort to hide her hostility. "My daughter just said hello to you. What kind of attitude was that?"

Cordelia had no intention of engaging.

Sable and Sloane were clearly mother and daughter, and stopping her like this was nothing short of a deliberate provocation.

Why bother with people who were looking for a fight?

But some people—the moment you ignored them—only pushed harder.

"You're divorced and still clinging to Ellington. Are you that desperate for everyone to know you have no shame? Carrying the Carnegie family's bloodline without telling a soul—were you planning to wait until the baby was born and use it to force the Carnegies to take you back?"

"Let me tell you something, Cordelia. I've seen women like you a thousand times. Don't bother playing your little games around me. Just disappear from Ellington's life!"

Cordelia stopped walking.

Every instinct bred into her said she shouldn't stoop to Sable's level.

But why should she swallow this in silence?

After Sable finished, Sloane finally stepped in, playing peacemaker. "Mom, that's enough. You can't blame Cordelia for all of this. She's Ellington's ex-wife—she needs time to move on. Don't push her."

So exhausting.

Sometimes Cordelia wanted to look Sloane straight in the eye and ask: Did she ever get tired of this act? Did she ever bore herself?

Some people could perform so convincingly they fooled even themselves.

"Mrs. Neville makes an excellent point. That's exactly what I've been planning, actually—to leave this place. Ideally move abroad and never come back."

Cordelia turned around. Her smile was radiant. If you didn't notice the shimmer of tears in her eyes, you'd think she was sincerely taking Sable's advice to heart.

"If you're really that eager to see me gone, maybe you could do me a favor? Introduce me to some of your contacts overseas. With the right connections, I could speed up the emigration process."

Ellington reached the storefront just in time to hear every word.

Her voice wasn't loud, but it carried to him with perfect clarity.

She wanted to emigrate. She wanted to vanish from his world completely.

Zephyr had been trailing behind Ellington. When he saw Ellington freeze in the doorway, he knew this was trouble.

Brielle appeared from another direction and quickly filled them in on what had happened.

"Sloane is unbelievable. I saw the whole thing with my own eyes—she spotted Cordelia first and deliberately dragged Mrs. Neville into the jewelry store. She set the whole thing up just to humiliate Cordelia!"

But Brielle's courage only went so far. She'd maintained a surface-level friendship with Sloane for years, mostly by going along with whatever Sloane wanted.

When Zephyr had called Sloane fake, Brielle hadn't been completely oblivious. But she needed friends too, and at least on the surface, Sloane had always been decent to her.

Zephyr felt a headache building.

He pinched the bridge of his nose hard, grabbed Brielle by the arm, and steered her toward the exit.

"This stops here. Don't get involved. Let them sort it out themselves."

He'd already helped his friend this far and the guy still managed to screw things up. If a man couldn't seize his own chances, no amount of outside help would make a difference.

Ellington couldn't have cared less whether Zephyr was there. He pulled Cordelia to his side, his voice low and deliberate. "Come with me. I need to talk to you."

Always the same line.

Cordelia wrenched her arm free, a flicker of mockery crossing her lips. "You already heard what I said. I don't mind repeating it. You and I are done. The divorce is final. The baby is gone. Don't come looking for me again."

She said it right there, in front of Sloane and Sable—laid bare the truth of her relationship with Ellington. Even though, knowing how obsessive he was, spelling it out wouldn't change a thing.

Her real purpose was to set the record straight so Sable would stop coming after her.

Cordelia turned to the two women standing off to the side. "I've said my piece. I hope you heard it clearly. Ellington is my ex-husband now. To me, he's no different from a stranger. Even if the child I'd been carrying had survived, I would never have used it to take a single thing from the Carnegie family."

As the last words left her mouth, she thought of the divorce settlement Ellington had forced on her.

In Flynn's eyes, she was probably nothing but a gold digger—a woman who walked away from a marriage with her pockets full.

Honestly, though, there was nothing wrong with being a little materialistic.

Cordelia left. This time, Ellington didn't stop her.

She didn't notice what happened behind her.

Ellington glanced back—just once—then quietly followed.

That single look sent ice flooding through Sloane's veins. An involuntary shudder racked her entire body.

"I'll never understand what goes on in your head—or your father's. All the men in the world, and you had to pick him? Marry that man and you'll spend the rest of your life suffering."

Sable turned and immediately noticed Sloane's ashen face, as if she'd received a terrible shock. Fear flickered in and out of her eyes.

"What's wrong?"

Sable followed her daughter's gaze but saw nothing beyond the usual stream of strangers passing by.

"I just remembered a problem at work. Something I didn't handle properly. I need to get back right away."

It was the first time Sloane had ever seen Ellington look at her with eyes like that. The sheer menace in them made her want to shrink away.

He would only ever love Cordelia.

Even Sloane—always so confident—couldn't stop that thought from surfacing.

She would lose. Inevitably.

Not because she wasn't good enough. Love simply didn't play fair. Maybe it was about who came first. Maybe there was only ever room for one person in his eyes.

But just because defeat was certain—did that mean she should stop trying?

Never.

Still, she was not Ondine.

Until Ellington fell completely in love with her, Sloane refused to let herself fall first.

She wouldn't make Ondine's mistake—being stupid enough to destroy every relationship around her.

---

Cordelia burst out of the mall and suddenly had no idea which direction to go.

That brief hesitation was all it took. Ellington caught up.

"Cordelia."

He stood right behind her. He didn't block her path. He didn't touch her.

Like every reunion after a long separation, he said simply, "It's been a while since we've seen each other."

"Well, now you've seen me. Can you leave?"

Cordelia's breath trembled with every word. "Or do I have to die before you'll finally let me go?"