Chapter 113

Chapter 113

Insane. Delusional. Completely out of his mind.

Cordelia rolled her eyes and couldn't be bothered to argue with him.

Reasoning with a man who refused to take no for an answer would only make her blood pressure spike.

She opened her ride-hailing app and selected every available vehicle option, but the rain was coming down too hard. No drivers nearby, no one accepting rides.

Cordelia didn't cancel the request. She just set her phone on the table.

She'd wait as long as it took. Until the rain stopped. Until a car came.

She would not get in Ellington's car.

But the storm seemed determined to spite her, showing no sign of letting up.

And Ellington was equally determined to stay. There was nothing she could do about it.

"You'd rather sit here waiting indefinitely than let me drive you home?"

His expression turned wounded. "Even just as friends—do you really have to draw such a hard line?"

"Yes. I do."

Cordelia forced her voice cold. "There shouldn't be any contact between us anymore. Besides, don't forget—you're an engaged man now."

News of their divorce had gone public at the welcome banquet. The engagement announcement came simultaneously. Add Ellington's abrupt departure and word of her miscarriage spreading like wildfire—it had been quite the spectacle of high-society drama.

Sensational and pathetic.

Cordelia didn't care what people thought. She'd deliberately avoided any related news.

One thing she knew for certain.

She refused to let her pain become someone else's gossip.

They hadn't seen each other in over two weeks. The rumors had started dying down. Her life was slowly returning to normal. She couldn't let him disrupt it again.

At the mention of his fiancée, Ellington had nothing to say.

Everyone knew the outcome of that engagement. Sloane was, in fact, Ellington's fiancée.

Once the latest joint project between the Carnegie family and the Neville Group wrapped up successfully, the wedding would officially take place.

"I don't acknowledge it. I won't marry her. I refuse, and no one can force me."

They were still sitting face to face, but Cordelia felt an inexplicable wave of pressure rolling off him.

Whatever. The man across from her was Ellington. How many people in this world could talk to him the way she just had?

But none of that mattered.

"Nothing you say means anything right now. As long as that engagement stands, every time you come looking for me, every time you pursue me—in everyone else's eyes, I'm the one chasing you."

"I will not have any close involvement with an engaged man."

They seemed to have gone in a full circle, ending up right back where they started. Both of them trapped in place.

All Cordelia wanted was for him to stop.

If he stopped, she could finally move forward.

"Isn't the car supposed to be serviced every week? What the hell are you people doing? You can't even tell if it's the engine or the fuel? The Carnegie family pays you to do nothing?"

The shop door swung open again, and Cordelia was suddenly seized by the urge to bolt into the rain.

How many times now? Everything connected to Ellington inevitably brought some fresh misery.

Cordelia lowered her head, rose without a word, and headed for the door. Ellington said nothing either, silently following.

"Hey! Ellington?" Sloane rushed over, her angry expression from moments ago vanishing instantly—until she spotted Cordelia. Her smile froze for a split second. "Oh, Cordelia's here too. Are you two…"

"What are you doing here?" Ellington's voice was flat.

"I didn't bring an umbrella. Just ducking out of the rain." Cordelia's reply came at the same time.

Sloane's smile nearly cracked.

Ellington's first reaction upon seeing her was an accusation. And she'd only come in because of an accident—to escape the rain.

"My car broke down. The engine won't start, so I had to come in to get out of the storm."

Cordelia didn't want to stay another second.

The rain showed no sign of easing. She didn't want to wait anymore.

Fine. Let it pour. Getting drenched was better than being stuck with these two.

Seeing Cordelia move to leave, Ellington grabbed her wrist. "In this downpour? You're barely recovered—"

"That's none of your business!" Cordelia yanked free as if his touch burned. "Your fiancée is here, Mr. Carnegie. Show some self-respect."

"Cordelia, Ellington's right. The rain is too heavy—you'll get sick walking out in this." Sloane's face arranged itself into concern. "Ellington drove here too, didn't he? Let him give you a ride. Whatever's going on between you, don't take it out on your own health."

"You've only been out of the hospital for less than a month. Your body is still weak. A miscarriage takes a serious toll on a woman. You really need to take care of yourself—otherwise both Ellington and I will worry."

Cordelia hadn't planned to dignify her with a response.

Before today, she and Sloane had at least maintained a civil facade.

She'd assumed Sloane had more tact than Ondine—just as Sloane herself had claimed, not wanting to turn on another woman over a man.

And yet here they were. It hadn't even been that long. Already so eager?

Cordelia turned, her gaze cutting. "Why do you think I had a miscarriage, Ms. Neville? You don't know?"

Sloane's expression shifted to something resembling guilt, her voice going small. "It's my fault. If I'd known my father had already arranged everything with Mr. Carnegie, I never would have invited you. I didn't expect my welcome party to turn into an engagement announcement."

"It's too late for that, and I don't need your apology."

Cordelia's cold gaze swept over both of them before finally—deliberately—looking away from the raw anguish in Ellington's eyes.

"Ms. Neville, don't ever mention that child in front of me again. We both know exactly how I lost it. Otherwise—I have no problem settling that debt in blood."

She bit down hard on those final words, then pushed through the door and walked out.

Ellington's chest seized. He went after her immediately.

"Don't." Sloane grabbed his arm—she didn't even know where she'd found the nerve. But if she let him chase after Cordelia now, she'd be throwing away a perfect chance to be alone with her fiancé.

The rain was still pouring. He couldn't leave right away. This opportunity was too rare. She couldn't hand it to her rival.

They're divorced. This clinging to each other—what does it look like?

"Let go." Ellington's glare could have drawn blood. "Anything outside of work is none of your concern."

"I'm your fiancée! You chasing after Cordelia is wrong!"

In the seconds they struggled, Cordelia vanished from sight.

Perhaps it was only the rain—too heavy, swallowing her slender figure until she was no longer visible.

Something dark and dangerous flashed through Ellington's eyes.

His patience had reached its absolute limit.

Sloane pushed his boundaries again and again. The pathetic irony was that he was the one who'd given her the inch she kept taking.

"Fiancée?" Ellington seized her wrist in a vice grip, nearly crushing the bone. "You think you deserve that title?"

"I—"

Sloane could barely speak under the weight of his gaze. "How am I not good enough? I'm no less than her!"

The next second, Ellington flung her hand away and walked into the curtain of rain.