Chapter 26 The Real Felix
"Did you ever really love me, Felix? Or was I always just useful to you?"
The question hangs in the air like poison.
Felix steps toward her. Desperate. "Of course I loved you. I still do."
"Love doesn't use people." Zephyra's voice is ice. "Love doesn't manipulate."
"I'm not manipulating you." His voice cracks. "I'm being honest. Finally, completely honest."
"Now." She turns to face him. "After I caught you. After my husband investigated you. That's when you decide to be honest?"
Felix flinches. "I was going to tell you."
"When?" Kairo speaks for the first time. His voice is deadly quiet. "After she signed the contract? After she moved to Paris? After six months when her name had saved your company and you didn't need her anymore?"
"It's not like that." Felix runs his hands through his hair. "You're making it sound calculated. Cold. But feelings aren't that simple."
"Aren't they?" Zephyra crosses her arms. "You saw my success. Saw an opportunity. Reached out under the guise of closure and apology. Offered me everything I ever wanted. All while conveniently needing my name to save your failing business. Sounds pretty calculated to me."
"Yes." Felix's admission is a shout. "Yes, okay? When I saw your name in Vogue, my first thought was 'she could save my company.' Is that what you want to hear?"
The words hit like slaps.
"But my second thought was 'I miss her.'" His voice drops. Softens. "My third was 'I never should have left.' My fourth was 'maybe this is a second chance.' So yes, I need you professionally. But I want you personally. Can't both be true?"
The question would be reasonable if it came from anyone else.
But from Felix, it feels like another manipulation.
"No." Zephyra's voice is steady. Sure. "No, both can't be true. Because one contaminates the other. I can never know if you want me or if you want what I can give you."
"I want both." Felix steps closer. "Is that so wrong? To want the woman I love and to build something beautiful with her?"
"It is when you hide your true motives." She doesn't back away. Holds her ground. "It is when you let me think this was about us when it was really about saving yourself."
"I was going to tell you." He insists. "After you saw the designs. After you understood the vision. I was going to explain everything."
"Convenient." Kairo's voice drips sarcasm. "Tell her after she's emotionally invested. After she sees the work. After walking away feels like abandoning art instead of protecting herself."
Felix's expression became stronger. "You do not know anything about this. About us."
"I know more than enough." Kairo's rose to stand beside Zephyra. United the front. "I can recognize a desperate man once I see one. I know manipulation wrapped in romance. And I recognize my wife deserves higher than someone who only shows up only when he desires something."
"That is not true ." Felix's anger rises. "I left to protect her. I came again to restore my mistake. Sure, I want her to assist. However, that doesn't make my emotions any less real."
"Oh really?" Zephyra asks. The question is true. Searching. "How do I agree with any feeling that incorporates a price tag attached?"
Felix goes quiet. The question has no true answer.
"I trusted you once." Zephyra's voice cracks. "Five years ago. I gave you everything. My heart. My dreams. My future. And you left without a word."
"To shield you—"
"You left because it was safer than fighting." She cuts him off. "You chose the smooth lie over the tough fact. Similar to what you are doing now."
"I am telling you the reality now." Felix's desperation is palpable. "The whole truth. The debt. The need. The love. All of it."
"Simply because we caught you." Kairo points out. "That's not honesty. This is harmful manipulation."
The remark lands hard. Felix has no response.
Zephyra looks at him. Really looks. Sees him clearly for maybe the first time.
The boy she loved was a fantasy. A dream built on potential and promises.
The man standing before her is something else. Someone who will use love as currency. Who will wrap needs in romance and call it fate.
"Five years ago, you left to protect me." Her voice is cold. Clinical. "Today, you'd use me to save yourself.
Human beings do not change, Felix. They simply display who they always were."
"It's not true ." His voice breaks. "I've really changed. I've grown. I am not the same scared kid who ran away."
"You're right." She nods. "You're not. That kid changed into a coward. But at the least he was an honest man by running away. You? You dress up your selfishness as a second chance. You package your desires as the future. You are not better than you were. You are worse."
The phrases hit like bullets. Felix staggers and returns.
"Zephyra, please." Tears move down his face. "Do not do that. Don't throw away what we may want to have due to pride."
"Pride?" She laughs. Bitter. "This isn't pride. This is self-preservation. Something I should have learned five years ago."
She turns to leave. Kairo follows.
"Wait." Felix's voice is desperate. Broken. "Please. Just wait."
Against her good judgment, she stops. would not flip round.
"Even if you won't collaborate with me, at least see my designs." His phrases tumble out fast. Frantic. "Simply study them. See what I've constructed. What we could construct collectively. Then decide."
"Why should I do that?" She asks at the door.
"Because they are inspired by you." His voice drops to slightly more than a whisper. "Each piece. Every line. Every detail. The complete series is my love letter to you. To us. To what we should have been.
The admission must move her. Ought to soften something.
It does not.
"Then you built a monument to a fantasy." She subsequently turns. Looks at him one more time. "Because the lady you cherished does not exist anymore. And the person I've become does not want your love letters."
She walks towards the door. Kairo's hand on her back. Steady. Supporting.
"Please." Felix's voice cracks. "Just five minutes. Have a look at what I've created. You'll understand. You may see why I want this. Why we need this."
Her hand is on the doorknob now. One flip and this is over. She can stroll away. Depart Paris. Leave Felix. Leave this entire mess behind her.
But something in his voice stops her. Not the
desperation. No longer the tears.
Certainty.
"You'll recognize why I need this."
What could designs show her that words have not already found out?