Chapter 81 Chapter 81
Violet
“You are so funny, Nicole,” Nate said, already stepping away from the table. “That is my line.”
A ripple of soft laughter followed and everybody but me had an amused look on their faces. Well, everybody but me and Elijah.
But I wasn’t going there.
My mind began to wonder what new drama these two were about to unfold. My eyes darted to the door and I looked at it longingly, as if a caged animal wanting to spring free.
Meanwhile, Nicole turned toward Nate, brows knitting together in what looked like genuine confusion. If I hadn’t known her better, if I hadn’t lived through the way she smiled while taking things from me, I might have believed it too.
“Oh?” she said, her voice lilting with curiosity. “Then what are you doing?”
Nate didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he clapped his hands once, sharply.
The sound echoed through the dining hall.
Almost instantly, the atmosphere shifted.
Servants who had been quietly refilling cups or clearing plates froze, then moved with sudden purpose. One slipped toward the doors. Another stepped back, fingers brushing something discreetly mounted along the wall.
And then out of nowhere music suddenly filled the space.
Soft, romantic, unmistakably intentional. My ears stung to hear the notes, the tunes I would hum to Nate occasionally when we were together.
Did he really use that song, those melodies for Nicole right in front of me?
My stomach dropped so violently I had to grip the back of my chair to steady myself.
No. Nate’s eyes drifted to me for a brief second as if he noticed that I had noticed it too.
The subtle punch that hit me in the gut.
Nicole let out a small, breathless laugh, lifting a hand to her chest. “Nate,” she said, half-scolding, half-amused. “What is all this?”
He smiled at her, the same smile I remembered too well. The one that had once made me feel chosen, special, safe.
It made me feel sick now.
“Just trust me,” he said, extending his hand. “Come here.”
Around us, chairs shifted. Lady Aurelia straightened slightly, her lips curving into a polite, measured smile. Alpha Alaric leaned back in his chair, interest sparking in his eyes.
Cassie’s gaze darted between Nate and Nicole, and then towards me, her smile delayed, and uncertain.
I didn’t look at any of them.
But my eyes then somehow chose to land on someone I had been actively avoiding. I wasn’t even sure why I was doing that anymore.
But out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that he had gone completely still.
His posture was rigid, one hand braced against the table as if he needed the support. His eyes weren’t on Nate or Nicole.
They were on me.
I quickly grabbed a glass of water to give myself something to do because my lips refused to smile.
Nicole acted like the perfectly surprised girlfriend and hesitated just long enough for it to seem authentic, then placed her hand in Nate’s. He guided her away from the table, toward the open space where sunlight poured in freely, illuminating them as if the room itself had conspired to frame the moment.
I stayed where I was.
Every instinct in me screamed to leave, to turn around and walk straight out of Ironcrest Manor without another word. But my feet refused to move, my body locked into place by some awful combination of shock and inevitability.
I had seen this coming.
And yet it still felt like being struck.
Nate turned to face Nicole fully, his expression softening, deepening. The music swelled subtly, strings threading through the air.
“Nicole,” he began, loud enough for everyone to hear, his voice rich with practiced sincerity. “From the moment you walked into my life, everything changed.”
My fingers curled into my palm beneath the table. This was really happening!
Nicole blinked rapidly, her eyes shining. “You’re being ridiculous,” she murmured, but there was no real protest in her tone. Only anticipation. And giddiness.
“You are kind,” Nate continued. “You are patient. You see the best in people, even when they don’t deserve it. You’ve stood by me, believed in me, supported me through everything.”
Even when they don’t deserve it.
The words rang in my head, sharp and bitter.
I had once believed them too. Moments of the last day at my office, at our office when Nicole pretended to be the better person flashed before my eyes.
Nicole shook her head slightly, as if overwhelmed, her cheeks turning pink. “Nate, this is too much. Everyone is watching.”
“That’s exactly why,” he said. “Because I want them to see how lucky I am.”
He dropped to one knee.
The sound of breath leaving my body was silent, but the pain was not.
Gasps rippled through the room. Someone clasped their hands together. I heard soft clapping begin almost immediately.
Lady Aurelia appeared proud and elated, her applause restrained but approving. “How charming,” she said. “What a beautiful gesture.”
Cassie looked stunned now, her smile brittle as she glanced briefly at me and then away, guilt flickering across her features.
I couldn’t look at her.
I couldn’t look at anyone except Nicole and Nate.
And the part of me that had loved him, that had imagined a life with him put me in her place.
I shook my head vigorously as if trying to shake that thought out of my very bones.
A few feet in front of me, Nicole stared down at Nate, hands trembling around the bouquet a servant had somehow already placed into her arms. It was filled with pink roses, the exact shade of dress I had worn for my last date with Nate.
The resemblance was too uncanny for me to go unnoticed.
“Oh my god,” she whispered. “Nate…”
He opened a small velvet box, angling it so the light caught the ring immediately. It sparkled, blindingly bright.
“A ring was not enough for a special girl like you” He murmured and lifted something else from the box.
A bracelet and a ring. My bracelet and ring that he had gifted me when he had proposed to me for the first time!
Hadn’t I thrown away/donated all my stuff? How the hell did I forget that piece of jewellery?
“I love you,” he said to Nicole. “And I want to spend the rest of my life proving it. Will you marry me?”
I took a deep breath and saw Nate’s gaze flick to me for just a fleeting second before he returned his attention to her.
Nicole’s gaze flicked outward, briefly sweeping the room and then it landed on me as well.
Just for a second.
Something passed between us then. Something sharp, knowing, satisfied. I wasn’t even sure if she realized what I did.
But then her eyes grew moist and she gasped loudly, placing a hand on her mouth.
She closed her eyes briefly, letting two drops of tears slide down her cheeks dramatically. A few servants held cameras from all sides, recording the proposal from every possible angle.
The camera shutters set off when she spoke again.
“Yes,” she breathed. “Yes, of course I will.”