Chapter 96 Fractured Reflections
Chapter 96 Fractured Reflections
ROSEMARY
The penthouse had never felt so vast and so suffocating at the same damned time.
The two weeks left on the contract was quickly turning into one week, and the weight of it pressed against my chest like it was an unseen hand.
I wandered through the empty rooms like I was a ghost in my own life, the ghost of our tangled bodies on the floor still lingering in my mind as I walked around.
The empire was thriving on paper - new noteworthy deals were being closed and markets and investors were applauding - but inside, I felt like I was a cracked porcelain that was being held together by sheer stubbornness.
That evening though, it felt like the stubbornness finally evaporated for a few minutes.
I found Julian in the guest room he had been using since the separation, staring at his laptop with the kind of haunted focus that told me he was drowning in the same storm that I was drowning in.
The moment that he saw me, something in his expression cracked. The charming mask I was used to seeing him wear slipping to reveal the raw, desperate man that was hiding beneath.
“Rosemary,” he said, his voice rough as gravel under tires.
I did not plan to break. But when he crossed the room and pulled me into his arms, the fight drained out of me like blood from an open wound. I clung to him, burying my face in his chest as the first sob tore free.
“I am so tired,” I whispered against his shirt.
“Tired of fighting you. Tired of fighting us. Tired of wondering if any of this was ever real.”
He held me tighter, using one hand to cradle the back of my head while the other was stroking down my spine in long, soothing strokes.
“It was real, Rosemary,” he murmured into my hair.
“It is real. The way I feel about you… that was never been part of the contract.”
The kiss that followed was different from the angry collisions of the past few days. It was slow, aching, and full of a quiet desperation.
His lips moved against mine like he was trying to memorize the shape of them or like he was afraid this might be the last time he ever got to do what he wanted with them.
I felt myself melting into him, my fingers threading through his hair as the world narrowed to just the two of us.
His hands roamed my body with aching reverence - first sliding under my blouse to trace the curve of my waist, then cupping my breasts through the lace of my bra, his thumbs brushing over my sensitive spots until I arched into him with a soft whimper.
I tugged at his shirt, desperate to feel skin against skin, but when he started to insert himself inside of me, I stopped him.
“Wait,” I gasped, pressing a hand to his chest.
My heart was pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat.
“I can’t. Not like this. Not until I know you are choosing me. Really choosing me. Not just the version of me that you can control. Or that you think you can control.”
JULIAN
Her words cut deeper than any of My father's threats ever could or ever did.
I rested my forehead against hers, breathing hard, my body aching with unfulfilled need.
The photos and videos of her as Scarlet still haunted me - vivid reminders that she had once belonged to no one but herself. The jealousy had turned to a living flame in my chest.
“But what of all the men who did not have to pass all of these hoops to have you?” I asked, my voice low and rough with raw honesty.
“The ones who got to see Scarlet without any contracts or conditions?”
Rosemary pulled back just enough to look me in the eyes. Her gaze was steady, even through the tears.
“Because I did not love any one of them, Julian,” she whispered.
“They were escapes. Distractions. You… you are the one I fell for. The one I’m terrified of losing.”
The confession hung between us like it was fragile glass.
I kissed her again - slower this time, deeper, pouring every conflicted emotion that I felt into it. For several long, aching minutes we stayed like that, our hands exploring, our breaths mingling, and the promise of more hovering just out of reach.
But when my fingers reached for the hem of her blouse, she stopped me once more.
“Not yet,” she breathed, her voice trembling.
“I need proof, Julian. Real proof that you are choosing us over him. Over everything.”
She stepped back, her eyes glistening, and walked out of the room.
I stood there alone with my chest tight, the weight of my secrets pressing down harder than ever.
ROSEMARY
I lay in bed later that night, my body still humming with unspent desire and a heart that felt too full and too empty at the same time.
I did not love any of them.
The words I had spoken to Julian echoed in my mind. They were true. But they did not erase the fear that our entire foundation had been built on manipulation and half truths.
My phone buzzed with another message from the unknown number.
'He’s closer to breaking than you think. But be careful what you wish for when the truth finally comes out."
I stared at the screen until the words blurred. I had to find a solution to the texts too, before I became too paranoid.
It was less than two weeks left.
And I was starting to wonder if the truth would save us… or merely finish what the contract had already started.