Chapter 15
Clinton’s vision blurred with rage as he lunged for Nathan. The pain in his jaw where Nathan’s punch had landed only made the fury sharper, more poisonous. He swung his fist back, ready to return the blow, to claw something back, anything, from the wreckage he’d made.
But rough hands seized his arms before he could strike. Two bouncers, broad and stone-faced in their black suits, dragged him backward across the marble floor like he was nothing but a drunk troublemaker crashing a royal ball.
“Let go of me!” Clinton snarled, struggling uselessly as they hauled him toward the doors.
His eyes darted wildly over the crowd, past the wide-eyed onlookers, past Leo’s stunned face and Alynna’s tear-streaked glare.
And then he saw them.
In the center of it all, Chloe stood with her back to him, Nathan’s arm curled around her waist like a promise no one would ever break again.
–
Clinton’s heart punched against his ribs as he watched Nathan tilt Chloe’s chin up, his lips brushing hers in a kiss that was soft but final – the kind that gutted him more than any blow.
He roared, the sound ripping out of his throat like an animal’s as the bouncers dragged him through the double doors. The last thing he saw was Chloe, eyes closed, leaning into Nathan’s
touch without a flinch.
Outside the hall, in the shadow of the parking lot, Leo’s hand cracked across Alynna’s cheek sc hard she staggered, catching herself on a pillar slick with rain.
“You filthy girl,” Leo hissed, voice low but shaking. “I defended you. I turned my back on my owr blood for you.”
Alynna wiped the blood from her lip, her eyes wide with disbelief. “Father, please-”
“You ruined us,” he spat. “Everything that girl said was true, wasn’t it? You let me hate her fed me lies while you spread your legs for her husband.”
–
you
“It wasn’t like that-”
“Lies!” His palm cracked against her other cheek, leaving a red welt that bloomed across her skin. “You deserve every bit of what you did to her. And now you’ll feel it too.”
She sank to her knees, hands clasped around his trousers. “Please, Father, don’t do this. You
can’t-”
Leo jerked his leg free, disgusted. “Watch me.”
When they got home, Leo barked orders at the staff who’d once turned a blind eye to Alynna’s games. Now they locked the doors with iron bolts, snapping them shut as Alynna pounded her fists against the inside of her gilded cage.
“I’m sorry!” she screamed, her voice breaking over and over. “Please-someone open the door! I’m sorry-Father, please!”
But no one came.
Upstairs, Leo poured himself a glass of whiskey that tasted like acid on his tongue. He stared out the window into the storm as memories flickered through his mind – Chloe’s tears the day
her down with Alynna’s poison echoing in his ears.
She was always good.
She was too kind.
And he’d thrown her away like she was nothing.
Days passed, but the storm inside Clinton didn’t break. If anything, it grew sharper, colder. Th first morning after the banquet, he sat in the back of his black car, engine idling on a quiet stree outside Chloe’s café.
He watched her through the big glass window – watched her laugh at something Nathan said her hair pulled back, a soft sweater wrapped around her shoulders. She looked like she belonged there – like she’d never once fit in his cold, empty house.
When she stepped outside, he was there. A bouquet of lilies in his hand remembered.
‘Chloe,” he called out, stepping forward.
–
her favorite. Or so he
She didn’t stop. Nathan’s hand slipped into hers before Clinton could even touch her sleeve. ‘Please-” Clinton tried again, his voice cracking. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know, Chloe. I didn’t see—” She turned, eyes flat, not a flicker of warmth left for him. “You knew exactly who I was. You jus didn’t care.”
Nathan’s arm tightened around her, and they walked away together, their backs to him like h was already a ghost.
He tried again the next day. And the next. A gift left on her doorstep – a velvet box holding the ing she’d once worn, the one he’d found under his bed like a curse.
t sat there untouched. She didn’t even look at it.
–
He waited outside the café one rainy afternoon, just to see her smile again – just to see it maybe, maybe she’d remember the nights they’d once shared. But each time the door swung open, it was Nathan who appeared at her side, Nathan who kissed her temple, who tucked her hair behind her ear, who pressed his lips to hers like it was the easiest thing in the world. Clinton felt something in him crack then, not rage this time, but something raw and useless that asted like heartbreak. The worst part was that he knew he’d done it to himself.
But still, he wouldn’t stop. He couldn’t. The thought of her gone, of her slipping so easily into Nathan’s world where he could never reach her, it clawed at him, kept him up at night, drove him to his knees in his empty bedroom.
He sent her flowers. Notes. Messages that Nathan deleted before she could even read them.
It didn’t matter. He’d wait in the rain if he had to. He’d chase her down every street, ruin every smile she gave Nathan if that’s what it took.
He’d do anything – anything to keep her from being truly, finally free of him.
Because Chloe was gone. But if he couldn’t have her, he’d make damn sure no one could ever take the part of her that was still his.
