Chapter 28 – You Don’t Want Me Anymore
After the auction wrapped up, Selene exited the venue with effortless grace, her every step commanding attention. As the doors closed behind her, whispers trailed in her wake—curious, envious, and laced with speculation.
Across the room, Lyra sat frozen, her face burning with humiliation. The confidence she had displayed earlier had crumbled beneath the weight of Selene’s victory.
“How?” she seethed under her breath. “Where is she getting all this money from?”
Her two closest friends, desperate to soothe her bruised ego, leaned in, their voices hushed but sharp.
“Didn’t the Carters cut ties with her? How is she still acting so high and mighty?”
“Could it be… Mr. Vale’s money?” one of them whispered conspiratorially. “Lyra, you have to be careful. Now that she and Caspian are getting a divorce, you can’t let her take a single dime. That money should be yours!”
Lyra’s grip on her glass tightened at the suggestion. Was that really possible?
“We even tipped the Vales off that Selene had been keeping lovers, but they’re still married?” her other friend mused. “What on earth is Mr. Vale thinking?”
A tense silence hung in the air before one of them hesitantly voiced what none of them wanted to acknowledge.
“Could it be… that Caspian actually has feelings for Selene?”
“Stop talking nonsense!” Lyra snapped, her voice a little too sharp, a little too defensive. “That’s impossible!”
For five years, Selene had shamelessly pursued Caspian, and for five years, he hadn’t spared her a single glance. Their eventual marriage had been nothing more than a strategic arrangement—a means to secure the Lyra family’s stability.
But despite Lyra’s conviction, Caspian’s voice echoed in her mind, unshakable—
“Be kind to Selene. Alright? She’s my wife and your sister-in-law after all.”
Something about the way he had said it bothered her deeply.
One of her friends sighed dramatically. “Selene is something else, though, isn’t she? She’s had so many lovers, and yet not a single scandalous photo has leaked. How does she do it? No matter what we do, none of those men will expose her.”
The other one perked up, her expression sly. “I heard she has a new boy toy staying at Rose Villa. Maybe we should start there.”
At Rose Villa
The moment Selene stepped through the door, she was met with the sound of soft footsteps descending the staircase.
Her gaze lifted, locking onto Soren’s.
Dressed in casual gray loungewear, he seemed far less like Caspian now. Without the military uniform, without the Kai Lysandere intensity in his eyes, the resemblance between them was suddenly much weaker.
For a moment, Selene hesitated.
Soren smiled as he made his way down, his tone warm. “I didn’t know you’d be back. Let me fix something for you to eat.”
“No… don’t bother. I already ate.”
It was a lie. She hadn’t eaten anything.
But an unsettling feeling had begun creeping over her. Soren was sweet, thoughtful, and easy to be around. Yet, she couldn’t shake the feeling that keeping him here was a mistake.
Clearing her throat, she finally said, “Soren…”
His smile remained, soft and patient. “Yeah?”
She exhaled slowly. “The thing is… I might need to leave for a little while, so maybe you should—”
She had intended to tell him to move out, explaining that she wouldn’t be around much, so there was no reason for him to stay.
But before she could finish, Soren frowned slightly, concern flickering across his face. “Where are you going?”
Selene shifted uncomfortably, caught off guard by the question.
After a brief pause, she forced a casual tone. “I’m not sure yet. How about this? I’ll send you some money later, and for now, you don’t have to come over anymore.”
The words tasted bitter even as she said them.
She was the one who had brought him here, the one who insisted on keeping him around—only to now turn cold and distant, reducing their arrangement to mere money.
Soren’s smile faded. His expression, once open and bright, now carried a weight of quiet sadness.
If there was one thing that set him apart from Caspian, it was his eyes.
Caspian’s eyes were always dark, unreadable, concealing layers of thoughts she could never quite decipher.
But Soren’s? His were clear, honest—almost childlike.
A beat of silence passed.
Then, in a low, almost fragile voice, he asked—
“Nene… you don’t want me anymore?”
