Tarnished Love by Bianca Borell
CHLOE
I meet Damien for lunch. He’s still miserable.
“How much longer, Damien?”
“What?” he questions, his eyes never leaving his phone. The more pain he’s in, the more he works. His legacy is built on pain, and my heart squeezes in my chest. He lifts his eyes, allowing me one moment to peer inside him. I rush to his side and hold his hands in mine.
“I don’t like seeing you like this.”
“I am going to marry her.” I freeze, my heart drums in my ears.
“Damien, don’t. Why?”
“I went too far.” My hands drop at my sides and I lean more into him.
“Apologize and end this charade. This is going too far.”
“I can’t forget that night, it plays in my head. It’s like she is not there anymore. It drives me crazy.” He squeezes his eyes and pinches the spot between his eyebrows.
“Then talk to her.”
“And tell her what? What, Chloe? She’s with him, and there will never be someone for me.” His jaw ticks as he sinks into his chair and cocks his head toward the window.
“Have you even tried, and I don’t mean just fucking someone. But really tried to get to know someone.”
“No one compares to her.”
“I sure hope that’s not true, because she ruined you.” He half smiles as if he acknowledges he never had a chance against her.
“I still love her.” His steel-colored eyes find me, his agony washing over and drowning me alongside him. I wrap myself around him. From the outside it’s a lover’s embrace, but this is me holding him together, because he doesn’t allow anyone else to.
“Don’t marry Monica.”
“I have to.”
“She’s not good for you.”
“No one is, and you played along with the scam too.”
“No, everyone assumed. There’s a difference.”
“I would have asked you.”
“Why?”
“Because we deserved to try, but then someone else happened.” He never ceases to amaze me with his observational skills, nothing escapes him. At his lowest point he still does it, at his highest he’s lethal.
“Do you think I would have accepted your proposal?”
“We will never know, will we?”
A while later, I let myself inside Filip’s home. Damien’s confession ringing loud in my head. Would I have accepted? When Filip enters, his eyebrows knit together as I sip from a glass of gin.
“Honey, you’re home.” He squints at me as he discards his jacket and places his keys on the table.
“Did something happen?”
“Not yet,” I say and tilt my head to the window. Another round of Bria and Damien affecting us all. I squeeze my eyes. “One day I will have words with your sister.”
“It’s Bria. Say her name.”
“I don’t like her.”
“Chloe.”
“It’s true.”
“You don’t know her.”
I huff and put the empty glass down.
“I know enough. One day I’ll say that to her face.”
“And what do you think you’ll achieve?”
He pours himself a glass, our eyes locked in battle. There is this fire and anger brewing inside of me, but not at him. I massage my temples in an attempt to prevent the desire to fight from overriding my rationality.
“I am going to bed.”
“It’s only eight o’clock.”
“Good night.”
I expect him to come to bed, but he doesn’t, and my sour mood continues when I wake. I shower and find him in the living room, sprawled on the couch, one foot dangling over the other. When his eyes find me, my feet root on the rug because I’ve never seen this cold look.
“I wondered last night why you behaved that way. Did I do something? Then an email appeared with interesting content.” My heart throbs in my chest. I snatch the phone from his hand. Billionaire Between Two Women, Who’s Going to Win the Heart of One of the World’s Most Eligible Bachelors? My hand flies to my mouth as I scroll through the photos taken yesterday. It appears like he kisses my neck next to one where Monica and he enter his car.
“I thought we were honest with each other.” His voice turns to ice, chilling me.
“He is my friend.” I don’t want to excuse myself, and he has no right to doubt me. Still, I wonder if I would feel the same in his place.
“Who do you think will win?”
“Filip, don’t be stupid.”
“Do you love him?” I throw his phone at his chest, pacing around.
“Of course I love him, but I am with you. I want to be with you. You could have prevented this and didn’t?” He twitches, and I am so disappointed in him right now.
“To remind myself how stupid I am.”
“You could have asked me.” Even to myself, my voice sounds despondent. A hysteria bubbles inside of me. “You trust no one, except Sophia because you’ve known her since you were both in diapers. How can I compete with that? You’ll never trust me fully, but you should have asked me. We said we would be honest with each other. And then this? You know how this affects me, and all you care about is your little ego.”
I storm from the room and outside. I can’t be near him right now. He’ll realize soon enough what he did. This drama, I am so over it. I lose myself through the streets of London, and when I reach my place, I shut my phone off, lock the door and pull the curtains. I have to fly out for a job tomorrow, and I cannot wait to get away.
