AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Celeste’s body trembles as she tells me about my grandmother’s cookies and the promises she tried to keep. All the while, I rub her back soothingly, a strange kind of jealousy settling deep in my chest. Out of everyone, Sierra is the only one she tried to make amends with. Not me.Sierra.
“I never meant to hurt her,” she whispers. The worst of her sobs have subsided, but her pain is still clear in her voice. “I didn’t want to push her away, but I couldn’t… she just… she reminded me of you, and every time I spoke to her, she did all she could to get us back together. No matter what I said, she wouldn’t listen, and I… I just pushed her away, and I’ve always regretted it.”
She buries her face against my neck, her breathing ragged, and I hug her tightly, my heart aching for both of them. Sierra doesn’t make friends easily, and I know how much Celeste meant to her. Neither Raven nor she would stop trying to get us back together until I sat them down and told them what Celeste had done to me, and to Windsor Hotels.
“You broke her heart when you broke mine,” I murmur. “She’s still hurt, not because we broke up, but because you left her without an explanation. After our parents…” I sigh and hold Celeste a little tighter. “Sierra doesn’t do well with being abandoned, and you were one of the few people she’s ever truly let in. Raven is very similar.”
My wife begins to cry all over again, and I rub her back soothingly, unsure what to do or say to make it better. “I miss her,” she admits, her voice breaking. “So much.”
I swallow hard, my own heart breaking. For years, I did all I could to convince myself she was some kind of scheming bitch, that everything was black and white, my hatred becoming all-encompassing. In reality, it’s never that simple. Not all the pain she caused was intentional, and not all her decisions came without regrets and self-inflicted heartache.
“She misses you too. Do you know how I know that?”
Celeste shakes her head, and I pull away a little to look at her. “For one, she took the cookies.” That makes my wife smile, and I grin back at her, relieved to find her grief lifted a little. “But what really gave it away was the hairpin you had in your hair on our wedding day, the one you keep with your jewelry. It’s one of Sierra’s most precious belongings, because it used to belong to our mother. I’m not sure how it ended up in your hair that day, but I can only assume she wanted it to be yoursomething borrowed.”
I brush her tears away with my thumbs, but it’s to no avail, because she won’t stop crying. “Sierra is ruthless and swift in her decision-making,” I continue, “but she isn’t a mean person. The fact she’s lashing out at you means she still cares. I’ve seen her cut people out of her life without a second thought. When she decides she doesn’t care anymore, she genuinely doesn’t. It’s a quality I often wished I had too, but it’s one I could never replicate.”
She looks into my eyes, her gaze searching, like she isn’t sure she believes me. “Raven lent it to me,” she whispers. “The hairpin.”
I raise a brow in surprise. Sierra must’ve asked Raven to lend it to Celeste on her behalf. Raven was as hurt as Sierra was, but I should’ve known she’d be less stubborn. She has a heart of gold, and it’s often wasted on people. I hope that isn’t the case with Celeste.
“She told me she’d let me borrow it when she brought the wedding dress she’d designed for me. It was the one I always thought I’d marry you in, the one she and I would dream about. I didn’t think she’d ever create it, but she did.”
My heart skips a beat, and I stare at my wife in surprise. “Your wedding dress was always meant for us?” She nods, her gaze conflicted, a hint of shyness in her eyes. “So it was just the lingerie you intended for Emerson?” My voice is hard, my bitterness evident.
“No,” she whispers. “The bottoms of my shoes were mysomething blue. The lingerie… that was mysomething old. I bought it six years ago, when we…” She draws a shaky breath and hides her face against my neck. “I would never have worn it for him. I’m sorry, Zane. I just…”
She just wanted to hurt me. I sigh as I pull her closer, not having it in me to be mad at her, not tonight. “I’m glad,” I whisper, the truth coming easier in the darkness, with her body pressed against mine. I’m not sure her relationship with Sierra and Raven is salvageable, but the way she obviously still cares about them after all these years gives me hope I wish I didn’t feel.
ChapterSixty-Four
Zane
Concern washes over me as I stare at Celeste from my desk, taking in her red eyes and the way she keeps staring at the photo of Lily and her, that she keeps on her desk. She’s been listless for a few days now, all the fight in her gone.
It’s odd to watch my wife be so heartbroken over her friendship with my sister, when she’s never once looked atmethat way. Part of me wants to console her, but another part of me is glad she’s finally realizing just how much damage she’s done. Does she realize I’m the one who had to pick up the pieces when she left?
I sigh as I tear my gaze away and check my email instead, needing something else to focus on. Having Celeste back in our lives is doing more harm than good, and I don’t understand what Grandma was thinking. In my quest to get our engagement broken, I sat her down and told her everything — everything about Lily, about the way Celeste planted fake evidence, and the way we fell apart. It didn’t have the effect I thought it’d have. If anything, it only seemed to solidify her decision to push us together, and I don’t quite understand why she thinks that would solve anything at all.
I click on an incoming email absentmindedly and raise a brow when I realize that our new restaurant is ready for inspection. My gaze drifts back to my wife, and I hesitate for a beat. “Would you like to have dinner with me?” I ask, my voice tinged with uncertainty.
Her gaze snaps up, and for a few moments, something flickers in her eyes. “Amélie, our new French restaurant in The Lacara is done. Normally, I test out everything before giving the okay to open it to the public.”
“Oh,” she murmurs, her shoulders sagging. “Sure, I’ll join you.” Celeste sounds apathetic, and it frustrates me endlessly. I thought I’d grown weary of constantly arguing with her, but I’d rather have that than this.
“Let’s head out now,” I tell her, glancing at my watch. “It’s nearly time for dinner anyway.”
She nods demurely and reaches for her handbag. Somehow, I’d expected more of a fight, or perhaps an outright rejection. Instead, she simply rises from her seat, looking fucking ethereal in that blue dress.
My eyes roam over her as we step into my private elevator, my gaze settling on her gold nail polish. It’s one she’s wearing often these days — she wore it on our wedding day too. “What is it called?” I ask as I reach for her hand, holding it in mine tenderly. I’m not even sure why I can’t resist touching her today. Perhaps it’s because the distance between us seems greater than ever, or perhaps it’s because I’m hoping to take away some of her lethargy. I shouldn’t want to, but I can’t bear to see her in so much pain.
Celeste looks up at me, mixed emotions flickering through her eyes. Heartbreak. Hope. Longing. “Shattered Souls,” she whispers, just as the elevator reaches the bottom floor.
My heart wrenches, and I entwine our fingers as I lead her to my car. Celeste doesn’t say a word on the way to the restaurant, and worry begins to gnaw at me. From the moment she walked back into my life, she’s taken great pleasure in annoying me in any way she can. I’m not sure what to do with this quiet version of her.
“We’re here,” I tell her as I park up, and she glances at me dazedly before getting out of the car. She hasn’t been herself since I found her crying over Sierra, and more and more, she seems to be lost in thought — lost in the past.
“Mr. and Mrs. Windsor,” the chef says as we enter, a wide smile on his face.Mrs. Windsor.I’ll never tire of hearing it. I place my hand on Celeste’s lower back as he guides us to our table and explains what we’re having tonight, and I watch her intently as her professional mask clicks back into place.
