I take off my shoes and I don’t stop until my feet touch the water. I walk on the wet sand, the water caressing my ankles, and just... breathe. The noise, the fluorescent lights, the questions, thepresenceof Dorian—it was all too much.
I bit her. I fought back. But I don’t feel strong. I feel tired, enraged and... empty. Hollowed out.
“Chiquita?”
I turn. Silvia is standing a few feet away, holding two smoothies. My eyes instantly fill with tears. A woman’s presence, a friend is what I need.
She doesn't ask a thing. She just hands me her delicious “Red fruits and pink secret” smoothie she makes.
"I figured you'd need to be close to the water," she says, her voice soft. We stand in silence, watching the waves roll in.
“I would love to drown all of it in the ocean but I fear it will resurface somewhere, someday.”
"You don't have to talk about it," she says. "But I just want you to know how proud I am of you. You fought back, Della. You bit the bitch."
Her words... they're not a question, not a demand. They're agift. She’s not asking how I feel. She’s telling me what I did. It's the validation I didn't know I was screaming for. Another tear escapes and rolls down my cheek, hot and stinging.
"I'm so tired, Chiquita," I whisper. “And furious.”
"I know," she says, bumping her shoulder against mine. "So be tired. And furious. Feel it all as it comes. I've got you."
We stay like that for a while. When the smoothie’s gone, she takes my empty cup.
"I'll go inside. You see that monster of a man standing over by the boardwalk, trying to pretend he's not watching us?" She nods toward Dorian, wearing his usual black outfit and looking like a statue of barely-leashed tension. "Let him come to you or he will drill a hole in the pavement."
I nod and she leaves.
I'm alone again, but the hollowness is gone. The emptiness is filled with a new, fragile, and terrifying resolve. I know what I have to do.
* * *
Dorian
She’s still on the beach with Silvia, just... staring at the ocean. I can’t take it anymore and, the moment, I see Silvia standing up and walking towards me, I move.
“You can go now. But, Dorian… take it easy.” Silvia’s voice is soft but firm.
I cross the sand, my shoes sinking, so I take them off. She doesn't turn as I approach. She just sits there, a small, defiant figure against the vastness of the Pacific.
"Della," I say, my voice raw.
She turns. Her eyes are red-rimmed, but her gaze is steady. The ghost is gone. This is someone new.
"You wanted to talk, Dorian," she says, the words a challenge. "Let’s talk."
It's the only opening I need. The words I've been holding back, the confession, the self-loathing, it all spills out of me.
"The deal with Leah... I wanted to tell you at the lake house… it’s true," I start, the words tasting like poison. "I was a coward. I was so terrified of losing everything I'd built, of being that powerless boy again, that I let her... I let her leverage me. I was so arrogant, so blind, I never saw her obsession."
I look at her, desperate for her to see the truth in my eyes.
"I promised you a life together, Della. I wanted to make your dreams come true but when you left, I was struggling financially and I was afraid you… wouldn’t want to be with me anymore if you knew I lost everything.”
“I only ever wanted to be withyou,” she counters, her voice a sharp accusation. “I wanted to touch my dreams by your side, to make them true together. When did I ever let you believe, I was interested in your money?”
“Never,” I confess, dropping my gaze in shame. “But I was a mess back then. You were the most amazing thing that happened to me and I expected for something bad to happen every minute. After you left, I went spiraling. So, when Leah showed me the pictures, it was just a confirmation of my worse thoughts. It was easier to admit I wasn’t good enough for you than to believe you really loved me. So, I accepted the deal. If I wasn’t worthy to be loved, then I would excel in business, build an empire. Maybe, then you will come back to me. Leah knew my weakness, the hole she burned in my trust and she played that card. And you... you paid the price for my weakness."
My voice breaks. The alpha, the powerful man... it's all ash. It's just me. The man who failed her.
