“I already told you I’ll be at the appointment tomorrow. Just have her busy. I got another year in this shit before I can divorce her and leave with something. No. I don’t want you to say shit to her. I’ll handle it…because she’s my wife and the least I can do is tell her I’m done with her. If you tell her, you’re going to fuck this up for both of us,” Damari rumbled. “I took the whole day off, I’ll be there. I’ll tell her I have a business trip this weekend. I’m all yours.”
Was she surprised, no. Was she holding out hope that maybe there was something salvageable between the two of them and she could wake up from this nightmare? Yes. One hundred percent yes. Because thinking and dreaming about another man who had never told her plainly that he wanted her was delusional. And she was far too old to be living in delusion.
She didn’t expose herself. Cyanna wanted to see how far Damari was going to go to get something that was trusted to her. The prenup her father had drafted years before his death for his daughter stated that in the event of alienation of affection,after three years, her spouse was entitled to half. Even from his grave, he controlled her. Damari knew that document inside and out and assured her that he’d be true to her forever. He also promised to keep his dick in the house but clearly, that too was a lie.
Cyanna inched out of the office, back up the stairs and into their bed. She avoided Karys’ calls. Avoided the social media posts about him and his girlfriend. Avoided it all. It was either that or lose the last piece of herself she was barely holding on to. What she didn’t know; the tighter she held on to it, the more everything would slip away from her. Her time to surrender was approaching.
THREE
Karys
One foot in front of the other, Karys roamed through the almost empty dining room of the assigned private room Cyanna’s assistant emailed him the details to a couple days ago. She’d been communitive on Cyanna’s behalf; he could appreciate it. When the option came down to a virtual meeting or in person, he jumped at the in person invite, even suggesting a restaurant he was an investor of. He hated to ambush her, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to get in her space immediately without this channel.
Upon walking into the private dining room, he spotted Cyanna in the corner one hand on her hip, the other holding the phone that pressed to her ear. Her shoulders were hiked to her ears. No telling how long and how much pain she was in from carrying the stress there, and in her lower back. He could spot it in the subtle way she shifted her weight from side to side. Smaller – she was smaller than she’d been the last time he saw her. A flood of aggravation.
“After this meeting, I’ll stop by,” she conceded to whoever was on the other end. Her tone was professional so it couldn’thave been the man she married. Someone she held in high regard delivered news she didn’t want to hear.
Cyanna hung up, pulled in a deep breath before spinning around. When she spotted him, she froze, brows furrowed as she looked down at the screen of her phone and back up at him. “Karys, I know you said you were pulling up, but I have a meeting.”
“Yeah, with Hillcrest Holdings. I’m Hillcrest Holdings,” he announced, making her huff and roll her eyes. “You could’ve really just sent this in a text like you do everything else.”
“Wouldn’t be able to see you. And therein lies the problem. I needed to put my eyes on you,” he stated.
Cyanna lifted and dropped her arms. “I’m here. I’m fine. We’ll do your project; I’ll put someone on it. Meeting over.”
There went her avoidance. The only thing that drove him crazy about her was how she shut down what she needed for the sake of surviving. That was a product of the family she came from. Be pretty, be perfect, be the princess. Cyanna attempted to walk past him, but he clasped his hand around her wrist.
“No, Princess. This meeting isn’t over. We’re going to sit and eat, and you’re going to talk to me. When did we start this? Avoiding each other, not keeping it real, huh?”
Cyanna licked her dry lips and fluttered her eyes. The way his eyes bore into her, he knew she was seconds from breaking. There was no better place to fall apart than with him. He’d hold those broken pieces and put her back together piece by piece and kiss every crack until fully healed. At least that’s the way he dreamed it. The way he thought about it when his mind drifted off.
“You’re busy living your life. You don’t need to be weighed down by my problems, Karys. Just go be happy. One of us deserves that,” she muttered the last part as her eyes broke from his.
“Both of us deserve that,” he corrected. However, he silenced the last part – they’d never be truly happy until it was them together, the way it was designed to be.
Cyanna barely smiled. Evidence that she hadn’t in the honeymoon phase of her marriage. She rubbed the back of her neck with her free hand. A sign that she was soothing a headache.
“Sit down and let’s eat,” he commanded, releasing her wrist.
Reluctantly, Cyanna led the way to the table and sat down. Her eyes purposely avoiding his. Karys carefully balanced his attention between her and his phone, where he was sending a message via app to the staff about what the lunch selections would be.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Cyanna posed, trying to release herself from his spell.
“Because you’re not talking,” he spoke with a breath of frustration. “There was one time in our journey together where you’d tell me everything. Now I feel like I’m a spectator in your life and not someone experiencing it.”
“I can say the same,” Cyanna mumbled, pushing her freshly blown-out hair out of her face. “There isn’t anything to tell. Life sucks sometimes, that’s it that all.”
His eyes softened in remorse. Since hearing the news, he couldn’t help but think about how things could’ve turned out differently if he would’ve told her years ago that she was his. That he loved her far more past friends. That his player ways would’ve been buried had he had her.
She studied him. “You know.”
“Unfortunately,” he replied softly. “Your husband let it slip like it was nothing.”
Cyanna scoffed bitterly. “It was nothing. To him, at least. To me…felt like the little bit of light I could see was being stripped from me. And he left me alone to go through it.”
Her eyes dropped to her hands, and he moved to her side. “I don’t want to break, Karys. I can’t break.”
“You can. You’re safe to break with me. You’ve always been safe here. I told you-”
