Chapter 3

A week later, Alexander made a show of keeping his promise. Aja watched from the upstairs window as he loaded Katerina' s designer suitcases into the trunk of his car. Katerina was crying, a theatrical display of heartbreak.

But as they drove away, Aja noticed a small, velvet jewelry box left intentionally on the porch railing. A marker. A sign that this was not an ending, but an intermission.

Alexander returned that evening, looking tired but triumphant.

"She's gone," he announced. "For good."

He tried to hide the jewelry box, but Aja saw the clumsy movement as he slipped it into his pocket. He then presented her with gifts he' d supposedly been accumulating for three years-a diamond necklace, a designer watch, a rare first-edition book she' d always wanted. Material apologies for a spiritual crime.

He wanted to celebrate.

"My company is launching a new product line," he said. "There's a party tonight. I want you on my arm. Show everyone we're back. Stronger than ever."

Aja felt a cold knot in her stomach, but she agreed. It was part of the game. Let him think he was winning.

The party was a glittering affair, filled with the city's elite. For a while, it worked. Alexander was charming, attentive, the perfect husband making a grand comeback with his wronged wife. People smiled, whispered, and welcomed her back into the fold.

Then his phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen, and his face tightened.

"It's an emergency at the lab," he said, his voice tight with annoyance. "I have to go. I'll be back in an hour, tops. Don't move."

He kissed her cheek and disappeared into the crowd.

Aja was left alone. The moment Alexander' s protective presence vanished, the atmosphere shifted. The whispers changed. The smiles became sneers.

"That's her," a woman said, not bothering to lower her voice. "The one who killed his mistress."

"I heard she was cleared on a technicality," another added. "But everyone knows she did it."

Aja tried to ignore them, turning toward the bar. But they followed her, a pack of hyenas sensing weakness.

"Murderer," someone hissed.

"I'm not a murderer," Aja said, her voice steady, but a tremor of Aubrey' s old fear ran through her.

The crowd grew bolder, pressing in. "You got away with it, but we know. You're a monster."

A hand shoved her from behind. She stumbled, catching herself on the bar. The memory of a prison yard brawl flashed through her mind-the smell of sweat and fear, the dull thud of a fist hitting flesh. She instinctively crouched, her body tensing for a blow.

"Look at her," a man sneered. "Cowering like the animal she is."

Someone threw a drink. The cold liquid soaked the front of her dress, dripping onto the floor. The humiliation was a physical thing, hot and suffocating.

Just as a man lunged for her, Alexander reappeared.

He moved through the crowd like a force of nature, his face a mask of thunder. "Get away from my wife!" he roared.

He wrapped a protective arm around Aja, pulling her against his side. He glared at the stunned onlookers, his voice dripping with menace.

"The next person who says a word to her will have to deal with me. And I promise you, you don't want that."

The crowd fell silent, intimidated by his power and wealth. Alexander Brock was not a man you crossed.

Aja leaned into him, a flicker of Aubrey' s old reliance surfacing. For a single, treacherous moment, she felt safe.

Then a new voice cut through the silence.

"Alex, you promised you'd be right back."

Katerina.

She stood at the edge of the crowd, dressed in a stunning red dress, her hand resting delicately on her slightly rounded belly.

"I was waiting in the car," she said, her voice trembling with manufactured hurt. "You said you were just getting your wife and then we'd leave."

Alexander froze. His entire body went rigid.

Aja looked from his stunned face to Katerina' s triumphant one. The emergency at the lab. The quick return. It was all another lie. He hadn't sent Katerina away. He had just hidden her in the car, planning to drop Aubrey home and return to his mistress.

Katerina walked toward them, her eyes locking with Alexander's. "Are you coming, or are you staying with... her?"

Aja could feel the war raging inside him. The pull of his duty to the woman on his arm, and the pull of his desire for the woman in red.

She felt Aubrey' s old weakness creeping in, the dizziness, the nausea. She swayed on her feet.

Katerina saw her chance. She let out a soft sob, turned, and fled.

Without a second's hesitation, Alexander let go of Aja and ran after her.

"Kat, wait!"

Aja was left alone again, standing in a pool of spilled champagne, the eyes of the entire party on her. The pity. The scorn. The judgment.

It was all a game. A sick, twisted game where she was the pawn. That flicker of hope, of safety in his arms, was just another illusion.

She walked out of the party, her head held high, and took a cab back to the empty, silent house.

He didn't come home that night.

Aja lay awake, staring at the ceiling, the last of Aubrey's fragile hope turning to dust.

The next morning, she heard the front door open. It wasn't Alexander.

It was Katerina. She sauntered in, carrying a designer handbag, and gave Aja a lazy, triumphant smile.

"He felt bad leaving you last night," Katerina said, her voice dripping with fake sympathy. "But I needed him."

She patted her belly. "The baby and I needed him."