Chapter 3 No.3

Alex Bennett POV:

Carolina Ortega stood in the doorway, a vision of tragic beauty. Her blonde hair was artfully tousled, her ski-goggle tan perfectly accentuated the single, glistening tear tracing a path down her cheek. She was wearing a white dress that made her look like a fallen angel.

"Justin," she breathed, her voice trembling with expertly feigned sorrow. "How could you? How could you let them do that to her?"

She was talking about me, but her wounded gaze was fixed solely on him. It was a masterful performance.

Justin dropped his hands from my shoulders as if he' d been burned. He took a half-step away from me, his body language screaming guilt.

"Carolina, I..." he stammered, running a hand through his hair. The powerful, decisive Justin Barlow was gone, replaced by a flustered man desperate to appease his ex.

Beckham and Bertram rushed past her, their earlier bravado gone, replaced by theatrical tears. They threw themselves into their mother's arms.

"Mom, we're sorry," Beckham sobbed into her shoulder. "We didn't know Dad would get so mad."

"He was so angry with us!" Bertram wailed, pointing an accusing finger at his father.

Carolina hugged them tightly, stroking their hair, her eyes never leaving Justin's face. "Oh, my poor babies," she cooed, her voice dripping with poison. "Justin, you promised me. You promised you would make things right. You promised you would get rid of her and we could be a family again."

Her words were a physical blow. You promised you would get rid of her.

Carolina Ortega. The golden girl of professional snowboarding, who had two kids with a real estate scion and then promptly abandoned them to chase medals and endorsements. Justin had been devastated. He met me a year later, a broken man in need of a respectable, stable wife to be a mother to his sons.

He had proposed to me in this very spot, on this terrace. He had promised me a life of partnership, of mutual respect. He said he was ready to move on. He said I was what he and the boys needed.

I had been naive enough to believe him. I thought I could build a home here. A real one.

The illusion had shattered two years ago, during a ski trip in Aspen. A small avalanche had started on an upper slope. We were all in its path. In that split second of chaos, I saw Justin's true heart. He didn't reach for me. He didn't reach for his sons. He lunged for Carolina, shielding her body with his own as a wave of snow and debris rushed past.

A rogue ski pole had caught my arm, the impact sending a sharp pain up to my shoulder. I remember staring at the snow, at a single, shocking splash of red against the pristine white, and feeling nothing but a profound, chilling clarity. His choice was made.

Now, watching him look at Carolina with that same desperate, protective expression, the memory felt as fresh as the wound had been.

Justin was silent for a long moment, caught between his past and his present. Then he turned to me, his face a hard mask of resolve.

I knew what was coming. I had known for two years.

"Alex," he said, his voice cold and final. "Apologize to Carolina."

I almost laughed. The sheer, unmitigated absurdity of it. I, the publicly humiliated wife, was to apologize to the manipulative ex who had orchestrated the entire thing.

But I was so tired. Tired of fighting. Tired of caring. Tired of trying to earn a place in a family that would never truly be mine.

I looked at Carolina, who was peering at me over her sons' heads with an expression of pure, venomous triumph. I looked at Justin, his face set in stone. I looked at the boys, their faces buried in their mother's dress.

This wasn't a family. It was a battlefield. And I was done being a casualty.

"You're right," I said, my voice eerily calm. I took a step toward Carolina, whose triumphant smile faltered, replaced by a flicker of confusion.

"I am so sorry," I said, my voice ringing with a sincerity that startled everyone, including myself. "I am sorry that I ever thought I could take your place. I see now that was a mistake."

I turned my gaze to include Justin and the boys.

"This family is yours, Carolina. It always has been." I gave them a small, tight smile. "You can have it back."

And with that, I turned to walk away, leaving a stunned, perfect tableau of a family, finally reunited, frozen in my wake.

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