Amara's POV
When the main courses arrived, the table had already transformed into a spotlighted arena, crystal glasses catching the chandeliers' glow, flames trembling in their silver holders and sketching gold across Trey's face. Across from them, I folded my napkin over my lap and forced myself to chew air disguised as food.
Pauline's laugh floated above the low hum of the restaurant, effortless and precise. She was as stunning as the magazines made her out to be, sleek hair, diamond earrings, everything about her polished to a mirror shine. Watching her next to Trey was like looking at a portrait, two people who belonged to the same frame.
She turned her gaze on me, eyes cool, polite but edged. "I was surprised when Trey said you'd be handling our wedding," she said, spearing a piece of salmon with her fork. "Why not someone more… seasoned? We've been to so many events with coordinators who specialize in the elite, celebrities, politicians, royalty. Surely one of them would have been more…" She paused, eyes flicking over me, "appropriate."
I met her gaze head on, my smile professional and practiced. "I specialize in details," I said smoothly. "It's not about the guest list. It's about execution."
Across from me, Trey took a sip of wine, offering no support, no correction, no praise, just that unreadable mask.
Pauline leaned back, tilting her head toward him, voice soft but pointed. "I still don't understand why you'd take a chance on someone without that pedigree."
"I prefer precision," Trey said mildly, his eyes on his plate, tone clipped. "She's… efficient."
That was all. No warmth. No compliment. No hint of the history threaded between us. Just a vague, dismissive answer, like he was flicking lint off his sleeve.
I cut a piece of lamb, forced it down, and reminded myself I'd asked for this job. This was the arena I'd stepped into. The part where the fiancée questioned my credentials while the man I used to love sat beside her like a king on his throne.
And God help me, they really did belong to each other. Pauline's polish, Trey's control, their perfectly matched silences, all of it screamed same world, same bloodline, same legacy. They were carved from the same marble. I was just the hired hands smoothing the surface.
Pauline smiled again, but this time it didn't reach her eyes. "Well. I hope it all works out."
"It will," I said simply, my tone as neutral as water.
The conversation drifted back to florists and string quartets, to the villa where they'd spend their honeymoon, Trey dropping the word like a small stone in a still pond, each time deliberate, each time a test. I concentrated on my breathing, my cutlery, the tiny arc of my knife against the porcelain plate.
When Pauline excused herself to take a call, the silence she left behind was heavier than the velvet drapes. Trey's eyes flicked up to mine, steady, almost bored.
"You're quiet tonight," he said softly.
"I'm here to work," I said, my eyes on the tablecloth.
He smirked faintly, then leaned back, fingers tapping once against the linen. "Always the professional."
I lifted my glass, took a slow sip of water, and gave him nothing back. Not a crack. Not a tremor.
Across the room, Pauline's reflection moved past the mirrored wall, phone pressed to her ear. The moment she disappeared, Trey shifted his glass slightly, still watching me. I stared at the candle flame until my eyes stung.
Let them have their perfect story, I thought, my jaw tight. Let them have each other. I'm just the one who builds the stage.
By dessert, I had rebuilt my mask completely. When Pauline returned, I stood as if on autopilot, professional smile in place. Inside, my pulse still thudded against my ribs like a trapped bird, but no one at the table could tell.
By the time the check arrived, the tension at the table had gone from a slow hum to a low, thrumming ache under my skin. Trey signed his name with the same easy flourish he used on contracts worth millions, and in one smooth motion pushed his chair back. Chairs scraped. Voices rose. We were all standing, gathering our coats and bags, the night air pressing against the restaurant windows like a secret waiting to get in.
And then, before anyone could step away, Pauline leaned in and kissed him.
It was quick, a perfectly practiced brush of lips, barely there, but it hit me like a blade sliding between my ribs. The room tilted, the chandeliers blurred into streaks of gold. I had no claim, no right, no reason to feel anything at all, but my body betrayed me anyway. Heat flashed behind my eyes, and my pulse went weak and frantic at the same time.
She drew back, her hand still lightly resting on his chest, the picture of casual possession. Trey's expression didn't flicker. If anything, it sharpened into that unreadable mask I used to think was invincible.
Pauline's phone chimed again, another call, after the one she'd already taken earlier. Without missing a beat, she slipped it from her clutch, glanced at the screen, and murmured, "I have to take this." She stepped a few feet away, her voice already softening as she answered, back turned to us completely, her perfect silhouette outlined in the restaurant's low amber light.
I swallowed hard, fingers tightening around the strap of my bag until it dug into my palm. My mind screamed at me to breathe, to stand still, to not let anyone see, but a single thought kept circling like a hawk over the wreckage. How am I supposed to survive planning their wedding when this is what it feels like to watch them touch?
By the time Pauline was absorbed in her second call and Tessa drifted into a side conversation, I had already slipped my mask back on and forced my feet to move. Outside, Trey's car waited where I'd left it earlier with the valet, sleek, black, the engine still holding a trace of warmth from the drive into the city. I'd driven it here. I'd drive it back. And with every step across the marble floor, I prayed my legs wouldn't give out before I reached the door.
I started the engine and gripped the wheel. The city blurred by in streaks of gold and red as I merged into traffic, headlights carving out a path through the dark. My fingers tightened on the steering wheel. Why do you still let him get to you? I thought.
The drive back to the mansion felt endless, each stoplight a dare to keep breathing, each turn a test of control. But when the estate finally rose ahead, glowing marble and amber lights under the night sky, I felt my spine lengthen.
I parked in the courtyard, engine ticking softly as it cooled. For a moment I stayed there, hands resting on the wheel, staring at the front steps where the staff used to line up for inspection when I was a girl. My reflection in the windshield stared back, lipstick still perfect, hair pinned, eyes tired but unbroken.
Inside the guest wing, the mansion was hushed, only the muted echo of distant footsteps.
I didn't even notice Tessa at my door until I reached it. She leaned against the doorframe, arms folded, her silhouette outlined by the soft glow of the hallway lamp. "Hey," she said casually, tilting her head. "Can I come in?"
"Please," I murmured, stepping aside. "If you weren't here, I honestly don't know how I'd survive your brother and his fiancée."
Tessa slipped inside and closed the door softly behind her. The quiet felt different with her there, less like a tomb and more like a pause I could breathe in. My bag slid from my shoulder to the chair with a dull thud. My shoes followed, toes nudging them aside. The brush clattered onto the vanity, forgotten.
I moved to the edge of the bed and sat, smoothing the hem of my nightdress as if that tiny, futile motion could smooth out the day. Tessa crossed the room and perched on the opposite corner of the mattress, still watching me with that mix of curiosity and concern only she could pull off.
"Pauline is not staying here. That's a hard no," Tessa said, flopping dramatically onto the armchair. "I swear, I'll fight Trey myself if I have to."
I gave her a look, half amused, half exasperated. "Tess, they're getting married. Sooner or later she'll be all over this place. It's inevitable."
"Not if I can help it," she muttered, tucking one leg beneath her. Her defiance made me laugh, but it also tugged at something warm in my chest.
I shook my head and smiled faintly. "Hey, you're not even staying here full time anyway, so why does it bother you so much?"
She toyed with a cushion and shrugged. "Because I love my brother. And I adore him. But the idea of Pauline as my sister in law?" She grimaced. "It's like chewing tinfoil. It just doesn't sit right. Honestly, it would be so much nicer if it were you."
My laugh burst out before I could stop it. "Stop it. Don't even start."
"I'm serious," she said, eyes sparkling with mischief. "You've known him forever. You understand him better than anyone. You're the only one who can go toe to toe with him and not end up crying in a powder room."
"Still nonsense." I tried to wave her off, but my cheeks were already warm.
Tessa leaned forward, lowering her voice like she was sharing a forbidden secret. "Then at least flirt with him. Just a little. Remind him you are not the awkward girl from the garden anymore."
My eyes flew wide. "Tessa, are you absolutely out of your mind?"
She did not even blink. The smirk remained, like she was enjoying every second of my suffering. "What. Men like Trey do not budge unless you give them a reason. Get him drunk, let that CEO armor of his slip for one night, seduce him, and then boom. He wakes up realizing he has always been in love with you. Maybe he proposes. Or you get pregnant and he has no choice but to marry you instead."
"Tessa," I hissed, hugging the pillow tighter as if it could protect me from her reckless imagination. "If you keep talking like that, I swear I will throw you out."
She only grinned wider, eyes twinkling with wicked amusement. "You are thinking about it," she sing sang, tapping my knee. "Your face says oh no she read my mind."
I glared but my pulse was pounding too fast, betraying me. Because her words, as absurd as they were, tugged on something buried deep inside me. Something fragile. Something I spent years trying to suffocate. Ever since Trey walked back into my life with that calm voice and sharp stare, I had been wrestling with emotions I did not want to feel. Longing. Anger. Curiosity. That stupid tiny spark of hope.
Tessa stood and ruffled my hair, like I was still her little sister caught daydreaming. "Just think about it," she said, winking before slipping out the door.
The soft click of the door closing echoed in the silence that followed. I stared at the space she left behind, my heart still racing.
Flirt with him.
Seduce him.
Make him fall.
I buried my face in my hands. My fingers dug into my scalp, trying to contain the chaos in my head. I could not believe she said those things so casually, like my heart was not already hanging by a thread. The idea of Trey seeing me as something more than a business partner or a childhood nuisance was intoxicating. Dangerous. It whispered possibilities that terrified me.
What if there was still something there between us?
What if I tried and he rejected me again?
What if I let myself hope and ended up shattered all over again?
I inhaled sharply. I should not care about him anymore. I should not feel anything when he looks at me with that unreadable expression or when his voice dips as if he wants to say something real but stops himself. I should have moved on a long time ago.
But here I was. Heart racing over the very man who taught me what heartbreak felt like. Tessa was wrong. I was not going to give him the power to hurt me again. At least, that is what I told myself.
As my thoughts spiraled, I pressed a hand to my chest and felt the wild uneven rhythm beneath my palm.
God, why did he still make me feel this way?
Why did my heart ignore every warning my mind screamed?
I lay back down, staring at the ceiling, trying to slow my breathing. I thought I had buried the past deep enough that it could never break free again. But Trey Carson walked back into my life and suddenly the grave was too shallow.
I hated that Tessa put all of this into words. I hated that a part of me wanted her words to be true.