Chapter 7 - The True Confession
The penthouse was completely dark when we stepped through the front doors, save for the golden city lights glittering through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
I didn't turn on the lamps.
I kicked off my designer heels, letting them drop to the hardwood floor, and walked over to the massive glass window looking out over Central Park.
Sebastian hung his coat up, walked into the room, and stopped a few feet behind me. The silence between us was thick, heavy, and humming with an electric current that had been building for months.
“Victoria,” Sebastian called out softly.
I turned around to face him. The moonlight caught the silk of my sapphire dress and the diamonds around my neck.
“You said something to Ryan back at the gala,” I whispered, looking straight into his eyes. “You told him I was your wife. And that he treated me like an option.”
“He did,” Sebastian said, stepping closer, his gray eyes locking onto mine with absolute focus. “He was an idiot who had a diamond in his hands and treated it like glass.”
“And what do you see, Sebastian?” I asked, my voice barely above a murmur, taking a step toward him. “When you look at me? Is this still just a business contract? A one-year arrangement to protect your company’s stock price?”
Sebastian stopped right in front of me. He reached out, his long fingers gently cupping my cheek, his thumb tracing my lower lip. The warmth of his skin sent a wave of heat straight through my body.
“It was never just a business contract for me, Victoria,” Sebastian confessed, his deep voice thick with raw emotion.
I held my breath. “What do you mean?”
“Two years ago,” Sebastian whispered, leaning his forehead against mine, his eyes shining with undeniable truth, “when I saw you at that museum fundraiser, I fell in love with you the moment you spoke about your passion for justice. When I asked you to dinner and you told me you were engaged, my heart broke. But I respected you too much to interfere.”
My eyes widened in complete shock. “Sebastian...”
“When I showed up at St. Jude’s Church to officiate your wedding,” he continued, his hands moving down to wrap securely around my waist, pulling me flush against his hard body, “I spent the entire morning forcing myself to accept that I was going to watch the woman I loved marry someone else. And then... your sister walked down that aisle.”
He looked down into my eyes with an intensity that made my knees weak.
“When I saw what those people did to you,” Sebastian whispered, “I knew I couldn't let you be broken. The offer I made you at the altar wasn't an exit strategy for your pride, Victoria. It was my second chance to give you the life, the love, and the respect you have always deserved.”
Tears spilled over my eyelashes, but a radiant, breathless smile broke across my face.
“You’re an idiot, Sebastian Sterling,” I whispered, reaching my arms up around his neck, sinking my fingers into his soft silver hair.
He smiled faintly. “Why?”
“Because you made me wait two months to hear you say that,” I whispered.
Sebastian let out a low, breathless laugh, framed my face with both hands, and brought his lips down onto mine.
This kiss was completely different from the one at the altar. It wasn't performative, it wasn't strategic—it was pure, unadulterated passion. His mouth moved over mine with a fierce, hungry possessiveness that erased every lingering doubt in my mind. I surrendered to him completely, melting into his arms, kissing him back with everything I had.
May you like
He lifted me easily into his arms, my sapphire silk dress trailing over his arm, and carried me down the grand hallway toward his master suite.
That night, the contract was completely forgotten. The boundaries disappeared. Under the warm glow of the city lights, I gave myself to the man who had saved me, and Sebastian loved me with a reverence and passion that remade my entire world.
