Chapter 173
Her lips curled into a wry smile as she looked away, as though ashamed of her own reflection. “I had once wanted him so much, too
much, and when I couldn’t have him, he became that impossible
dream, that treat always just out of reach. When he came back to me, I thought–no, I convinced myself–that this was my second chance, my moment to have what I had always wanted. That everything would
go back to normal when we got married.”
Carlotta let out another laugh, this one sharp and self–deprecating.
“But now? Now I doubt there was ever a ‘normal‘ to return to.”
Her shoulders slumped, her confidence crumbling in front of Amber’s
eyes. “Never mind that,” she said softly, waving a hand as though brushing away her own pain. “When Nico was born…” Her voice
caught at the mention of the little boy, and she took a deep breath
before continuing. “When Nico was born and I saw him again at a
family gathering–not long after you gave birth, when you were still
recovering–I asked him how he was. How he was doing. Just a simple
question, really.”
Her voice trembled as she paused, her eyes distant, as if reliving the
moment. “And he smiled. God, how he smiled. And do you know what
he said? He said he’d never loved anything more in his life than his
little boy. That the only thing that came close was his mamma.”
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Chapter 173
She blinked, and when her gaze met Amber’s, there were tears
shimmering in her eyes. “Not long after that–weeks, maybe–you left
him.”
Amber felt the heaviness in those words, though Carlotta’s tone
carried no blame. Just a resigned sorrow, the weight of loss etched
into every syllable. “And suddenly,” Carlotta continued, her voice
softening, “with the encouragement of my family and his, I was back
in his life.”
She gave a bitter smile, her tears now falling freely down her cheeks.
“By the next month, we were ‘together.‘ Officially. Attending parties,
galas, smiling for the cameras. Kissing behind closed doors. Telling
each other lies about a relationship that never really existed.”
Carlotta exhaled shakily, as though the weight of her words was
exhausting her. “It was nothing more than pretense,” she said, her
voice quiet but filled with conviction. “We fooled the world. Hell, we
even fooled ourselves. He pretended he was over his wife and child.
And I…” She paused, her lips trembling as she tried to hold herself
together. “I, the forever fool, pretended that he loved me.”
Her voice broke, and tears streamed down her face, the years of
buried pain finally spilling out. “He was so desperate to feel
something, anything close to what he had with you, that he asked me
to marry him. And I-” She let out a shaky laugh that dissolved into a sob. “I was so desperate to believe it was real that I said yes.”
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Chapter 173
Her hands trembled as she wiped at her tears, looking at Amber with a rawness that was impossible to ignore. “But it wasn’t real. None of it was real.” Her voice dropped to a whisper, filled with the kind of sadness that clung to the air, suffocating in its intensity. “And I
think… deep down, I always knew that.”
“It was over the moment you came back,” Carlotta said softly, her
voice tinged with a mix of resignation and bittersweet acceptance.
She turned her gaze toward Amber, her expression unreadable but her eyes filled with a weary truth. “I knew how he looked when he was in
love–how he looked at you before. I’d seen it before, back then, and
suddenly, there it was again.”
Amber froze, her throat tightening. She wanted to deny it, to
challenge the claim, but the words wouldn’t come.
Carlotta continued, her tone measured yet heavy with emotion. “He
had eyes for no one but you whenever you were in the room. And
when you weren’t? He buried himself in his work, almost like he was
punishing himself for needing the distraction.” She paused, exhaling
shakily. “It’s sad, though. Sad that you never noticed.”
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
