Chapter 18
“The Reeds and the Sinclairs have never seen eye to eye… What’s Mr. Reed doing here?”
Whispers rippled through the ballroom like waves in a storm.
All eyes turned to the tall figure standing in the doorway.
Sebastian Reed. Tailored suit. Storm in his eyes. His gaze was glued to Scarlett and Lancaster’s interlocked fingers,
burning a hole through their hands as if sheer willpower alone could rip them apart.
“Is he… staring at her like that because he’s about to crash the engagement?”
Lancaster reacted instantly, pulling Scarlett protectively behind him, his arm a quiet but firm shield.
But Scarlett… was calm. Strangely calm.
She looked at Sebastian and smiled. “Mr. Reed. What brings you here? Did you come bearing wedding gifts?”
The words were sharp, clean, and stabbed like glass.
Sebastian’s jaw tightened. A vein popped along his neck. His voice was hoarse, unsteady. “Scarlett. Come back with me.”
She smiled wider, eyes colder. “Back to what? So I can watch you obsess over Lily Whitmore again?”
“I don’t love Lily.” His voice cracked through the room like thunder.
“I love you.”
Gasps echoed through the ballroom.
“He’s crashing the engagement!”
“Didn’t they say he was emotionally detached? Cold? Never getting involved with women? But now that he’s finally
smitten, it’s with the same girl the Sinclair heir wants?”
“A billionaire love triangle? My God, this is better than any drama I’ve ever seen!”
Sebastian took a deep breath and forced the panic down. “Let’s talk. Somewhere private.”
Lancaster let out a low laugh. “You’re not invited, Mr. Reed.”
Scarlett gently touched his wrist. “It’s okay. I’ll talk to him.”
Lancaster frowned, clearly worried. “I’ll go with you.”
Scarlett shook her head. “I’ll be fine. I’ve already heard everything I need to.”
Inside the Rolls-Royce.
Scarlett sat in the passenger seat, staring calmly out the window.
Sebastian sat beside her, his tie loose, shirt collar open, bloodshot eyes screaming exhaustion and desperation.
He looked nothing like the man who had once ruled her world with cold, calculated indifference.
Chardi
19.35%
“I did copy the footage,” he began, voice rough. “But it wasn’t to blackmail you. I… just wanted to keep it. For myself.”
“I had the detention center handled. I never meant for you to get hurt. It was Lily-she used my name to pay off the
guards.”
“The reason I didn’t let you into my study… is because I hid all your stuff there. As for those photos of Lily-it was her. She
bribed the staff to put them up.”
“I’ve sent Lily and her mother off to marry some seventy-year-old in Northborough. Your father? Bankrupt. I ended the
company.”
He spilled it all. Every secret. Every lie. Like trying to surgically extract the poison from their past.
When he finished, Scarlett simply asked, “And then what?”
Sebastian blinked. “Then… come home with me.”
“I’ve only ever loved you,” he said quietly.
Scarlett smiled.
It was soft. Beautiful. And crueler than any scream.
“Sebastian,” she said calmly, “you always knew where I stood. And yet, you still chose to protect Lily every single time.”
“Even if you didn’t love her… you hurt me. Over and over again.”
“I stopped loving you during that time. Piece by piece.”
“And now?” She turned to him, eyes calm and sharp. “There’s nothing left to pick up.”
Sebastian’s hands clenched the wheel, knuckles white.
“I’m not perfect, Scarlett. I screwed up, yes-but can’t you forgive even a little?”
“Is one mistake enough to lose you forever?”
Scarlett looked him dead in the eyes. “Yes.”
“I don’t hate you. But I’ll never love you again.”
She reached into her bag and pulled out a white envelope with gold trim.
A wedding invitation.
“In three days, I’m marrying Lancaster.”
“You, Mr. Reed, don’t strike me as the kind of man who begs. Let’s not start now.”
“So let’s both keep our pride intact.”
“Let’s end this with dignity.”
She opened the door and stepped out into the evening without looking back. Lancaster was waiting for her by the
sidewalk.
Sebastian sat frozen, watching the woman he’d once had. He remembered the first time he saw her.
Scarlett in a red dress, fiery and proud. She’d blazed into his monochrome life like a wildfire he never saw coming.
Now, that fire… was gone. Extinguished. Forever.
