’Present day.’
The memory faded back into the dark interior of the town car. Isabella’s sobs had finally slowed down to soft, shuddering breaths.
She was sitting directly on Aaron’s lap now, her small hands resting weakly against his chest, her forehead leaning against his shoulder as he continued to brush her soft hair away from her face.
Isabella swallowed hard, her voice raspy from crying. "Aaron?"
"Hmm?"
She stayed quiet for a moment, gathering her thoughts before asking the question that had been burning in the back of her mind ever since the courtroom.
"How long did you know?" she asked softly. "About the eye drops... how long did you know what he was doing to me?"
Aaron’s hand paused in her hair for a split second before continuing its slow, soothing motion. "I suspected something was wrong years ago, Isabella."
Isabella felt a sharp pang in her heart. She lifted her head slightly, her blind green eyes clouded with fresh confusion. "Why didn’t you say anything to me?"
Aaron looked down at her pale, tear-stained face, his blue eyes softening. "If I had walked up to you two years ago and told you that your perfect husband was poisoning you... would you have believed me?"
The quiet answer hit Isabella like a physical blow. She froze, her lips parting slightly, but no words came out.
He was right. Back then, she would have defended Kian with everything she had. She would have called Aaron a liar, a jealous intruder trying to tear her marriage apart. She had been so blind, long before her eyes ever stopped working.
"I’m sorry," she whispered, her voice dropping into a ashamed murmur. "I was such a fool."
"I don’t want your apology," Aaron said firmly.
Before she could process his tone, Aaron reached down, cupping her thighs and pulling her up so she was fully straddling his lap.
Isabella’s breath caught in her throat. Suddenly, the quiet space between them evaporated.
She became acutely aware of everything: the warm, broad press of his legs beneath hers, his large hands resting possessively on her waist, the subtle, rich scent of his cologne filling her lungs, and the embarrassing realization that she had just spent twenty minutes crying like a child right on his chest.
A bright, hot flush crept up her neck, spreading across her cheeks.
"Aaron," she stammered, her hands pressing against his shoulders as she tried to shift backward. "Wait... I should sit on the other seat—"
"Sit still," Aaron commanded softly, his hands tightening just enough on her waist to keep her anchored in place.
Isabella swallowed hard, her heart hammering against her ribs. He raised one hand, his rough, scarred palm brushing against her cheek to wipe away the last stray tear.
The contrast between his harsh, calloused skin and her smooth face sent a strange, sudden shiver straight down her spine, making her stomach flip in a way that made her feel even more confused.
Trying desperately to break the sudden tension hummed in the air, Isabella cleared her throat, asking the one thing she needed to hear.
"What about... what about the doctors?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly. "The specialists you brought in at the estate back in Russia... they finished their tests, but nobody told me anything. Am I... am I ever going to get my sight back, Aaron?"
Aaron looked down at her flushed face, a low, slow smile spreading across his lips.
"Of course you are," Aaron said, his voice dripping with smooth, effortless mischief.
"It would be a real shame if you couldn’t see the expression on my face when I slide it inside you."
"Slide what in?" She asked.
It took her three full seconds to process what he had just said. When it finally clicked, her jaw dropped, and her face flushed a furious, dark crimson that burned all the way to the tips of her ears.
"Aaron!" she gasped, her hands slapping against his chest in shock. "Why do you always have to say such dirty things?!"
Aaron chuckled, a low, deep sound that vibrated against her hands, his eyes crinkling with genuine amusement.
"Can’t help it, sweetheart," he murmured, leaning in until his lips brushed against her warm ear. "It’s the only language I speak."
...
Hours later ~
Across the city, far away from the quiet comfort of Aaron’s car, the atmosphere inside the high-end hotel suite was heavy, dark, and thick with the stench of cheap whiskey.
Kian sat on the edge of the large king-sized bed, his suit jacket discarded on the floor, his silk tie loosened and hanging limply around his unbuttoned collar. The room was dark, lit only by the faint glow of the city skyline through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
His mind was a screaming vacuum of humiliation and rage. Every word Isabella had spat at him in the courtroom kept repeating in his head, over and over, like an endless loop of fire.
’Why would you drown me in the same darkness you created? Why would you sleep with Alice? Why won’t you just let me go?’
How did Isabella find out about Alice? Who had told her about his affair?
He poured another heavy glass of scotch, his hand shaking so violently the amber liquid splashed over the glass and onto his knuckles.
He downed it in one hard gulp, the alcohol burning a path down his throat, but it did nothing to numb the frantic, clawing terror in his chest.
He was losing her. The law couldn’t hold her. The paternity test hadn’t brought her back. She hated him, and the thought of her looking at him with those clear, beautiful green eyes filled with pure hatred was driving him completely insane.
He needed the dark. He needed her back in the dark where she couldn’t see what he was, where she had no choice but to rely on him, to touch him, to need him.
With erratic, impatient fingers, Kian grabbed his phone from the nightstand and dialed a number.
Twenty minutes later, a soft knock sounded at the door.
Lily stepped into the quiet room, pulling her light jacket tight around her shoulders. She was a young girl he had met weeks ago at a lounge, someone he had paid for a single night simply because from behind, her long dark hair and slender frame reminded him vaguely of his wife.
"Mr. Carter?" Lily asked hesitantly, smelling the thick stench of alcohol the moment she crossed the threshold. "Are you alright? You sounded strange on the phone..."
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