Chapter 177
[ 1,047 words ]
Delia’s POV
“Something doesn’t add up,” I said, sitting up and reaching for my silk robe. I stared at the wall, my mind retracing every word Julian had spat at me in the study.
“What is it that doesn’t add up?” Victor asked, leaning back. He looked completely unbothered, watching me with that calculating gaze.
“I keep telling myself I’m the one who belongs in that house,” I said, my voice tight. “I am married to Julian Windsor—at least in the eyes of our families—but he treats me like a stranger. He told me to my face that Katia is his type. That he’d fuck her in a heartbeat. He’s obsessed with her, Victor. It doesn’t make sense p>
Victor let out a short, dry laugh that made me flinch. “Delia, why do you keep insisting on that title? You know as well as I do that you aren’t his wife. Not legally, not truly p>
“We are married; I am his wife.” I snapped, looking at him. “But now, it’s just… cold p>
“Except you are not his wife and never were. The marriage is more than just cold,” Victor said, sitting forward. He didn’t look like he was joking. “I’ve had my people investigate that man top to bottom. Why do you keep acting like you have a claim to him? I investigated that man; he is married, but it’s definitely not to you, and the name of the wife is unknown. Unless you are the unknown wife p>
I looked at him, my heart skipping a beat. “But I’m the one who is there now p>
“Delia, Julian’s marriage was filed six or seven years ago,” Victor said, his voice cold and factual. “That couldn’t be possible because you didn’t know that man by then. So no, Delia, you are not Julian Windsor’s wife. You’re a placeholder. You’re the face he uses for the public while he keeps his real life buried. Why are you so loyal to a ghost p>
I felt a wave of disappointment wash over me. I had known about the marriage, but hearing Victor lay out the timeline made it feel so much more permanent. I wasn’t the woman who was going to replace the secret wife; I was just the distraction while Julian pined for someone else.
“He is more interested in my sister, not me,” I said, my voice trembling with a mixture of grief and growing rage. “He practically worships the idea of her. He told me women with children are ’spicier’. He told me looking at me does not even make his dick perk, and it does absolutely nothing for him p>
Victor didn’t offer me sympathy. Instead, he looked at me with a blunt, brutal honesty.
“Everyone wants your sister, Delia. You know why p>
I shook my head, feeling smaller than I ever had in my life.
“Because men love a woman who can challenge them,” Victor said, his voice harsh. “You? You are just idle. Nothing interesting is happening in your life. You have no job, no passion, no drive. You’re just waiting on mommy and daddy’s money to tell you who you are. You have never worked a single day in your life. You have all this good body, all this potential, and you’ve used it for nothing. You could have used it for modelling, for building a brand, for actually being someone. Instead, you just sit around waiting to be picked p>
I felt the sting of his words, but I forced a small, bitter smile. Even though he was bashing me, even though he was pointing out every flaw in my existence, he was the only one telling me the truth. He was the only one who saw me as more than just a Kensington name.
“I think it’s high time I start modelling,” I said, standing up and reaching for my dress. My movements were sharp and decisive. The horny, desperate girl who had arrived here an hour ago was being replaced by a woman who finally understood the game. “If Katia is the one with the ’fire’, then I’ll find my own. I’m tired of being the ’good’ daughter who gets nothing but insults p>
I zipped up my dress and smoothed the fabric over my hips. I looked at myself in the mirror, seeing the sharpness in my eyes that hadn’t been there before.
“But I also want to know why Julian is so obsessed with my sister,” I said, grabbing my bag. “If he’s been married for seven years, and he’s obsessed with Katia… and Katia has a child who is six years old p>
The realisation started to bloom in the back of my mind, a dark, dangerous thought that made my heart race. Julian had been married for seven years. Katia had disappeared and come back with a child around the same time. The “unknown” wife. The “spicy” mother.
“I’m leaving, Victor,” I said, not waiting for a response.
“Where are you going p>
“To find out exactly what happened seven years ago or six years ago, whichever fucking years ago,” I said, walking toward the door. “Julian was honest about being married, but he wasn’t honest about who she was. If I’m not his wife, I have nothing to lose by burning his secrets to the ground p>
As I left the penthouse, the cool night air felt different. I wasn’t just Julian’s rejected houseguest anymore. I was a woman who had just realised that the “unknown” wife might be a lot closer to home than I ever dared to imagine.
Julian wanted Katia? Fine. But he was going to regret the day he told me I was nothing but an idle socialite. I was going to get into the modelling world, build my own power, and then I was going to tear the veil off the Windsor marriage.
If Katia was the one who held the crown, I was going to be the one to knock it off her head.
I got into my car and gripped the steering wheel until my knuckles were white. The Kensington name wasn’t enough anymore. I wanted the truth, and I wanted the revenge that came with it. Modelling would give me the platform, but the secrets I was about to uncover would give me the last laugh.
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