Chapter 506
Chapter 506:
“No, I love the work.” I couldn’t exactly tell him I had a feeling my engagement was circling the drain. So I said, “I’ll probably be spending more time in Paris. Might even move the studio here p>
“Yes!” he said, actually snapping his fingers. I’d never seen him do that. “I wanted to bring it up, but figured I’d sound too eager. You have no idea how happy that makes me p>
I raised my glass. “Cheers p>
At least Fabrizio’s offer was real, solid. Something I could build on.
Ashton had been back in Skyline for two days. We’d called over the weekend, gone through the motions—”How was your day?” “Did you eat?” “Sleep well p>
“Goodnight p>
But I could feel the performance on both ends.
He seemed distracted. Like something was sitting heavy on his mind.
A few times, he opened his mouth to speak, then changed his mind.
He had that look—hesitant, guilty. Like someone about to say something they didn’t want to say.
I didn’t push him.
When he was ready, he’d tell me.
But the signs were all there. He’d stopped chasing me about the wedding dress. Never asked for my guest list. The honeymoon chat had gone cold.
Fabrizio, ever the gracious host, didn’t pry, but he must have sensed something.
After a long lunch, we went back to the office.
I signed the share agreement and transferred the money.
Just like that, we were business partners.
I shoved thoughts of Ashton into a mental drawer and got back to work, sketching out a new collection using plique-à-jour enameling.
Work, work, work.
𝗀Ɐ𝗅𝗇𝗈ν𝖊𝗅𝘀.𝒸𝗈𝗺, 𝓶𝗈𝗋𝑒 𝓬𝒉𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓈 𝗈𝗇
It was the only thing keeping me steady right now.
But once I left the office, I was back to being that hollow, floating version of myself—adrift in a foreign city.
Yvaine knew me too well. The silence on the phone barely lasted a second before she pounced.
“Spill p>
I didn’t want to.
I’d been dreading this. Yvaine had a way of putting into words things I couldn’t bear to admit.
But she wasn’t the type to let it go.
“Tell me over the phone, or I’ll fly to Paris and drag it out of you in person p>
“I don’t think there’s going to be a wedding, after all p>
Silence.
Then: “Start from the beginning. No skipping p>
So I told her everything—the woman in the red dress, the almost-kiss, the sudden call that pulled him away, the way they’d flown back to Skyline together. And the sinking feeling that this woman meant more to Ashton than anyone else ever had. Including me.
“He hasn’t said anything,” I said. “But I can feel it. A breakup’s coming p>