Chapter 15

That evening, Sebastian kissed the side of my neck before slipping on his watch. “I have to talk to my team upstairs,” he said, adjusting his cuff. “We’re running deep scans into the security breach. It’s internal. Someone either sold us out, or they’re stupid enough to think they could outmaneuver me.”

I nodded, leaning against the doorframe of the suite. “Go. Handle your empire. I’ll be here.”

He paused, scanning my face as if he could sense something unsettled beneath my smile. “You sure you’re okay?”

I tilted my chin. “I’m not breakable, Sebastian.”

A slow smirk tugged at his lips. “No. You’re just dangerous when provoked.”

“Exactly.”

He tapped my cheek lightly, then left.

I made myself a drink and sat out on the balcony, watching the moonlight glitter over the dark ocean. Peaceful. Perfect. So obviously about to be ruined.

My phone lit up again.

Unknown Number: Pearl. Just one dinner. One. For closure. Please. You owe me that much. Jacob.

Of course, it was him. I didn’t even need to guess. The man was consistently clueless about knowing when to quit.

I almost showed the text to Sebastian. Almost. But something stopped me. No, not fear. Pride. I wanted to handle this myself. End it cleanly. Face-to-face. I didn’t need Sebastian to fight my ghosts. Not this one. Not anymore.

So I said yes. One dinner. One final conversation.

I arrived at the restaurant he picked—private, low lighting, white tablecloths trying to impress. He was already sitting at a corner table with a view, nursing some dark liquor like it would somehow make him look more tragic.

Jacob stood up when I walked in, eyes raking me top to bottom.

“You look…expensive,” he said, as if he didn’t expect me to still wear my power like skin.

“Because I am,” I replied smoothly, slipping into the chair across from him. “Get to the point, Jacob.”

He stared at me for a long moment. “You’re really going to marry him, aren’t you?”

“I’m already married, sweetheart.”

His jaw twitched. Then he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a velvet box. Opened it slowly. A diamond the size of his ego gleamed under the light.

He slid it across the table. “You’re not. Not legally. You and I both know you rushed this with Sebastian to get under my skin. Pearl, you’re confused—”

I started laughing. Right there. Loud and careless.

His mouth pulled into a sneer. “What the fuck is so funny?”

“You.” I wiped a tear from my eye. “You’re pathetic, Jacob. You think this is some grand romantic gesture? You think I’m going to cry and fall into your arms because you finally decided I’m worth your attention?”

He leaned forward, voice low and angry. “Don’t act like you didn’t love me.”

“I did. Deeply. Stupidly. Enough to tolerate your lies, your gaslighting, your fuckery with Lavenia. Remember her? Your favorite charity case with a Gucci habit?”

He went silent.

I leaned back. “You’re not here for love. You’re here because your pride can’t stand that I moved on. That I married your business rival. That I’m not at your feet sobbing like you thought I’d be.”

“Pearl—”

“You only want what you can’t have. That’s your disease. But I’m not your cure.”

He slammed his glass against the table. “He’s using you.”

“No,” I said calmly, rising to my feet. “He values me. He protects me. He actually gives a damn. Something you never did. So take your ring and give it to Lavenia. Or better yet, pawn it and buy a new personality.”

I didn’t even flinch when he stood, red-faced and furious.

“You’ll regret this,” he hissed.

“Not a chance,” I replied, brushing past him like he was nothing more than an old memory.

As I stepped into the night air, heels echoing across the stone path, I let the cool wind hit my face. I should’ve felt victorious. And I did. But beneath that victory, there was a slight tremor. Not fear. Just awareness. This wasn’t the end. Not for a man like Jacob Moreau. But I’d already played his game.

And now? I was the one writing the rules.

I walked back into the villa barefoot, heels in hand, dress clinging to my skin from the ocean breeze. The air inside was warm and scented with the citrus candle Sebastian always lit at night. Everything looked the same. But I wasn’t.

I stood still in the foyer for a beat too long, letting the silence settle. I’d walked away from Jacob tonight. From a chapter I once thought I couldn’t live without. From a man I had built fantasies around only to later realize I was a side character in his own delusions.

It felt good. But still, I was trembling. Not from fear. Not from regret. From release.

“Where were you?” came Sebastian’s voice.

I turned, slowly. He was standing by the glass doors to the balcony, shirt unbuttoned halfway, glass of whiskey in hand, eyes sharp as winter steel. And he already knew.

Of course he knew.

I opened my mouth, but he held up a hand. “Don’t lie to me, Pearl.”

“I wasn’t going to.”

“You had dinner with Jacob.”

I exhaled. “Yes.”

His jaw clenched. He took a breath like he was holding back a storm. “One of my men spotted you entering the restaurant. I told them to stay back unless you signaled distress.”

I moved closer, placing my shoes on the console table. “I wasn’t in danger, Sebastian.”

“That’s not the point.”

“I needed to end it. On my terms. For me. Not for you. Not for us. For me.”

He studied me, eyes darker than the sea at midnight. “You don’t owe him closure.”

“I didn’t do it for him,” I said softly. “I did it because I was tired of dragging ghosts into our bedroom. I was tired of pretending I’d let go when parts of me were still chained to the past. I faced it. I faced him. And I walked away.”

He didn’t speak. He just crossed the room in three strides and pulled me into him with the kind of possessive gentleness that made my knees weak. His hand cupped the back of my head. “You’re mine now,” he whispered against my temple. “And next time, you don’t walk into war without your king.”

That made me smile. Because only Sebastian could say something so dangerous and so tender in the same breath.