Chapter 70
Chapter 70:
The words struck Cole like a blow, though his ego built a wall against them almost immediately. He let out a harsh, mocking scoff. “Genius? Mr. Vance, are you really that blind? Her greatest talent is lying and manipulating her way up the social ladder. She is playing you for a fool.” For a fraction of a second something flickered at the edge of his mind — the clinical data, the months of her work — but his deep-seated prejudice smothered it before it could surface.
June wanted no part of this. She didn’t want Silas pulled into the wreckage of her broken marriage.
She reached out and gently pinched the fabric of his sleeve. “Silas,” she whispered. “Let’s go. Don’t waste your breath p>
Cole saw her fingers touch Silas’s coat.
A violent surge of jealousy tore through his chest. His hands balled into fists so tight his fingernails bit into his palms. His breathing turned harsh and shallow.
Alycia felt the tension radiating from his body and decided to act. She rose onto her tiptoes and pressed her lips to Cole’s cheek.
“Cole, darling,” she said, her voice loud and saccharine. “The Michelin chef is waiting. Don’t let irrelevant people ruin our dinner p>
Cole went rigid. Alycia’s touch felt wrong — it made his skin crawl. But his pride was bleeding, and he needed a shield.
𝖱o𝗆𝖺𝗇с𝖾 𝗇𝘰v𝘦l𝘴 o𝗇
He forced himself to wrap his arm around her waist and pull her close. Then he looked at June one last time, making his eyes as dead and cold as he could manage, as though she were something forgettable on the floor.
He walked forward, forcing June and Silas to step back against the wall to let them pass.
As Cole brushed past her, the sharp cedar of his cologne mingled with Alycia’s heavy floral perfume and filled June’s nose. Her throat tightened. A wave of dizziness moved through her.
She closed her eyes and took a slow breath. Just survive the divorce period, she told herself.
Further down the hall, Cole kept his arm around Alycia. But his eyes were blank. His chest rose and fell too heavily. All he could see was June’s small hand reaching for another man’s sleeve.
At eight o’clock, the oceanfront buffet restaurant was crowded, the air rich with the smell of grilled lobster and warm spices.
June and Silas sat at a small table on the outdoor patio, the ocean waves breaking gently against the rocks below as they discussed the scuba diving schedule for tomorrow’s team-building activity.
Inside the restaurant, behind a wall of one-way glass, Cole sat at the head of a private VIP table. A massive, perfectly cooked Tomahawk steak sat untouched on his plate.
His eyes were fixed on the glass. He watched June laugh at something Silas said. He watched the ocean breeze carry her hair across her face. He watched Silas reach across the table and hand her a napkin.
Alycia sat beside him. She noticed his untouched food, then followed his unblinking stare through the glass.
A dark, ugly hatred bloomed in her chest. She was sitting right next to him, wearing diamonds, and he was staring at his plain, boring wife.
Alycia stood up. “I’m going to get some soup,” she announced. Cole didn’t blink.