Chapter 175 - 0175
Kaelen POV
"Are you seriously not going to stop her?"
My pen froze.
For several seconds, I stared down at the signature I hadn’t finished, my grip tightening around the pen until my knuckles turned white, but I still didn’t look up.
"Oh, for fuck’s sake, Kaelen." Darius’s voice grew louder as he stepped closer to my desk. "Stop this bullshit."
My jaw clenched.
"You messed up," he continued, his voice filled with frustration. "We fucking messed up by not realizing she was a victim from the beginning. But are you seriously going to sit here and watch her walk out of your life when you know damn well it’s killing you?"
My grip tightened around the pen until my knuckles turned white. Slowly, I lifted my gaze to meet his.
I knew what he saw in my face because I could feel it myself. The exhaustion. The guilt. The pain I had spent the last two days trying to bury beneath an endless pile of work.
"It is for the best," I finally rasped, the words sounding hollow even to my own ears while Darius stared at me for a long moment, his expression twisting with disbelief before anger quickly replaced it.
"Fuck you!" he growled, and with that, he turned on his heel and stormed out of the office, slamming the door behind him so hard the nearby shelves rattled.
The moment he was gone, whatever strength I had been pretending to have disappeared with him, and my fingers started trembling.
I lowered the pen toward the document, determined to keep working, but my hand shook so badly that the tip barely touched the paper before dragging across it in an uneven line.
With a frustrated growl, I hurled the pen across the room. It struck the wall with enough force to send pieces of plastic scattering across the floor.
Then I shoved both hands through my already messy hair, breathing heavily as I tried to get a fucking grip on myself.
When that didn’t work, I pushed away from the desk and crossed the office in a few quick strides before stopping at the floor-to-ceiling windows behind it.
My palms pressed against the cold glass as I looked down at the courtyard.
Maybe I could see her.
Just once.
I didn’t need to talk to her. I didn’t even need her to know I was watching.
I just wanted one last glimpse of her before she left.
But my office was on the top floor, and the angle gave me a clear view of the private rear courtyard while completely blocking the departure gates from sight.
"Dammit!" I muttered, slamming my fist against the window frame.
She was leaving.
Right now.
While I stood here doing absolutely nothing.
And once she drove through those gates, I had no idea if I would ever see her again.
****
Lorelei POV
Kaelen really didn’t show up.
Even with my bags already packed into the trunk of Raven’s car, the reality of his absence still hit me harder than I wanted to admit. I had spent the entire morning telling myself I didn’t care, that I wasn’t expecting him to come, and that it would be easier if I simply left without seeing him.
But apparently, my heart hadn’t gotten the memo.
My eyes kept wandering across the courtyard, searching the windows and every doorway I could see, secretly hoping his tall figure would appear at the last second. Maybe he would come running out. Maybe he would finally stop me.
But he didn’t.
And the longer I stood there, the more stupid I felt for hoping he would.
"It was a pleasure serving you, Miss... Lorelei," Isaac said quietly.
I blinked and finally looked toward him, realizing he was standing beside Paul with his head lowered and an unusually sad expression on his face.
For a moment, I simply stared at them.
They had both come down to see me off.
After everything that had happened, they were still my personal guards, and yet I had been so caught up in my own disappointment that I hadn’t even noticed them standing there.
A small, airy laugh slipped from my lips, although there wasn’t much humor behind it. "It was a pleasure being served by you too. Both of you."
I glanced between them, my lips curving into a faint smile. "It really is a shame it was for such a short time. I’m going to miss you both."
With that, I stepped forward, opening my arms for a hug without even thinking about it, but both men immediately flinched.
Then, as if they had rehearsed it, they took a synchronized step backward, causing me to freeze.
Isaac quickly extended his right hand toward me, putting a very deliberate amount of space between us. "A handshake would be better, Miss," he said hastily.
Paul nodded beside him a little too quickly.
I stared at the outstretched hand for a second before letting out a quiet, humorless scoff.
"Seriously?"
Isaac looked away awkwardly.
Shaking my head, I took his hand first before turning to Paul and giving him the same brief handshake.
That tiny interaction somehow said more than either of them could have.
Kaelen and I clearly had no relationship anymore. He couldn’t even bring himself to come downstairs and watch me leave, yet his presence still hung over this place like an invisible warning.
Even after everything, his guards were still afraid to touch me.
His authority over this estate, over the people who lived and worked here, was absolute.
A few minutes later, Darius finally walked over to the car to say his own goodbye. He tried his best to keep things light, asking me to promise that I would call him as soon as I got a phone and even saying he hoped he could visit whenever he had some free time.
But knowing how far away this empire was from where I was going, combined with how demanding his position kept him, I knew there was very little chance of that happening anytime soon.
Still, I gave him a small smile. "I’ll call you."
Neither of us mentioned Kaelen.
I certainly wasn’t going to bring him up, and Darius seemed to understand that there were some things neither of us was ready to say out loud. So instead, we stood there in an awkward silence, staring at each other while everything we actually wanted to say remained trapped somewhere between us.
Eventually, Raven broke the silence.
"We really should leave now, Lorelei," she said gently, offering Darius a sympathetic smile.
Darius let out a long sigh, his shoulders dropping slightly as though the weight of the moment had finally caught up with him. "I guess this is really goodbye, then."
His grey eyes met mine, and for a second, neither of us said anything.
"Goodbye, Lorelei," he finally whispered, his voice thick with emotion.
I swallowed hard, forcing down the lump that had formed in my throat before giving him a small nod.
"Goodbye, Darius."
And goodbye to you too, Kaelen.