Chapter 94

Lucian’s POV

When I returned home that evening, after visiting my father once more in the hospital and discovering he had blessedly awoken, I expected to head straight to bed. It was late, after all, with all of the servants gone for the evening.

Instead, I found Sheila waiting for me in the living room, a half-empty bottle of wine on the coffee table in front of her. Seeing me, she stood and, leaving her empty wine glass behind, stormed toward me.

“Are you having an affair with Dr. A?” she demanded.

This wasn’t the first time she had asked him this. Her paranoia and jealousy was outrageous on the best of days, especially considering he was still married to Aria and not committed to Sheila at all beyond some unofficial sense of duty.

What made it even worse this time was that this was his greeting, after spending several hours in and out of the hospital with his father, after having been there most of the night. She didn’t once ask after Dad’s health.

Instead, her entire focus was on if I was fooling around with Dr. A, a question that had absolutely no merit. Dr. A might remind me of Aria, but that was where the depth of our relationship ended. Elsewise, we were entirely professional.

“Get out of my way, Sheila,” I said firmly. More than losing my cool at her, I just wanted to go to bed.

“You didn’t answer my question,” she replied.

“And you didn’t ask about my father, who I remind you, nearly died.”

To her credit, she blanched at my words. Her mouth formed a tiny little circle and she uttered a small, barely audible, “Oh.”

“He woke up, by the way,” I said. “Thanks to Dr. A.”

Her mouth twisted into a skewed line, like she didn’t know whether to continue being sad and guilty, or to go back to being unreasonably pissed off.

“I’m not fooling around with Dr. A,” I said with annoyance.

Finally her anger dissipated. “I’m so sorry, Lucian. You know how I am.”

I did, unfortunately.

“Sometimes I can’t control my jealousy with you, but it’s only because I care for you so much. I waited so long to be with you, and now that you and Aria are finally divorcing and I get my chance to be with you again… I don’t want to risk it. Not for anything.”

I had agreed to none of that, which she knew. My silence spoke volumes.

“When are you going to finalize the divorce?” she continued on, like she couldn’t notice my annoyance with her. “As soon as you are free of her, then you and I can get married.”

“Do not rush me, Sheila,” I said. I would not and could not be rushed. Not with the divorce and certainly not with the decision to remarry. If only out of respect, I would give the appropriate wait time after my divorce was finalized before committing to a new marriage, regardless of what Sheila thought or wanted.

“Why wait?” Sheila pressed. “Everyone expects you to remarry as soon as possible.”

“The divorce is still not finalized. These things take time, and I still need to convince my parents.”

“Let me talk to them,” Sheila said. “I can convince them.”

“No.” I didn’t have full proof that Sheila was responsible for Dad’s decline in health, but given how stressed he was whenever she was around, I wasn’t taking any chances. Even if I ended up marrying Sheila someday, I would still do my best to keep the two separated at all times.

I bit back a sigh, once again missing the simplicity of life with Aria. She had cared for my parents and they for her. If she had been the one here waiting, the first thing she would have asked about when I walked through the door was Harold’s health.

By now, I was entirely fed up with Sheila.

“I’m going to bed,” I said, and stepped around her.

“But, Lucian,” she called after me. “We should talk about this.”

“Another time,” I replied without turning back. In reality, I’d avoid this topic again for as long as I physically could.

The next day, when I returned to the hospital, Mom and Dad were already speaking softly. As I walked through the door, their voices abruptly stopped.

Immediately, fear began to swell inside of me. Was something wrong with Dad? Were they conspiring to keep something important about his health from me?

Instead, Dad said, “Come here, Lucian. There’s something we want to talk to you about.”

Unsure but hiding my fear, I stepped closer. Once I was close enough, Mom wrapped her arm around me like I was a kid again.

“What is it?” I asked, bracing for the worst. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Dad said.

Mom gave him a look.

“Well… no one’s dying.”

That didn’t make me feel any better. I looked to Mom for answers. With a pleading-enough expression, she had always been the one to crack first.

Seeing me, it didn’t take long for the truth to fall from her lips. “Harold and I agree that we support the decision for you and Aria to divorce.”

The words took me by surprise. At first, I was relieved, because I had been worried Dad was sick and I was glad now that I didn’t have to worry about that anymore.

On the other hand, once the initial relief wore off, I realized the detriment to what they were actually saying.

“What changed?” I asked.

“We’ve been thinking about it,” Julia said. “Talking with each other about it. Aria dedicated so much of her life to being your wife and keeping house. She was holding herself back unnecessarily. It’s past time for her to be free to pursue her own interests.”

Everyone talked about this like I had been the one holding her back. I never asked Aria to be a homemaker. That was the role she fell into, and because she fell into it, I had assumed she wanted it. She always had every chance to pursue whatever career opportunities she wanted.

I guessed, in hindsight, I had never told her that. I wished I would have, now.

It was far too late to argue the point, especially with our bond broken and her in love with Jasper.

Yet, even so, for them to have a change of heart like this, and for this specific reason, it almost sounded like they had spoken to Aria about this.

“Was Aria here?” I asked. “Did she visit?”

Mom and Dad glanced at each other. It was clear they were hiding the truth from me. I didn’t understand why they couldn’t just tell me about it.

“We… did speak to Aria,” Harold said haltingly.

“Yes,” Julia replied.

“Is she alright? What’s going on with her?” She had disappeared after delivering Harold to the hospital. I’d been worried about her, but knowing my concern would be unwelcome, I hadn’t called or reached out in any way.

“She is fine,” Harold said.

“She has plans,” Julia said.

“Julia,” Harold said, like he was scolding.

“He deserves to know this part,” Julia said. Looking at me, she continued. “When the divorce is finalized, Aria is planning on leaving the pack.”

The words shouldn’t be a shock to me, not now, after everything. Maybe I had been expecting them.

Yet they still hurt me, and that was what surprised me.

I had thought myself incapable of hurt. Yet with Aria, my feelings continued to surprise me.

Aria was leaving the pack. She probably wasn’t going to tell me where she was going.

Once she was gone, I’d likely never see or hear from her again.