Page 64 of So Close to You
Daphne approaches again.
“I’m not abandoning you. I’m just asking for time until the storm passes.”
“But there’s always a condition, isn’t there? As long as it doesn’t hurt the business. As long as the market allows it. As long as the scandal doesn’t splash onto you. Do you think I’m proud of this?”
“No, I know you’re not. But right now, this is what we have,” Daphne replies coolly.
Nerissa nods, and with that, she leaves the coffee, Daphne, and that damn apartment behind. But before she goes, she turns and looks her in the eyes.
“Now I understand why I never managed to truly love you.”
Chapter 23
The door to Nerissa Aschcombe’s apartment swings open in the middle of the night, and there stands Seraphina, her hair plastered to her cheeks. Her eyes, usually cold and calculating, now look like two exhausted wells. She’s not wearing any makeup. There’s no trace of the unflappable CFO Nerissa has known for years. Just a woman at her limit.
Nerissa stands still in the doorway, her hand still on the doorknob. The exhaustion of the day immediately transforms into something sharper. Into a dull rage that burns in her chest.
“What are you doing here?” she asks.
Seraphina doesn’t answer with words. She takes a step forward, crossing the threshold. The movement is deliberate, almost defiant. She closes the door behind her and stands there, less than a meter from Nerissa.
“I needed to see you,” she confesses. Her British accent, usually so polished, sounds hoarse.
Nerissa lets out a bitter laugh. And then, she crosses her arms, instinctively shielding herself.
“Now you need to see me? After treating me like I was a mistake you could erase from your calendar… Now?”
Seraphina looks down for a second, but then lifts her gaze again. After all, she has nothing left to lose.
“You were right about everything you thought of me. I was a coward. And cruel, too.”
The air in the room is charged with electricity. Nerissa feels her pulse quicken. She wants to scream at her, she wants to throw her out, but the sight of Seraphina like this, stripped of all her armor, stops her.
“I slept with Daphne,” Nerissa blurts out suddenly, and the words sting on her tongue as she speaks them. It’s a brutal confession, a deliberate attempt to hurt her out of the spite burning in her mouth. “While I was consumed with wondering what the hell I’d done wrong again, I… I sought comfort wherever I could. Comfort with the wrong person.”
Nerissa holds her breath, waiting for Seraphina to get angry, to raise that wall of pride and aristocratic possessiveness that has always defined her. She expects the Manchester high society woman to scream at her. But the woman in front of her doesn’t flinch; she just looks down for a second and nods, accepting the blow as a deserved punishment.
“I know,” Seraphina replies, strangely devoid of venom. “And I have no right to reproach you for anything. It was I who pushed you into her arms. With my silence. With my damned fear.”
Nerissa blinks, completely taken aback by the lack of barriers. Seraphina takes another step toward her, breaking the safe distance. Now they are so close that Nerissa can even hear her heartbeat.
“Adrian had me trapped,” Seraphina continues. “He had photographs of Chester. Of us. He threatened to use them if I didn’t resign and pull some strings in his favor. He told me they’d paint me as an irresponsible, unstable, immoral mother.And I… I was terrified, Nerissa. I was so terrified that I chose to destroy the us we had before risking losing my children. Which… obviously, has happened,” she sobs.
Nerissa feels her anger and the hatred she felt begin to crack. The pieces suddenly fall into place.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she whispers.
“Because I’m a proud idiot,” Seraphina replies with a sad, broken smile. “Because I thought I could fix it on my own. Because I believed that if I kept you at a distance, I was protecting you. And instead, I only hurt you more.”
Nerissa feels her hands trembling. All the resentment that has built up over days struggles against a wave of understanding. Seraphina, the woman who never lost her composure in a boardroom, stands before her confessing her greatest fear.
Suddenly, Seraphina’s knees seem to give way. She sinks to the living room floor, first sitting on the carpet, then leaning forward until her forehead almost touches the fabric. Her shoulders shake. Her whole body does. And a low sob, held in for far too long, escapes her throat.
Nerissa looks down at her for what feels like an eternity. Then, as if pushed by an invisible force, she kneels beside her. She reaches out a hand and places it on Seraphina’s back.
“Shh…” she murmurs, though she isn’t quite sure what to say. “It’s okay…”
Seraphina lifts her head. Her eyes are red, and her cheeks are wet with tears she doesn’t bother to hide.
