CHAPTER 57 – BETWEEN TWO WORLDS
R I N A
The estate was quiet after the girls left for school.
Too quiet.
It amazed me how much noise two five-year-olds could carry in their little bodies laughter echoing through hallways, questions tumbling one after the other, footsteps pattering like a rhythm only they could hear. When the door finally closed behind them, when the hum of the engine faded down the long driveway, the silence that followed pressed against me like a weight.
I stood in the middle of the living room, arms folded, staring at the sunlight crawling across polished marble floors. The house was beautiful, perfect, immaculate. And yet… it didn't feel like mine.
I wasn't sure it ever could.
The girls, though they belonged here already. I'd seen it in their eyes these past few days, how quickly they adapted, how safe they felt. They had everything a child could dream of,a room that looked like a fairy tale, staff that adored them, a father who had thrown the entire world at their feet just to make them smile.
And me?
I still felt like a shadow hovering at the edge of their brightness.
I exhaled slowly, dragging a hand through my hair. There was only one thing I could do before the day consumed me before the questions in my head twisted into something I couldn't untangle.
I had to see Liora.
I owed her that much.
The thought of her face still haunted me, the way her eyes had burned with disappointment, the way her words had cut sharp, furious, true. She had been my anchor for years, the one who stayed when the world crumbled around me. And I had hurt her by almost running, by choosing fear when she had begged me to fight.
No. I needed to face her. I needed her to know the truth, even if she didn't forgive me.
By the time I slipped into the car and told the driver my destination, my heart was hammering against my ribs. The drive into the city blurred by in streaks of glass and steel, my reflection staring back at me from tinted windows. I wondered, briefly, what Lucian would think of this little excursion. He already knew I had told him last night. He hadn't stopped me, but his silence had lingered like a warning in my chest.
Still, I went.
I had to.
Liora's apartment building was nothing like the estate. Modest but warm, with ivy climbing the walls and windows that always seemed to spill with golden light. I hesitated at her door, my fist raised but unmoving, the weight of five years of friendship pressing against me all at once.
Then the door opened before I even knocked.
Liora stood there, arms folded, brows arched. "Well, look who finally decided to crawl out of her palace."
Her voice was sharp, but her eyes… her eyes softened the moment they met mine.
"Liora…" My throat tightened. "I came to"
"To explain?" she cut in, though her mouth trembled like she wasn't sure she wanted to hear.
"Yes." My voice cracked. "Please, just let me in."
She stared at me for a long beat, then stepped aside.
The familiarity of her space hit me instantly the scent of coffee and vanilla candles, the cluttered but cozy arrangement of books and sheet music, the piano in the corner polished to a gentle shine. This had always been my safe place, and now I stood in it as a stranger.
Liora closed the door, leaning back against it. "So? Talk."
I swallowed hard. "I'm sorry. For everything. For making you feel like you didn't matter. For almost running away when you've done nothing but fight for me to stay strong."
Her eyes flickered.
"I was scared," I whispered. "Scared of him. Scared of what he could do. Scared that if I let him into our lives, I'd lose the girls. I thought leaving was the only way to protect them. To protect myself."
"And now?" she asked, her voice softer but still edged.
I exhaled shakily. "Now… I see how wrong I was. The girls love him. They adore him. He.....he's their father, and no matter how much I fight it, I can't erase that. I explain what happened to Isla and the whole drama to her,They begged me not to leave, Liora. They cried. And I couldn't break their hearts again. I promised them."
Tears pricked the corners of my eyes, spilling hot and fast before I could stop them. "I stayed. For them. And maybe… maybe for myself, too. Because I realized he's not what I thought. He's not my enemy. He was a victim, too."
Liora's face softened as she stepped closer. She wiped one of my tears with her thumb, sighing. "Rina, you idiot."
I laughed through the sob that tore out of me. "I know."
"You're stubborn and reckless and dramatic." She pulled me into her arms, squeezing tight. "But you're still my best friend. Don't you ever forget that."
Relief broke inside me like sunlight through clouds. I held her tighter, letting the silence stretch until my heart steadied.
When she finally pulled back, her expression was serious again. "Just promise me something."
"Anything."
"No more running. Not from him. Not from them. Not from yourself."
I nodded, firm. "I promise.
From Liora's, I went straight to the boutique.
The shopfront gleamed in the morning light, elegant letters spelling out my brand across frosted glass. Inside, everything was just as I had left it,bottles lined neatly on shelves, the faint scent of citrus and jasmine hanging in the air, the soft hum of the diffuser filling the silence.
This was mine.
My world.
The place I had built with trembling hands and stubborn will, the place that reminded me of who I was before everything else crashed down.
I walked through slowly, brushing my fingers over the counters, the glass, the displays. I could almost hear the laughter of clients during opening night, the quiet murmur of investors who had doubted me before but now praised what I created.
Here, I wasn't just a mother. I wasn't just a survivor.
I was Rina Hale,he perfumer who had carved beauty out of grief, who had bottled memories into scents and sold them as hope.
And yet, as much as this world anchored me, I couldn't deny the truth: another world was pulling me in now.
Lucian's world.
The girls' world.
I stood in the middle of my boutique, heart heavy and full all at once, and whispered into the empty air:
"How do I live in both?"