Nova sat by the window window of her penthouse, her fingers wrapped around her glass of wine which she had barely touched. The city glistened under the night sky, but she could not focus on any of it, she was still thinking about her last encounter,
Dominic's voice, his eyes and the way the control he had cracked just small little but when she challenged him.
She let out a shallow exhale, her breath fogged up the glass on the window in front of her,
She thought it would feel like a victory, she thought it would be a step closer to the revenge that she had been plotting for years, And yet, she could not shake the memories, there was a little something about the way he looked at her, something that brought back a fragment of herself that once cared for him, but she wouldn't let herself go there, her phone vibrated with a soft buzz, which snapped her out of her thoughts, She picked it up and glanced at the message,
Victor;
"There's a change of plans, I won't be able to make it tonight, Something came up suddenly, I'm sorry."
Nova had a scowl on her face, tonight was Dominic's party and it was a high-profile business gathering meant to secure his latest investors, She was not going to miss it for any reason, It was a chance for her to push the advantage she had, another chance to remind him that she was no longer the woman he casted out, but now she would be going there alone, the idea of her going there alone left her with a particular odd feeling which she did not want to examine too closely.
A second message arrived before she could reply to the first,
Victor;
"Just be careful, okay?, Don't lose yourself in this."
Nova set the phone down.. thinking to herself, "Careful.."
That was the only thing she could not afford to be,
Few Hours later, the ballroom of the Lakeshore Hotel filled with soft music and shimmering lights, there was laughter which echoed under the high chandeliers, their glasses clinked, and the smell of expensive and ambition filled the air.
Nova walked through the entrance, her dress was a shade of deep emerald green, every head turned as she walked past, her expression remained so calm, and her movements were graceful.
But that was when she saw him.
That was when she saw Dominic.
A Tall, effortlessly handsome man in a perfectly fitted suit, his dark hair brushed lightly against his forehead, His expression just as unreadable as ever, but his green eyes, as always, sharp enough to cut through glass.
And at his side, she stood.
Alicia.
His fiancée.
She clung onto his arm, her smile was radiant, and her eyes glistened with something that Nova recognized instantly, something that seemed like possessiveness, It showed with the way Alicia leaned in close, and the way her grip on Dominic's sleeve always tightened whenever someone new approached him.
Nova kept her face neutral, though the sting she felt was sharper than she would have ever expected.
She moved about the room with ease, offering out polite smiles, exchanging greetings and accepting compliments that had barely registered to her, Her heart beat in her chest with a rhythm that was unsteady.
She wasn't the woman that she once was, she had to remind herself of that, and yet, when her gaze caught Dominic's from across the ballroom, something inside her flickered, it flickered just slightly, but it flickered just enough.
His gaze shifted first,
As the evening stretched on, every encounter and every glance shared, She wasn't sure when it started, or when the pull between them became something she could no longer dismiss, But she realized on thing, that the game they were playing was no longer just about business, it was about something more, and the line she swore never to cross was already beginning to blur.
As the night pressed on, the illusion of perfection wrapped around the ballroom, Nova stood by the grand staircase, her fingers grazed the side of her glass and her eyes drifted one more time, drifted again to where Dominic stood.
He looked as composed as always, but she could see the flickers of emotion beneath his stoic expression, His shoulders felt stiff and His smile feigned, never reaching his eyes, And Alicia, his Fiancée kept on clinging to him, laughing a bit too loudly, forcing her claim of him with every subtle movement, and he seemed more like an ornament than a partner.
Nova took a sip of her drink, trying very hard to steady her pulse,
This wasn't why she came.
She didn't come here to feel and she didn't come here to care,
Her plan was supposed to be simple, to humiliate him, and outshine him, to remind him of the woman he had discarded, But now, in this very moment, watching him from across the crowded ballroom, she realized her heart had betrayed her.
She turned away.
The guests attention shifted, A conversation drew Alicia's attention, in that moment, Nova barely noticed that the distance between herself and Dominic collapsed, One moment she was moving through the crowd, and the next, she felt his stare just a few steps away.
"Nova."
She heard her name from his lips, and it was quieter than she had expected,
She looked up carefully with a blank expression, "Dominic, "
They both stood awkwardly at the edge of the balcony, the buzz of the party faded out, and the music softened, and for a long moment, neither one of them said a word.
Then finally the silence broke,
"Why are you really here?" he asked quietly, his voice was low enough that only she could hear,
Nova's lips curved into a half-smile, "I was invited, the same as you."
"You know that's not what I mean," His eyes looked through hers, the frustration was clear but it was filled with something else, Something that felt softer, "This isn't just business to you, is it?.. Don't lie to me."
Her heart tightened, She hated the way she felt when she heard his voice, like he could still reach some parts of her she thought was buried.
"I'm here only because I can be here," she replied, "I'm here because I'm no longer the girl you ignored anymore."
He swallowed hard, and his expression was unreadable, "You think I don't know that? You think I haven't noticed every second of it?"
She was caught aback, she caught off guard by the firmness in his voice,
"Do you ever think about it?" he asked suddenly, "do you ever think about the way things ended?"
Nova stiffened up, "I try not to," she whispered,
But it was just a lie, and they both knew it was a lie,
The air between them became thick and the space shrank, The flicker of something flashed in his eyes, and she felt an undeniable pull from him,
But she couldn't stop herself, her voice became low, "You have a fiancée," she murmured.
Those words hung in the air, like something either of them wanted to hear, but what happened next unraveled faster than they could have expected,
Dominic's hand brushed gently against her arm, it was barely a touch, But it felt like a shot of lightning to her,
Her breath caught,
His fingers trembled against her skin, and the nearness of him was overwhelming, And without a moments thought, he closed the distance,
His lips touched her lips in a kiss and it was neither soft nor gentle, It felt hungry, it felt wild, and it felt confused, her hands pressed against his chest, she wasn't pushing or pulling away, she just stood there, frozen.
And for another breathless second, the whole world dissolved, and at the same moment, they tore apart instantly, they both gasped and looked at each other with wide eyes, neither of them knew what the hell just happened.
Nova's heart thudded in her chest, She stepped back while staring into his eyes,
Before either of them could say a word, the voices around drifted toward them again and the spell they had been under had broken.
Nova turned away sharply, walking away from him without a seconds thought, and neither of them noticed the pair of eyes watching from a corner, it was Alicia, her hands at her sides were already curled into fists.
Nova kept on walking until she reached the far end of the corridor, her breath was shaky, and her heart slammed against her ribs, She layed a hand against the marble wall, the taste of his lips still lingered in her mind, it was haunting and it was impossible to ignore.
What had just happened?
It was not supposed to be this way, She was supposed to be the one in control, she had calculated every move and every word, She was supposed to make him pay for everything,
But not this,
Not a kiss that left her thought filled with chaos,
She shut her eyes, trying to breath and trying to focus, she was trying to push it all away, telling herself it meant nothing, And yet, deep down, a part of her knew that wasn't true.
Back inside the grand ballroom, Dominic was still frozen for several seconds, his heart was still pounding, he was barely able to register anything around him.
He ran his hand through his hair, his fingers slightly shaking,
What the hell did he just do?
The kiss came out of nowhere, like something primal out of his usual stoic demeanor, He could not recognize who he was in that moment, For years, he had mastered control over everything, over his business, over his emotions,
But with her… everything changed,
His eyes scanned the room, but Nova was gone,
He turned to find Alicia smiling up at him, it was a little too much and a little too forced,
"Are you alright?" she asked sweetly, but her eyes felt sharp and cold, as though they were searching for something
Dominic nodded, offering her a shallow smile, "I'm fine," he murmured.
But Alicia wasn't fooled,
She had already seen what happened, From the extreme end of the balcony, hiding in the shadows, she had watched the entire thing happen, The way shade in Dominic's eyes changed, The way his hand had touched Nova's, and the way their lips met as if they were pulled by gravity.
She was filled with fury, but she had managed to hide it,
"This wasn't part of the plan" she thought to herself,
Dominic was hers, He was supposed to belong to her and no one else,
She said nothing else as he went briefly to greet a guest, Alicia remained still, as her hands curled tightly at her sides until her perfectly manicured nails tore into her palms.
The image kept flashing in her head over and over again, the image of his lips on Nova's, and the softness in his eyes that had never once been shown towards her.
Her heart hardened and became colder, the jealousy she'd once had turned into something darker, If Nova Lin wanted a war, Alicia was ready to give her one.
Outside the ballroom, Nova finally caught her breath, She moved into the cold night air, letting the wind bruise her skin,
Her hands were still trembling, She hardly noticed when her phone began to buzz, She took it from her purse, eyes blurry until she saw a name on the screen,
Victor.
She let it ring on, She wasn't ready to hear the voice of reason, Not right now at least.
Somewhere deep inside her, Nova knew that all that happened this night could not be undone, The line between her and Dominic had been blurred, and no matter how much she tried to ignore it, nothing would ever be the same again between them, the game they were playing had changed, and neither of them had any idea what the cost would be.