Sweet Hatred-Chapter 216: Island

I didn’t say anything when as she walked out the door. Didn’t cry. Didn’t scream. I just crawled into bed that night and let the weight of everything press down on me like a silent punishment. Like maybe, if I stayed still enough, I’d sink right through the mattress and disappear.

Sleep barely came. Everything that had gone wrong in my life replayed on my mind and even in the dreams I drifted in and out of.

By the time morning came, I didn’t even check my phone. I showered, dressed like a robot, and dragged myself to the office only to hear Rose say Kael had already flown out for another executive trip. Something to do with final phase launches and high-profile closed-door deals.

I nodded like it didn’t matter. Like his absence wasn’t a hole I couldn’t stop falling through.

After that,

Days slipped into each other like wet pages. Kael and I barely saw each other, an occasional nod in the hallway, a glance across a boardroom, that was it. No words. No touches. No tension. Just a widening distance that felt like punishment for wanting more.

Eventually, I moved back to Sarah’s place, needing her presence more than I wanted to admit. She didn’t ask questions. Just held me when I let myself grief, brought me silly little pastries I liked, and even dragged me out to that club we used to haunt back when we were reckless and unhurt.

I didn’t dance. I didn’t drink much. But I let her put makeup on me and I laughed at her terrible flirty banter with a bartender, and that... felt like something.

Ashlyn, on the other hand, was another story.

She had me back-to-back in meetings, fittings, logistics, security clearances, guest management simulations. Every moment I was with her, I kept wondering if she was playing some elaborate long game, just waiting for the moment to pull the rug out from under me. But she never did.

If anything, she worked harder than anyone. Didn’t complain. Didn’t even flinch when Kael refused to take her calls. It was like his indifference didn’t faze her.

And that scared me more than I’d admit.

I hated how much I respected her work ethic.

I hated more that she sometimes made me laugh.

I didn’t know if she was trying to orchestrate my downfall... or if she just genuinely believed I was capable. That maybe, in some twisted way, she wanted me by her side.

Even still, the tension between us never fully faded. We were cordial. Efficient. Almost... strange allies. But never comfortable.

Only Sylas, her elusive brother, remained a no-show. Apparently, he was the creative mind behind the gala’s aesthetics. And also apparently, he couldn’t be bothered to attend a single meeting. His seat remained untouched at the table, and every time someone brought it up, Ash’s smile would twitch a little too tightly before changing the subject.

Two long, aching weeks passed.

Since I saw Kael properly or heard his voice not laced with cold resolve. I missed him. God, I missed him crazy. But I didn’t reach out. Didn’t dare.

Not after what I said to him or about us to Ash. I didn’t think he’d want to see me. And maybe... maybe I didn’t trust myself around him either. And It felt ridiculous that I missed him this much when the last time we were together felt like I was about to be executed. I wanted to get away from him as far as possible.

But then came the night before the gala.

The island wasn’t just secluded, it was sacred. Canto Dei Leoni. Hidden somewhere between the Mediterranean and nowhere, this place wasn’t found on any GPS. Guests only arrived by encrypted chopper or private boats with silent crews. Generational wealth pulsed in the stones of the pathways. The kind of wealth that didn’t just own land, but rewrote rules on it.

They lodged us in a marble-beamed, gold-trimmed private suite that looked like it had been handcrafted by European gods. High ceilings, velvet drapes, a custom mini-bar that probably cost more than my apartment, and a view of the ocean that made the air feel unreal.

My room? Too much.

It was ridiculous.

High, vaulted walls with golden trim. A chandelier the size of my kitchen. Fancy drapes in some ridiculous shade of royal navy. Even the damn bed looked like it belonged in a palace, massive and soft and draped in Egyptian cotton sheets that looked like it could buy my entire closet.

It should’ve felt luxurious.

But all I could think about was Kael again.

The last time we were in a room like this, he’d pushed me against a wall without saying a word, his mouth hot and angry, his hands everywhere, like he was trying to memorize me through sin.

I’d let him.

I wanted him to.

God, I missed him.

And I hated myself for it.

I sat on the edge of the bed, towel wrapped around my body, hair dripping down my back. The silence pressed down like a second skin. There were still voices faintly chattering from the other suites, Ashlyn’s laugh echoing somewhere down the hallway, but none of it reached me.

The need overwhelmed me again. Thoughts chipped away at my sanity. I missed him like crazy.

Those two weeks felt like months, stupid, dragging, endless weeks since I told him I wanted to end the contract. Since Olivia iced me out. Since everything decided to crumble at once. And I had no one to blame but myself.

Even when Kael had vanished again, his classic Roman move. I wished I could go back in time and undo whatever the fuck had changed in me and made me self sabotage.

I wanted to melt into his arms. But when things got messy, he disappeared into silence and power suits and meetings I wasn’t invited to.

And I barely saw him.

Even when I did, it was like he wasn’t really there. Just a ghost of the man who once whispered filthy things into my mouth while calling me his in a voice that made my legs shake.

I wanted him to look at me.

To see me.

But maybe I’d lost that privilege when I pulled away.

With a deep sigh, I pushed aside my thoughts.

Tonight was the night to make sure every detail was ironed out on this obscenely rich, private island that required a private jet and a background check just to step foot on it.

Tomorrow, the world would descend.

Tonight, I just had to survive.

I stood and let the towel drop to the floor, walking barefoot across the warm marble. The shower steam still clung to my skin, but the chill in my chest remained. I dressed quickly, something smooth, black, business-like, and stared at myself in the gilded mirror above the vanity. freeωebnovēl.c૦m

I didn’t recognize her.

But I put on her face anyway.

There was work to be done.

And no space left to fall apart.

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