Elodie’s POV~
“Here, take these!”
York shoved the binoculars into my hands before I could protest, his face lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. “You have to see her, Elodie! Number 38! The red racing suit! She’s insane, gorgeous and wild and just... perfect!”
I didn’t want to look. I didn’t care about racing, didn’t care about whoever this woman was that had York acting like he’d found religion. But he was staring at with so much excitent, so much hope that I’d understand, that I couldn’t say no.
I lifted the binoculars to my eyes.
The world zood in a blur of colors and movent until I found number 38. Red racing suit, sleek and bold against the track lights.
My breath caught.
Sienna.
CC was Sienna.
Of course it was.
I’d heard rumors that she was good at extre sports, that she could do basically anything and make it look effortless. But racing? Being this good? Good enough to have an entire crowd chanting her na like she was so kind of goddess?
She stood by her car, pulling off her helt, and even from this distance I could see why they loved her. The racing suit hugged every curve of her body, tall, confident, the kind of beautiful that didn’t need trying. She moved like she owned the world. Wild and elegant and so completely untouchable.
I hated how much I could see it. How much sense it made.
My hands trembled as I adjusted the lens, and that’s when I saw Dante.
He was across the track in the VIP section, and he wasn’t alone. Liora sat beside him, my baby girl, the one who’d been on a video call with him earlier. And next to them were so of his closest friends from the Pack, the ones he actually made ti for.
They’d all co here. For her.
Dante’s eyes were fixed on Sienna, and even through the binoculars I could see the way he was looking at her. That intensity. That focus. The sa way he used to look at , back when I still mattered.
My chest felt like it was caving in.
“The race is starting!” York yanked the binoculars back, nearly taking my fingers with them.
I stood there, frozen, my eyes still locked on Dante across the track. He leaned forward slightly, his whole body attuned to Sienna’s every move. Liora was clapping beside him, bouncing in her seat.
The engines roared to life.
Cars shot forward in a blur of color and sound, and the crowd went absolutely wild. York was screaming, jumping up and down, but I couldn’t hear him anymore. Everything sounded distant, muffled, like I was underwater.
“Look, look!” York thrust the binoculars back at . “Watch this turn coming up, she’s going to do sothing crazy, I can feel it!”
I took them because I didn’t know what else to do.
I found Sienna’s car, watched as she approached a sharp curve at a speed that seed impossible. She was going to crash. She had to—
But she didn’t.
She took the turn at the last possible second, cutting inside with perfect precision, overtaking two cars in one smooth, dangerous move.
The crowd exploded.
Even I felt my breath catch. It was reckless and brilliant and terrifying all at once.
I shifted the binoculars back to Dante.
He was on his feet now. Actually standing. His expression... his expression was filled with Amazent. Admiration. Pride, maybe. Things I hadn’t seen directed at anyone in so long I’d almost forgotten what they looked like.
Liora and his friends were jumping around him, celebrating like Sienna had already won.
And ?
I was standing here in the cheap section, forgotten, watching my husband fall in love with soone else in real ti.
“Isn’t she amazing?!” York grabbed my arm, shaking it. “Tell you see it now! Tell you understand!”
I understood. I understood perfectly.
The race continued, but I couldn’t look away from Dante. Even when York took the binoculars back, even when the crowd scread and engines roared, my eyes stayed fixed on that VIP section across the track.
When the race hit a brief pause, Sienna was in first place. Obviously.
“Can I see them again?” The words ca out of my mouth before I’d thought them through.
“Yes!” York practically threw them at . “You’re hooked, aren’t you?! I knew it! No one can resist her, doesn’t matter if you’re a guy or a girl, she just has this... this thing. You can’t help but fall for her!”
I smiled. I actually smiled, even though I felt like I was shattering into a thousand pieces inside.
I lifted the binoculars back to my eyes, but I wasn’t looking at Sienna.
I was looking at my husband.
My phone felt heavy in my pocket. I could call him right now. Right this second. Watch through these binoculars as his phone lit up with my na.
Would he even look at it?
Or would he just decline the call without a second thought, too absorbed in her to bother with ?
I already knew the answer.
He’d ignore it. Or worse he’d glance at the screen, see my na, and deliberately send it to voicemail because acknowledging would an tearing his attention away from Sienna, and why would he ever do that?
I lowered the binoculars slowly.
What was the point?
Calling him wouldn’t change anything. It wouldn’t make him see . Wouldn’t make him rember that I existed, that we were bonded, that we had a daughter together who needed both her parents.
It wouldn’t make him love again.
If he ever had.
The noise of the crowd swelled around , but I felt so far away from all of it. Like I was watching my own life from outside my body, seeing how pathetic it all was.
I didn’t want to call anymore.
There was no point.
There had never been any point.
One last ti.
That’s what I told myself as my thumb hovered over Dante’s na in my contacts. Just one more ti, and then I’d stop. I’d stop hoping. Stop reaching out into the void expecting sothing different.
I pressed call.
My heart hamred against my ribs as I lifted the binoculars with my other hand, zooming in on that VIP section. On him.
The phone rang once.
Dante glanced down at his phone. I watched him do it—watched the exact mont he saw my na on his screen.
It rang twice.
He stared at it for a second. Just one second. And then his thumb moved.
Declined.
The call ended abruptly, that harsh beep in my ear like a slap. He didn’t hesitate. Didn’t even look conflicted about it. He just... dismissed . Then he slipped his phone back into his pocket and turned his attention right back to Sienna, like I’d never existed at all.
Like I was nothing.
I sucked in a breath that hurt going down. My hands were steady as I lowered the binoculars, and I realized distantly that I wasn’t even surprised. Of course he’d decline. Why would this ti be any different?
I smiled. I don’t know why I smiled, but I did, this small, broken thing that probably looked more like a grimace.
“Here.” I handed the binoculars back to York, my voice calm. “I’m good.”
He barely noticed, already turning back to watch the final stretch of the race.
I didn’t watch the rest. Didn’t look at the track, didn’t look at Dante, didn’t let myself feel anything except this weird, hollow numbness that had settled into my bones.
When the race ended, Sienna won. Obviously.
The crowd lost their minds. York was practically vibrating with excitent, shouting and jumping with his friends, talking about rushing down to get her autograph.
“I heard CC doesn’t do autographs,” one of his friends was saying, breathless with adrenaline. “Like, ever. She’s not just so racer, she’s got a PhD from one of the top universities in the European Packs. Racing’s just a hobby for her. She doesn’t need fans or validation or any of that. She just... does what she wants.”
“Yeah, and apparently she always leaves right after,” another friend added. “There’s this private exit for racers only, super exclusive. You need connections to even get close. We’re not getting anywhere near her.”
York groaned dramatically, but he was still grinning. “Man, just once I’d love to et her. Just once.”
They kept talking, voices overlapping, but I wasn’t really listening anymore.
My phone buzzed. Stella. Asking where we were, telling to bring York ho now before Nonna started worrying.
“York.” I touched his shoulder. “We need to go.”
“But—”
“Your grandmother’s waiting.”
He deflated a little but nodded. His friends wanted him to stay, to hang out and grab food, but I shut that down fast. Stella would have my head if I ca back without him.
“I need to use the restroom first,” I said quietly.
York waved off, already back to talking with his friends about Sienna’s final turn.
The restroom was tucked away down a hallway that was blessedly quieter than the main area. The noise faded to a dull roar as I pushed through the door, and for a second I just stood there, staring at myself in the mirror.
I looked tired. Hollow. Like I’d been scraped out from the inside and left with just the shell.
I washed my hands slowly, letting the cold water run over my skin. Breathe in. Breathe out. You’re fine. You’re always fine.
When I finally stepped back out into the hallway, I wasn’t paying attention. My mind was sowhere else, sowhere far away from here, from this night, from everything.
I rounded the corner and walked straight into soone.
“Oh—sorry, I—”
I looked up.
And froze.
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