Chapter 3
1412 Words
Isla’s POV
A sob rose from deep within me. I had just begun to feel alive again. To find peace. To think that maybe, just maybe, I could start over.
And now, his memory was inside me.
A reminder. A stain.
I stayed in bed for hours, curled up beneath the covers, trying to figure out what to do.
How could I tell Leonidas? How could I tell anyone?
How could I be carrying the child of the man who destroyed me?
I pressed my hands to my stomach and cried until sleep finally dragged me under.
The past had followed me here.
Even at the end of the world, Cassian’s shadow still haunted me.
I didn’t hear the door open.
I had buried myself so deep under the covers, curled into myself like the world might disappear if I stayed small enough. My face was wet, my throat sore from crying. I didn’t even notice the light shifting until I felt someone’s presence in the room.
“Isla,” Leonidas’ voice was gentle, almost too careful.
I didn’t move. Couldn’t.
He came closer and lowered himself beside the bed. I felt the mattress sink slightly beneath his weight. Then his hand touched my arm, warm and steady.
“What’s going on?” he asked. “Are you hurt?”
That was all it took for my control to snap again.
“I’m pregnant,” I whispered.
Silence.
I pushed myself up slowly, wiping at my face. “I didn’t know… I swear I didn’t. It must’ve happened just before the wedding day… before Cassian…”
I couldn’t finish.
Tears streamed again, but this time I didn’t hide. I let them fall. I needed to say it.
“He rejected me, Leonidas. On our wedding day. In front of everyone. He said I wasn’t worthy of him because of who my father was. And now… I have his child.”
Leonidas didn’t speak right away. His eyes didn’t flicker. He just stared at me like he was trying to hold all the pieces of me together with his gaze.
“I should do something,” I mumbled. “I can’t have this child. Not when...”
“No,” he interrupted gently. “Stop. Isla, this isn’t your fault. You loved someone. You trusted him. That’s not a crime.”
I looked away.
He leaned closer, his voice lower now. “You’re strong. You survived what others wouldn’t. You were thrown away like you didn’t matter and you still got up. This baby… it’s yours before it’s anyone else’s. And I’m here. Whatever you decide, I’m not going anywhere.”
That was the first night I didn’t cry myself to sleep.
A few months passed.
Leonidas and his family kept their word.
I stayed in their home, surrounded by warmth and comfort I never imagined I’d have. The doctors said it was a healthy pregnancy. I carried the twins full term. A boy and a girl.
Lucian and Liora.
I stared at them for hours when they were born. Tiny fists, perfect lashes, skin like soft firelight. They were everything Cassian never deserved. Everything I thought I’d never have.
The Vale family took them in without question.
Magnus and Evangeline Vale became their grandparents in every way that mattered. They never once looked at me with pity or shame. They only asked if I needed rest, and if the twins had everything they required.
When the twins turned one, Magnus sat me down.
“You have potential, Isla,” he said, looking over his reading glasses. “And talent. It’s time we invest in you properly.”
That’s when they decided I should leave just for a while.
It was my decision, but it still felt like tearing my heart open. I kissed Lucian and Liora every morning before I left for the plane. I wasn’t just going away. I was going to study fashion and business. To start over.
And I did.
I worked harder than I ever had in my life. I stayed up reading design books, sketching patterns, watching models, learning how to speak like power lived in my lungs. I studied in Europe, bounced between cities, and fell in love with the idea of building something that was mine.
I didn’t rest. I didn’t stop. I owed it to myself. And to them.
Four years later, I came home.
The Vale estate hadn’t changed much. The marble floors still gleamed. The air still smelled like orange blossoms and wealth.
Magnus welcomed me with the loudest laugh I’d ever heard from him.
“Our girl,” he said. “Top of her class in both business and fashion. What did I say? You make us proud.”
I smiled, but inside, I was trembling. Four years ago, I had arrived in this house broken, nameless, a rejected wolf. And now I was being celebrated.
That night, they threw a party in my honor.
The ballroom was lit with golden chandeliers. Music played from a string quartet. I wore a fitted ivory dress I made myself. For once, people came to see me.
Not because they pitied me.
Because I earned it.
And the next morning, it got even better.
Magnus took me to the headquarters of one of his companies and called a staff-wide meeting. I assumed it was just to introduce me as a guest designer.
But then he handed me a file. And smiled.
“This is yours now. The whole thing.”
I stared at the name.
Silver Vale Creations.
“I want you to lead this company,” he said. “You’ve earned it.”
The next day, I stood at the front of a glass-walled conference room.
Leonidas sat beside me.
“I present to you your new CEO,” he announced. “Isla Vale. Treat her with the respect she deserves.”
Applause followed.
I stepped up to speak, but then my eyes locked on something that shattered my focus.
A man.
In the back row.
Disheveled suit. Hollow cheeks. Beard unshaved. His eyes wide.
Cassian.
He looked like a ghost.
My voice faltered for half a second before I found it again. I gave the speech. I thanked the staff. I laid out goals.
And then I left the room.
My new secretary, Anya walked beside me, whispering updates, but I couldn’t hear a thing. My mind was spinning. The past had walked into my future like it belonged here.
When we reached my office, she opened the door for me.
But before I could step inside a voice stopped me.
“Isla.”
I turned.
Cassian stood there. Same voice. But older. And worn.
“Isla, I need to talk to you.”
I stepped back. “What do you want?”
His expression crumpled. “How are you alive? We thought you died. You disappeared. You were never found.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You didn’t look. You were there when they threw me out. When Jamie had me banished. You didn’t even flinch.”
“I didn’t know what they were going to do.”
“You didn’t care,” I hissed.
“What do you want, Cassian?”
“I...” he looked around. “I submitted a proposal months ago. I begged for partnership. The Moon Dragons Pack is in trouble. My company is collapsing. No one responded. So I came in person.”
I almost laughed.
“You came in person,” I repeated, letting the bitterness rise. “You stood by while I was exiled, nearly killed, and now you come asking for help?”
He fell to his knees.
“In the name of mercy… please. I’m begging. Celine spends every coin we have. My pack is starving. Jamie’s ruined it. Just… consider the proposal. Or give me a loan. I’ll pay back tenfold.”
I crossed my arms. My voice turned cold.
“Do you remember the cliff, Cassian?”
He looked up, confused.
“I do,” I whispered. “I remember falling. I remember thinking I would die. And I remember knowing it was your silence that made it happen.”
“Please,” he whispered. “Help me.”
I tilted my head.
“No.”
He flinched.
“I built myself back up without you. I don’t owe you anything.”
I turned to my secretary.
“Anya. If he’s still here in five minutes, call security.”
- Writer
