Chapter 2 — Goodbye Isn’t Always the End
563 Words
Juliette didn’t sleep that night. She sat by the window of the penthouse suite—her last night in the Voss mansion, her last night as Mrs. Dominic Voss—staring at the city lights of Houston.
Her designer gown still clung to her like a second skin, the sparkles now dulled by tears she refused to let fall. She had gotten what she wanted. Sixteen million dollars. A clean break. No publicity. No questions.
But she hadn't asked for the ache in her chest. The kind that didn’t listen to logic or contracts.
The door opened behind her with a quiet click. She didn’t turn around.
“I told you I’d drive you,” Dominic said.
His voice was rough. Too rough. Like he hadn’t slept either.
Juliette stood slowly, brushing her hands down her black slacks—she had changed into something simpler, something practical for a long flight and a new life. Her suitcase sat at the door. Everything else stayed behind.
They rode in silence. The SUV hummed as it sped through the city, past places filled with memories she couldn’t afford to relive. The gala ballroom. The private restaurant where she’d first met him. The courthouse where they signed a fake marriage license with real pens and fake smiles.
Now, here she was. Leaving it all behind.
At the airport, Dominic pulled into the private terminal and parked. He got out and opened her door, but didn’t help her with her suitcase. He didn’t need to. Juliette was leaving just as she came in—alone, self-sufficient, and pretending none of it mattered.
They walked side by side in silence until they reached the gate. Her private jet waited on the tarmac, engines already rumbling.
Juliette turned to him.
“You kept your word,” she said softly. “Thank you.”
He gave a nod but didn’t speak. His jaw was tight, like he was holding back more than words.
She hesitated, then took a step closer.
“I meant what I said last night,” she whispered. “I don’t want anything else from you. Just one real kiss. And I’ll walk away. You’ll never hear from me again.”
Dominic stared at her like he couldn’t decide whether to laugh or curse. Then, with a breath that sounded like it hurt to take, he stepped forward.
His hand cupped her cheek.
She leaned in.
His lips met hers.
And for the first time in three years, the world felt quiet.
It wasn’t like the staged kisses at galas, or the obligatory holiday photos. This kiss was slow, full of something neither of them had ever admitted out loud. His lips pressed into hers with tension, hunger, restraint. Her fingers curled into his coat, desperate for something real.
And just like that—it ended.
Dominic stepped back. Cold again. Guarded.
“Goodbye, Juliette.”
She nodded. “Goodbye.”
She turned without another word, walking toward the waiting stairs of the plane.
She didn’t look back.
And neither did he.
From the jet, Juliette took one last look at the man she had loved in silence. The man who never really belonged to her. Then she slid on her sunglasses and closed her eyes.
She had one final play to make. One last illusion.
And Dominic would never see it coming.
End of Chapter 2.
- Writer
