The Billionaire Accidental Bride

chapter 9

Gavin POV

The heavy oak front door didn't just close—it severed something fundamental inside my chest.

"Please don't go," I begged.

The words tasted like ash, raw and desperate as they scraped past the lump in my throat. Natalie paused on the threshold, her silhouette framed by the cold, indifferent twilight spilling in from the driveway. For a agonizing second, time seemed to freeze. She looked back at me, her gaze lingering on my face with an expression so profoundly fractured it made my knees buckle. Her eyes—those mesmerizing, mercurial silver orbs that had held me captive since the day we met—were flooded with unspilled tears, shining like fractured starlight. I had spent countless hours completely lost in those eyes, finding peace in their cool radiance. But right now, they reflected only tragic resignation.

She looked at me, then down at the luggage in her hand, and finally at the open doorway. Without a single word, she stepped into the night and pulled the door shut behind her.

The click of the latch sounded like a gunshot in the silent foyer.

She betrayed me. The thought burned through my veins like molten lead. She packed her bags and left because she couldn't face what she’d done. But even as my ego screamed at me to hate her, a fragile, pathetic little voice in the back of my mind whispered a delusion to keep my heart from shattering completely: *Maybe she’s just giving us space. Maybe she’s coming back tomorrow. She has to come back.*

The agony of her departure was a physical weight, pressing down on my lungs until every breath felt like inhaling glass.

"Finally."

The sharp, silk-smooth voice shattered the quiet, instantly souring the air in the room. I turned around slowly, my chest aching, to find Ava standing near the edge of the living room rug. She had a glass of wine loosely held in one hand, her red lips curved into an insufferable, triumphant smirk. She wasn't even trying to hide it. She was practically vibrating with delight because Natalie was gone.

"So," Ava purred, setting her glass on the side table and taking a slow, deliberate step toward me. "When is your flight tomorrow? Early, right? We should make the most of tonight. Let's have some fun together, my love." she said to me

She swayed toward me, hips moving with that practiced, predatory elegance I used to mistake for passion years ago.

"Stop right there," I snarled, my voice dangerous and low.

Ava paused, blinking in mild surprise, though the amused smile never entirely faded from her face. "What?"

"What is wrong with your head?" I snapped, the rage finally overriding the numbness in my veins. "I have a girlfriend. I love Natalie so much it frightens me. Very soon—sooner than you think—I am going to put a ring on her finger and make her my wife. And you actually thought I would cheat on her? With *you*? The same woman who gutted me and cheated on me years ago? You must be out of your absolute mind."

Ava’s smile instantly evaporated, replaced by a dark, ugly scowl. She crossed her arms, her eyes flashing with childish spite. "To hell with your stupid girlfriend, Gavin! Are you seriously telling me you haven't missed me? Even a little bit? Look at us. Look at this house. We belong together."

"Your head is seriously not correct," I said, looking at her with nothing but utter disgust. "You’re sleeping in the guest room down the hall. And tomorrow morning, the second the sun touches the horizon, you are out of my house. Permanently."

"Babe, come on!" Ava whined, taking an aggressive step closer, her voice rising in theatrical offense. "Why on earth would I sleep in some cold guest room when I'm in my man's house?"

"Who is your man?" I roared, my hands clenching into fists at my sides. The sheer audacity of her presence made me want to tear the walls down. The only thing stopping me from throwing her out into the rain right now was the lingering memory of her family; a deeply ingrained sense of duty made me hesitate. "It hurts me so much that not a single one of your relatives lives in this country right now to come grab you, or I’d have called them hours ago."

Turning my back on her visual toxicity, I slammed my foot onto the bottom step of the staircase, intending to lock myself in my bedroom until morning.

I took two steps up. Then three.

Suddenly, the world violently tilted.

A agonizing weight settled onto the crown of my skull, so heavy and intense it forced a sharp gasp from my throat. A blinding, white-hot pain tore through my temples, as if a rusted blade was being driven straight between my eyes. My vision went completely black around the edges.

"Ah—!" I groaned, collapsing onto the stairs and gripping my head tightly with both hands, my fingers digging into my hair so hard my scalp burned.

I was so dizzy the house seemed to spin on a axis of pure agony. My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird. And then, behind my closed eyelids, the darkness exploded into a rapid fire of chaotic, violent images. Memories—realities I hadn't known existed—began flashing like lightning strikes across my mind.

*A rain-soaked road... the blinding glare of high-beam headlights reflecting off wet asphalt...*

*Natalie's voice, raw and terrified, screaming my name over the sound of pouring rain...*

*Ava standing in a shadow, holding a phone, a cruel smile on her face...*

*A fabricated story. A setup. Another woman hired to frame a betrayal...*

*A single, undeniable truth ringing through the chaos of my mind like a cathedral bell:*

*She never betrayed me.*

Natalie was innocent. Every lie I had believed, every bitter word I had thrown in her face tonight, was a carefully orchestrated poison fed to me by the viper sitting in my living room. Natalie hadn't broken my heart—I had broken hers, driven by a web of deception I was too blind to see through.

The headache receded as fast as it had hit, leaving behind a cold, terrifying clarity. My breath hitched in my chest.

Slowly, deliberately, I lowered my hands from my head. I opened my eyes. The warmth was entirely gone from my body, replaced by a ice-cold rage that vibrated in every nerve ending.

I turned around on the stairs and looked down at Ava. She was standing at the foot of the steps, watching me with a look that hovered nervously between concern and calculating fear.

"Ava," I said. My voice wasn't loud. It was barely above a whisper, but it carried a deadly, razor-sharp edge that made her flinch.

"What did you do to Natalie?"