When The Devil Wants

Chapter Sixteen

(Eleanor's POV)

The morning light came through the curtains in thin, pale strips.

I was already awake, sitting on the edge of the bed with my hands in my lap.

Lucian had left fresh clothes for me on the chair last night.

A long black coat, dark sunglasses, and a wide-brimmed hat that would cover most of my face.

I didn’t ask why.

I just stood up and started putting everything on, piece by piece.

The coat swallowed me whole and the sleeves hung past my wrists.

I pulled the hat low until the shadow fell over my eyes, then slid the sunglasses on.

In the mirror I barely recognized myself.

I looked like a stranger trying not to be seen.

Elise was waiting outside the door when I stepped out.

She didn’t say anything about the disguise, she just nodded once and started walking.

The car was already running in the driveway.

Lucian was in the driver’s seat, and he didn’t look at me when I got in.

We drove in silence all the way to the hospital.

My fingers kept twisting in the fabric of the coat because I didn’t know what else to do with them.

The hospital smelled the same as it did the last time I was here.

Antiseptic and fear and too many people pretending they weren’t scared.

Elise led the way and I followed two steps behind her.

We stopped outside Stella’s room and Elise knocked once before pushing the door open.

Stella was sitting up in bed, scrolling through her phone.

The moment she saw me, her face twisted into something between surprise and satisfaction.

“Look who decided to show up,” she said, setting the phone down.

“You’re brave, coming here like this.”

I pulled the hat off and let my hair fall around my shoulders.

“I’m here to talk about the police case,” I said, and my voice sounded steadier than I felt.

Stella smiled slowly, like she had been waiting for this exact moment.

“You want me to call them off,” she said. Her lips curled up in a slow smile “That’s why you’re here.”

I nodded because I didn’t trust myself to speak yet.

The room was too quiet and the machines kept beeping in the background.

“Okay,” Stella said, leaning back against the pillows.

“I’ll call them off. But only if you divorce Marcus.”

The words hit me harder than I expected.

I had known this was coming, but hearing it out loud still made my chest go tight.

“You’re pregnant with his child,” I said, because I needed to hear her say it. I needed her to confirm her lie once again.

“And you don’t want me tied to him anymore.”

Stella’s smile didn’t reach her eyes.

“That’s right. Sign the papers, and I’ll make the police problem disappear.”

I thought about the contract I signed with Marcus and the shares I would lose if I broke it early.

The family lawyer had told me there would be a penalty. A big one.

But the alternative was jail, and maybe worse.

So I took a breath and nodded again.

“Fine,” I said. “I’ll do it.”

Stella’s eyes lit up and she reached for the folder on her bedside table. I was surprised to find that she had prepared it in advance. Turns out she had me right where she wanted.

She slid the divorce papers across to me.

“Sign here,” she said, pointing. “And here.”

My hand was shaking when I picked up the pen.

I signed my name twice, and with each stroke I felt something inside me break off.

“Good,” Stella said, taking the papers back.

“I’ll call off the police as soon as Marcus signs too.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. Getting Marcus to sign should be easy.

“Then I’ll go give it to him,” I said quietly.

Stella didn’t answer. She was already back on her phone like I had never been there.

The drive to Marcus’s house felt longer than it was.

Elise stayed in the car while I walked up to the front door alone.

This was still my house too, technically. But it didn’t feel like mine anymore.

I knocked twice and waited. When the door opened, Marcus was standing there in sweatpants and a t-shirt. The same sight that had always brought a smile to my face once upon a time, now I could only feel nauseous.

He froze when he saw me.

“Eleanor,” he said, and he sounded genuinely surprised. A knowing look flashed across his face.

“About the police —”

“I know,” I said, because I could see it in his face.

“We need to talk.” I cut him off coldly, the fierce look in my eyes burning through him.

He stepped aside and let me in.

The house was exactly how I left it, which somehow made it worse.

I pulled the divorce papers out of my bag and slid them across the marble counter toward him.

Marcus picked them up and flipped through them slowly.

His expression didn’t change, but his jaw got tighter with every page.

When he finished, he set the papers down and looked at me.

“You expect me to sign this,” he said. It wasn’t a question.

“I need you to,” I replied. My eyes remained guarded, I refused to let him get to me.

He laughed once, but there was no humor in it.

Then he pushed the papers back toward me across the table.

“I’m not signing it,” he said.

“I’m not divorcing you.”