Chapter 15 – The Distance Between Us.
1217 Words
The message came early in the morning, just as Ella had stepped into the kitchen to make breakfast.
> Aria: Meet me. Alone. I have something to show you about Noah. If you care at all, you’ll come.
Ella stared at the message. Her fingers hovered over the delete button. She should ignore it. She wanted to ignore it.
But curiosity—fear, even—clawed at her.
What if it was something important?
Something she didn’t know?
---
Late Morning – Upscale Café
Ella arrived nervously. Aria was already waiting at a window table, a fake smile plastered across her face.
“So glad you came,” Aria said sweetly. “I wasn’t sure if you’d be brave enough.”
Ella kept her voice cool. “Say what you called me for. I don’t have time for games.”
Aria leaned in, lowering her voice. “You think Noah's changing for you? You think you’ve made him soft? You're just a pawn, sweetheart.”
Ella blinked, her heart pounding.
Aria pulled out her phone. “Let me show you something.”
On the screen were screenshots—messages, flirtatious conversations. Her name. Noah’s name. Photos.
Some were of Aria and Noah in close proximity, one where Aria was hugging him in the hallway of his office building.
Fake, but realistic enough to make Ella’s throat tighten.
“This... this is fake,” Ella whispered.
“Is it?” Aria leaned closer. “He came to me. Said he needed comfort. That things with you were too hard.”
Ella stood up abruptly. “You’re lying.”
Aria didn’t blink. “Believe what you want. But deep down… you know. You’re just the stand-in until someone better comes along.”
---
Afternoon – The Confrontation
Ella stormed through the front door, her pulse racing, her vision blurred with emotion. She found Noah in the hallway.
“You saw her again, didn’t you?” she asked sharply.
Noah frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“Aria!” she snapped. “Don’t lie to me, I saw the pictures! She showed me your messages!”
Noah’s face hardened instantly. “You met her?”
“She called me,” Ella admitted. “She said you’ve been using me all along. That I was nothing—”
“I told you to stay away from her!” Noah shouted. “You went behind my back to meet her?!”
“Because I had no answers from you!” she yelled back, tears spilling now. “You treat me like I matter one day and like I don’t exist the next!”
His hands balled into fists at his sides. “So you believe her over me?”
“You never gave me a reason not to!” she cried.
He glared at her, breathing heavily. “This is exactly why I keep people away. Because they always twist the truth.”
“And this is exactly why I want to leave,” she said quietly.
Noah’s eyes widened, but before he could speak, she turned and walked away.
...
Ella sat on the edge of the bed, suitcase open, folded clothes piled neatly inside. Her fingers trembled as she tucked in the last blouse. It wasn’t just fabric. It was fragments of heartbreak. Every item she packed was like saying goodbye to a version of herself that had dared to hope.
The soft creak of the door didn’t startle her. She didn’t even turn around.
Noah’s voice came from behind, cold but taut with emotion. “Where do you think you’re going?”
She inhaled shakily. “Home.”
“There’s one and a half months left.”
Ella slowly turned to face him. “I can’t stay in a place where I don’t know if I’m wanted or tolerated.”
Noah stepped into the room, a legal document in his hand—the contract.
“You signed this,” he said firmly. “If you leave now, you breach it.”
“I don’t care about the contract anymore,” she whispered.
“You should.”
He walked closer, his tone hardening. “Because if you leave, your family pays for it. You remember the clause. Every cent of that loan gets reinstated. With interest.”
Ella’s breath caught. The air drained from her lungs as her eyes dropped to the paper. The words blurred, but she knew them. She had read them a hundred times.
“That wasn’t the deal,” she said, voice cracking. “You said you’d help them.”
“And I did,” he replied. “But you break this contract—you break the terms.”
Tears pricked her eyes. “So you’re keeping me here with threats now?”
“I’m keeping you here with reality.”
Ella sat back on the bed, the suitcase beside her like a weight. “This is cruel, Noah.”
He looked away. “So is falling for someone you were never meant to have.”
There was silence.
“Stay,” he said, more quietly. “Just until the end. I’ll keep my distance if that’s what you want. But don’t risk your family over… over whatever this is between us.”
Ella’s throat closed up.
She hated him in that moment—for making her stay.
And hated herself even more for wanting to.
“I’ll stay,” she whispered. “But not for you. For them.”
Noah nodded once and left the room.
The moment the door closed, she buried her face in her hands and wept—silently.
---
The Next Morning – Breakfast Table
Jack eyed the tension between them like a scientist watching a bomb about to go off.
Noah sat stone-faced, barely touching his coffee. Ella moved stiffly, eyes dull.
“I don’t know what happened,” Jack said carefully, “but this place feels like a war zone.”
Neither answered.
Jack sighed. “I’m going to visit the vineyard for a few days. Give you two some space.”
Ella nodded, grateful. Noah didn’t react.
When Jack left, the silence grew louder.
“You didn’t need to use the contract,” Ella finally muttered.
“You were going to walk away,” Noah replied. “And I couldn’t let you do that.”
Ella stood up. “You should’ve let me go. At least that would’ve been honest.”
---
That Afternoon – Elsewhere
Aria scrolled through her phone, frowning. “She’s still there.”
“She won’t leave easily,” Luca muttered.
“Then we need to break her from the inside.”
“What do you suggest?”
“Make Noah doubt her. Make her doubt herself. Use their past against them.”
---
Evening – Cold Conversations
Noah worked late in his study, trying to drown his thoughts in numbers. Ella brought him dinner, quietly placing it on the desk.
He didn’t look up.
“You don’t have to,” he said.
“I know,” she replied. “But I’m still your wife. Even if it’s just on paper.”
He flinched.
As she walked away, Noah whispered, “It’s never been just paper.”
But the words came too late.
She was already gone.
---
End of Chapter 15
- Writer
