A Night With The Billionaire Musician

FAR FAR AWAY

My head spun as I got back to my feet, processing all, and as I looked up and met his eyes. Joe’s pupils were wide and quivering with a sudden, sickening panic, as if he had only just registered what his hand had done.

“E-Elena…” he wheezed, his voice thin and broken. “I…”

New tears flooded my vision, but I didn't bother to wipe them away. I didn't even know who I was crying for anymore—the girl who just got thrown off, or the girl who spent five years loving a shadow who disguised himself so perfectly that I could only remember the man who used to hold the umbrella for me in the rain and who sat by my bed when I had the flu, holding my hand until I fell asleep.

That Joe was gone.

Joe had just assaulted me to protect his real priority.

I backed away, my breathing coming in shallow, jagged hitches. My entire body was shaking so hard I thought my bones might snap.

“Elena, please,” he said, taking a tentative step forward. “It was an accident. I just—I reacted—”

“Don’t you dare come near me,” I screamed, the sound echoing off the walls of the home we had only recently made plans to grow old in.

Joe froze, his hand trembling in mid-air, his face a mask of pathetic guilt as his lover stepped up behind him and rested a possessive hand on his shoulder.

“Relax, Joe,” he murmured, his eyes never leaving mine. “You’re being too soft. She’s the one who barged in here.”

My chest felt as though it was being crushed under a vice. I looked at the two of them, standing together like a united front, making me feel like the intruder in my own life. It hurt. It hurt with a cold, sharp precision that left me breathless.

I closed my eyes for a second, forcing air into my lungs to keep from collapsing. When I opened them, Joe was watching me with a look of wretched pity.

“I have one question for you, Joe,” I said, my voice barely a whisper, yet cutting through the silence.

“W-what is it?”

“Are you even attracted to me? To women at all?” My voice cracked on the last word.

Joe opened his mouth to answer, but the other man let out a sharp, mocking laugh. “Does the answer really change anything at this point?”

I ignored him, keeping my eyes locked on the man I thought I knew.

Joe’s gaze dropped to the floor as he finally whispered the truth. “I’m sorry.”

The two words confirmed everything. He was gay, and it meant that the life I had planned was a fiction.

My knees felt weak, and I had to lean against the wall to stay upright. “So why? Why lead me on? Why did you make me love a lie?”

“I’m sorry, Elena,” he repeated, as if a simple apology could stitch my soul back together.

“No,” I said, my voice hardening into something cold and sharp. “I don’t want your apologies. Just answer the damn question.”

“You know our families wanted this union,” Joe said, his voice dropping an octave. “When I came out to my parents… they were livid. They didn't want a gay son like me. They wanted a 'traditional' life for the company's image. They pushed me into this, Elena. They thought a marriage—that you—would fix it once we had s*x. I didn't want to hurt you—”

“Save the excuses, Joe,” I snapped, and he flinched. I realised that he had never seen me like this. To him, I was always the sweet, compliant Elena.

“Do you honestly expect me to feel sorry for you?” I asked. He tried to speak, but I cut him off. “You used me. I was nothing but a human shield, a prop to make you look 'normal' for your parents. And the worst part is, I loved you. I loved you through your cold spells and your distance. I thought it was work stress, or just your personality. But it was a game. You played me from day one.”

More tears fell, but these were fueled by fury.

“If you had just been honest when we met… I would have understood. I would have been your friend and maybe chosen to hide your secret. But you let me fall in love with a ghost. You let me believe we were real. Don't blame your parents,” I continued. “You chose this. You chose to be a liar.”

“I really am sorry,” he said, still staring at the floor like a scolded child.

I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand, my fingers brushing against the heavy diamond on my left hand. I remembered the night he gave it to me—the way I had cried with joy, promising to never let it go.

I pulled it off slowly and threw it at his feet with a dull clink.

“We’re done, Joe,” I said, my voice flat. “I want nothing to do with a coward like you or your toxic family ever again.”

Joe shook his head in disbelief. “You can’t just walk away, Elena. This is a business arrangement. Our families—the merger—”

I let out a hollow, bitter laugh. “A business arrangement.”

So that’s all I was. A line item on a balance sheet. Consider the deal canceled. Find someone else to sell their soul for your lie. I’m done with this role.”

I looked him in the eye, and for the first time in five years, I saw fear in him.

“Looking at you makes me sick,” I whispered, taking one final sniff and trying to ignore the third party who had so far been alternating between amusement and plain cold lifelessness with his facial expressions. “I regret every second I spent loving you.”

“Elena—” he started to say something, but I didn't wait for the next lie. I turned and walked out, leaving behind the ring, the wedding, and the man who never truly existed.