Chapter 42

Rose stared at Stefan, the wedding invitation sample still clutched in her hand. The gold-embossed lettering seemed to mock her now.

"What do you mean, postponed?" Her voice came out too high,too tight.

Stefan loosened his tie, exhaustion etched into every line of his face. "Just what I said. We need to push the wedding back. Until things stabilize with the company."

"Push it back? Push it back?" The invitation crumpled in her grip. "We've sent save-the-dates to three hundred people. The venue is booked. The deposit is paid!"

"I know." Stefan moved to the bar, pouring himself a drink without offering her one. "My father made it a condition of his help with the company. No distractions. Full focus on saving what's left."

Rose watched him toss back expensive scotch like it was water. The careful control she'd maintained all these years began to slip. "Your father doesn't control our lives."

"He controls the board. He controls the family shares.Right now, he's the only thing standing between me and complete professional ruin." Stefan poured another drink. "It's just a few months. Once I save the company..."

"If you save the company," Rose corrected, her voice laced with venom. "Let's be honest, Stefan. Your business is sinking, and you have no idea who's behind it."

He flinched as if she'd slapped him. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"I'm being realistic." She advanced on him, the crushed invitation still in her hand. "We've planned this wedding for a year. A year! Everyone who matters in New York will be there. This is our moment,Stefan.Our time!"

"Our time?" He turned to face her, something hardening in his expression. "My company is crashing.My family legacy is at risk. And you're worried about a party?"

"A party?" The words came out as a strangled laugh."Is that what you think this is? Just a party?"

"Rose..."

She hurled the crumpled invitation at his head. It bounced harmlessly off his shoulder, but the action broke something loose inside her. All the careful planning, the years of manipulation, the patient waiting, all threatened by his weakness, his failure to protect what was his.

"Do you have any idea what I've done for this wedding?For us?" She grabbed a crystal vase from the side table, feeling its weight in her hands. "The people I've cultivated. The connections I've built. All to ensure our place in society!"

The vase shattered against the wall inches from his head,water and flowers exploding across imported wallpaper.

Stefan stared at her, shock replacing exhaustion."Jesus, Rose! What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me?" She seized a framed photo of them, ripping it from the wall. "What's wrong with you? First you let someone destroy your company piece by piece, and now you're letting your father dictate our future?"

The frame joined the vase,glass flying across the room.

"Stop it!" Stefan grabbed for her arms, but she twisted away,snatching a bottle from the bar.

"After everything I did to have you," she hissed, "after everything I sacrificed...."

"What you sacrificed?" Stefan stepped back,something like suspicion dawning in his eyes. "What exactly did you sacrifice, Rose?"

The question hung between them, dangerous,unanswerable. For a moment, she froze,bottle raised mid-swing.

Then the rage took over again. The bottle smashed against the marble fireplace, alcohol spraying across family photos, across the custom rug they'd chosen together, across his perfect white shirt.

"I waited for you!" The words tore from her throat."While you played husband to my pathetic sister!While you built your little life with her! I waited!"

Each accusation accompanied another act of destruction. A crystal paperweight through the television screen. A chair overturned. Books swept from shelves.

Stefan backed away, watching her rampage with growing horror. "Rose, you need to calm down. This isn't about Camille..."

"Everything is about Camille!" she screamed,the name like poison on her tongue. "Poor, sweet Camille who everyone loved. Camille who got everything handed to her while I had to fight for every scrap!"

"She's gone, Rose." Stefan's voice held an edge she'd never heard before. "She's dead. And you're destroying our home over a postponed wedding."

Rose froze, breathing hard, surrounded by the wreckage of their perfect apartment. Something in his tone cut through her rage. Something knowing.Questioning.

"She's dead," Rose agreed, sudden caution threading through her anger. "And I'm your future. Not your father's company. Not your family legacy. Me."

She advanced on him again, broken glass crunching under her designer heels. "I've invested too much in us to postpone now. Too much time. Too much planning. Too many sacrifices."

Stefan stood his ground, studying her with new eyes."What exactly did you do, Rose? When Camille disappeared?"

The question struck like lightning, unexpected and searing. Had he suspected all along? Had he seen through her careful manipulations?

Rose forced her breathing to steady,her mind racing through the implications. "What are you asking me,Stefan?"

"Nothing." He looked away, the moment breaking.

"Nothing. Just... this isn't the Rose I know."

She laughed, the sound brittle and sharp. "Maybe you never knew me at all." 2

Silence fell between them, broken only by the sound of something expensive dripping onto the ruined carpet. Rose surveyed the destruction she'd caused,feeling no regret. Let him see this side of her. Let him understand what happened when people crossed her plans.

"The wedding is postponed," Stefan said finally, his voice flat. "My father gave me one month to save the company. After that, we can discuss dates again."

"One month." Rose smoothed her skirt, stepping over broken glass toward him. "And if you fail? If the company crashes completely?"

"Then we start over." He met her eyes. "Together. If that's still what you want."

The question hung between them, unexpected and revealing.

"Of course it's what I want." She reached for his face,cupping his cheek with one hand. "We're meant to be together, Stefan. We always were."

He caught her wrist,holding it just tight enough to be uncomfortable. "Then you'll wait. One month."

Something in his grip, in his eyes, warned her not to push further. The Stefan she'd manipulated so easily seemed suddenly absent, replaced by someone harder.Someone watchful.

"Fine." She twisted her wrist free. "One month. But when this is over, nothing stops our wedding. Not your father. Not your company. Nothing."

"Agreed." He moved past her toward the door. "I'll stay at the family estate tonight. Give you time to..calm down."

Rose watched him leave, not trusting herself to speak again. When the door closed behind him, she surveyed the destroyed apartment, broken glass glittering like diamonds across every surface.

Her phone buzzed, another message from the wedding planner asking about flower arrangements.With a scream of pure frustration, she hurled it against the wall, watching it shatter like everything else in her perfect life.

One month. She could wait one month. She'd waited years to have Stefan, played a long, patient game.What was one more month?

But as she stood amid the wreckage of their home,a new fear crept through her rage. The way Stefan had looked at her. The questions about Camille. The sudden hardening in his manner.

For the first time since Camille's "accident," Rose wondered if her carefully constructed world might be built on shifting sand.