Chapter 23: DESPERATE FLAMES

Chapter 23 :  Desperate Flames

Richard had barely slept since that night. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw it—Stella leaning into David’s touch, the quiet tenderness in her eyes that she had once reserved only for him. It haunted him, gnawed at him until the lines between regret and obsession blurred.

By dawn, he was pacing his apartment, the city still asleep outside his windows. Patricia stirred in the bedroom, but he barely noticed. His thoughts were elsewhere—back in the office, in that hallway, in Stella’s tear-streaked face.

He had lost her once. He couldn’t lose her again.

The next day at work, Richard cornered Stella near the elevator. His hand brushed against hers as the doors slid shut, trapping them in silence.

“Stella,” he began, his voice low, urgent. “Please. Just hear me out.”

She stiffened. “Richard, not here.”

“Then where?” His tone cracked, raw. “Where can I go to tell you that I made the biggest mistake of my life? That letting you go—letting us go—wasn’t choice, it was cowardice?”

Her eyes flashed, a mix of hurt and defiance. “You don’t get to call it cowardice. You chose Patricia. You stood beside her, Richard. You let her take everything we had and parade it in my face.”

“I didn’t—” He stopped himself, ran a hand through his hair. “I thought I was protecting us. I thought if I played along, the damage would be less. But every day since, I’ve been drowning in what I lost.”

The elevator dinged. Stella stepped out without a word, her heels clicking against the polished floor. Richard followed, desperate.

“Stella, please. Don’t push me away. I know you still feel it.”

She whirled around, her voice sharp enough to slice the air. “What I feel, Richard, is stronger than you think. Strong enough to walk away. Strong enough to finally say no.”

His breath caught. The conviction in her voice was unlike anything he had heard from her before. This wasn’t the woman he had betrayed years ago. This was someone reborn from the ashes.

And for the first time, Richard realized he might truly lose her.

Patricia noticed the shift immediately. That evening, she watched Richard pacing their living room, restless, distracted, his phone in hand like he was waiting for a call that never came.

“You went after her, didn’t you?” Patricia’s voice cut through the silence.

Richard froze. “Patricia, don’t start.”

Her laugh was hollow. “Don’t start? Richard, you’re slipping. Do you think I don’t see it? The way your eyes follow her? The way you defend her in meetings? You’re making a fool of both of us.”

Richard turned sharply. “Maybe the only fool here is me—for ever thinking this… whatever we have… could make me forget her.”

Patricia’s face drained of color, then twisted into rage. “Don’t you dare.” Her hands trembled, clutching the stem of her wine glass. “After everything I’ve done to secure us—our future—you still want her? The same little mouse of a woman who couldn’t even survive without you?”

“She survived,” Richard said quietly, almost to himself. “She’s stronger than both of us.”

The words were a knife. Patricia hurled the glass against the wall, shattering it into pieces.

“You think she’s strong?” Patricia spat. “She’s nothing without you. Without David. Without someone to prop her up. I’ll prove it. I’ll rip that mask of strength off her face and show you what she really is.”

Richard’s eyes darkened. “Patricia, stop this madness before you destroy us all.”

But she was already gone—lost to the fire of her own jealousy.

Back at her apartment, Stella sat curled on the sofa, staring at her phone. David had sent another message earlier:

“Strength isn’t just standing tall. Sometimes it’s knowing who deserves to stand beside you.”

Her chest tightened. His words carried a weight she couldn’t ignore. Where Richard’s voice pulled her backward into memories, David’s presence pushed her forward—toward something steadier, safer, real.

For the first time, Stella realized the choice before her wasn’t between Richard and David. It was between her past and her future.

And she was beginning to see which one deserved her