Jealousy

Victoria barely stayed five minutes after witnessing the kiss.

She offered some excuse about an early meeting.

Nobody challenged it.

Nobody stopped her.

And nobody mentioned what had happened in the library.

Not that there was much to say.

The moment Victoria disappeared, an uncomfortable silence settled over the room.

Valeria became painfully aware of everything.

The fire.

The rain.

The distance between her and Julius.

Most of all, the kiss itself.

It had happened.

There was no pretending otherwise.

No rational explanation.

No convenient misunderstanding.

It had happened.

And judging from Julius's expression, he was thinking the exact same thing.

Neither of them looked at each other.

For almost a full minute.

Finally, Julius cleared his throat.

"This complicates things."

Valeria stared at the fireplace.

"That's one way to put it."

Another silence followed.

Long.

Awkward.

Embarrassing.

Then Julius did something unexpected.

He apologized.

Not dramatically.

Not emotionally.

Simply.

"I'm sorry."

Valeria turned.

That had not been the response she expected.

Julius rubbed a hand across the back of his neck.

A surprisingly human gesture.

"I shouldn't have done that."

The words landed oddly.

Because part of her agreed.

And part of her didn't.

Which only made everything worse.

"We both did."

“It feels like we just committed a sin, even though we're both married.”

His eyes lifted to hers briefly.

Then away again.

"Perhaps."

Neither knew what to do next.

Eventually, they retreated in opposite directions.

Like two people escaping a disaster they had accidentally created together.

Unfortunately, disasters rarely stayed contained.

Especially inside Sterling Manor.

The following morning, Victoria didn't answer any of Valeria's messages.

That wasn't unusual.

Victoria often became busy.

Meetings.

Clients.

Deadlines.

The woman practically lived inside her work schedule.

Still, something felt different.

The silence seemed deliberate.

Valeria tried not to overthink it.

Failed completely.

By afternoon, Victoria finally responded.

A single sentence.

Busy today. Talk later.

That was all.

No emoji.

No warmth.

No follow-up.

Valeria stared at the message longer than necessary.

Then locked her phone.

Something was wrong.

She couldn't explain why.

Only that she felt it.

Three days later, the first strange incident occurred.

It seemed insignificant at the time.

Almost forgettable.

Valeria had been invited to participate in a charity committee meeting.

An opportunity Rebecca described as important.

Apparently several influential donors would be attending.

Valeria spent hours preparing.

Reading notes.

Reviewing names.

Studying background information.

For once, she wanted to arrive fully prepared.

The meeting started at two o'clock.

At two fifteen, she was still waiting.

At two thirty, confusion began spreading around the room.

At two forty, Rebecca arrived.

Looking irritated.

"Why aren't you at the hotel?"

Valeria frowned.

"What hotel?"

The lawyer stared.

"The committee meeting."

"It's here."

"No."

Rebecca's expression darkened.

"It was moved yesterday."

A cold feeling settled inside Valeria's stomach.

Nobody had informed her.

The event had proceeded without her.

Every important attendee had already left.

Rebecca immediately began making calls.

Trying to repair the situation.

Valeria remained silent.

Something about the explanation bothered her.

Because she distinctly remembered receiving confirmation.

Yet when she checked her email, the message wasn't there.

Gone.

Completely.

Strange.

Very strange.

The second incident happened a week later.

A television interview.

A major one.

The kind designed to improve public perception.

Valeria arrived prepared, confident and ready.

Except the interviewer seemed unusually hostile.

Questions felt aggressive.

Loaded.

Carefully crafted to embarrass her.

Afterward, she learned why.

The briefing documents provided to the network contained outdated information.

Incorrect information.

Information that made her appear dishonest.

Rebecca was furious.

The production team blamed administrative errors.

The production team also happened to receive those materials from Victoria's office.

An innocent mistake.

Probably.

At least that's what everyone said.

Including Victoria.

Especially Victoria.

Valeria believed her immediately.

Why wouldn't she?

Victoria was her friend.

The person who had stood beside her from the beginning.

The person who had helped save Ethan.

The person she trusted most.

So she accepted the explanation.

And moved on.

Unfortunately, Julius didn't.

He noticed the pattern first.

Which irritated him.

Not because he enjoyed being right.

Because the mistakes kept affecting Valeria.

The realization surprised him more than anyone.

One evening, he sat in his office reviewing schedules when Rebecca entered carrying a folder.

She dropped it onto his desk.

Hard.

A clear sign of annoyance.

Julius looked up.

"Problem?"

"The third one this month."

He opened the folder.

Silence followed.

Then another silence.

Longer.

His expression hardened.

"The donor list."

Rebecca nodded.

"It was sent to the wrong organization."

Julius leaned back.

Thinking.

The mistakes were minor individually.

Collectively, they painted a different picture.

Missed opportunities.

Incorrect schedules.

Communication failures.

Administrative errors.

Always involving Valeria.

Always.

"What are you suggesting?"

Rebecca hesitated.

An unusual reaction.

"I don't know."

The lawyer folded her arms.

"But someone keeps making her life harder."

Julius looked down at the documents.

Something uncomfortable settled in his chest.

A suspicion.

One he didn't particularly like.

Because it pointed toward someone he had known for years.

Someone he trusted.

Someone who had never given him reason to doubt her before.

Victoria.

The thought lingered.

Refusing to leave.

Meanwhile, Valeria remained blissfully unaware.

At least mostly.

She noticed Victoria seemed different.

Quieter.

Less available.

More distracted.

But friendships changed.

People became busy.

Life became complicated.

She assumed that was all it was.

The alternative never occurred to her.

One Friday afternoon, Victoria visited Sterling Manor for a planning meeting.

The atmosphere felt normal enough.

Comfortable enough.

Valeria was relieved.

Maybe she'd imagined the tension.

Maybe everything was fine.

The three of them spent nearly an hour discussing foundation projects.

Community initiatives.

Public events.

Ordinary topics.

Eventually, Julius received a phone call and stepped outside.

The moment he disappeared, silence settled over the room.

Victoria stared into her coffee.

Unusually quiet.

Valeria smiled.

"You've been weird lately."

Victoria looked up.

The reaction seemed delayed.

"What?"

"You have."

Valeria shrugged.

"Distracted."

Something flickered across Victoria's face.

Gone almost immediately.

"I'm fine."

The answer arrived too quickly.

Too smoothly.

Valeria almost pushed further.

Almost.

Instead, she let it go.

The conversation shifted elsewhere.

And Victoria relaxed.

Slightly.

Not enough to notice unless someone was looking carefully.

Unfortunately, someone was.

Later that evening, Victoria remained behind after everyone else left.

Not unusual.

She and Julius still had business matters to discuss.

At least officially.

The study stood empty when she entered.

Dark except for the glow of a desk lamp.

Victoria crossed toward the computer.

Her movements were calm.

Practiced.

Purposeful.

The inbox remained open from an earlier meeting.

Several unread messages waited.

One immediately caught her attention.

A foundation representative.

Regarding Valeria.

Victoria opened it.

Read silently.

Then sat very still.

The email contained important information.

Information Valeria needed before an upcoming public event.

Information that would significantly help her.

Victoria stared at the screen.

For a long time.

Her expression became unreadable.

Then slowly, deliberately, she moved the cursor.

Not toward Reply.

Not toward Forward.

Toward Delete.

The message disappeared instantly.

Gone.

No hesitation.

No regret.

Just one click.

Victoria leaned back in the chair.

Exhaled softly.

And for the first time since the wedding, there was nobody around to witness the choice she had just made.