Chapter 9: Chapter 9: Something like Peace
He still remembered the hotel room. The quiet sobs. The desperate grip on his shirt. The way her broken voice had cracked through the walls he’d carefully built over the years. That night had been meant to be a fluke. A one-time escape for both of them. But it hadn’t been.
She blinked. “What?”
Melanie’s jaw tightened. “Funny. I don’t see anyone laughing.”
Leonard pulled his gaze away and adjusted his tie. Melanie sat at the dining table, eating her breakfast—quietly, like always—but already dressed for her first day at Harrington Institute. She wore a soft lavender blouse tucked into high-waisted jeans, her dark hair pulled into a loose ponytail. There was a kind of nervous excitement glowing in her expression.
Rose.
“I’ll be dropping you off this morning.”
Melanie stepped closer, her voice cold and steady. “You mean the same Adrian who married you out of guilt? Or the one who couldn’t even look me in the eye after what you both did?”
“Aren’t you forgetting something?”
And why did Leonard’s name in his mouth sound like a threat?
“Nervous?” he asked.
And yet now, she walked the halls of Westwood Manor like she belonged here.
“Who are you?” she asked, trying to keep her voice steady.
There was something about him—something unreadable. Dangerous.
“Not yet.” He pushed off the arch and walked toward her. “But you can tell Leonard…” He paused, lips curling into a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
Rose’s eyes narrowed. “He’ll get tired of you. Just like Adrian did.”
Her classes were engaging. The instructors were kind. She’d even made small talk with a few classmates. For the first time in a long while, she felt like herself again—not someone’s leftover or shadow. Not the girl who got dumped three days before her wedding.
Who was he?
She stopped in her tracks.
“I want to.”
Aaron?
Leonard watched her from the doorframe, arms crossed.
“You deserve this,” he said, voice firm. “You’re talented. You always have been.”
She exhaled, letting herself breathe in the calm.
Why did Leonard need to know he was back?
As they neared the school, the roads got busier. Students walked with sketchbooks and portfolios in hand, chatting excitedly. The world of color and dreams. So far from the steel and politics of the world he ruled.
“There. Happy now?”
Something warm spread through his chest—and for once, he didn’t fight it.
Even if it was temporary.
A flicker of uncertainty crossed Rose’s face.
His lips curled into a smirk as she stepped out of the car, flustered.
A tall figure leaned casually against one of the archways, arms crossed, dressed in black. His hair was tousled by the wind, his stance relaxed. But his eyes—icy grey—watched her with interest.
The car ride was quiet at first. Leonard drove, his fingers loose on the wheel, while Melanie sat beside him, looking out through the tinted windows. She kept fidgeting with her fingers—nervous.
She was heading toward the design wing when a familiar voice sliced through her peace.
A soft, surprised laugh escaped her lips. It was genuine, and it did something to him—something he couldn’t quite explain. He’d built his world on order, control, and silence. But she was none of those things. She was chaos wrapped in gentleness, and somehow, it made him feel… alive.
Her heart skipped a beat.
***
He tilted his head, amused. “You’ll figure it out soon enough.”
She turned and walked away, not giving her sister the satisfaction of a second glance.
He hadn’t been able to get her out of his head since.
Then she saw him.
Leonard didn’t drive off immediately. He sat there for a moment, watching her blend into the crowd.
His wife.
She turned slowly. There her sister stood, perfectly made-up as always, flanked by two girls from her social circle. The moment their eyes met, the laughter around her died down.
Melanie turned to him, confused. “How would you know that?”
But the truth?
Contractually.
“I’m your husband. It’s not a crime.”
Not for him.
After her last class, Melanie wandered off to explore the quieter corners of campus. Behind the main building, she found a garden—lush, private, lined with rose arches and stone benches.
Melanie stopped.
And just like that, he turned and vanished into the trees, leaving behind a cold breeze and a hundred questions.
“I don’t have to pretend,” Melanie replied calmly. “That’s your game, remember?”
The morning had gone smoothly.
“I spent years letting you step on me to feel taller. But not anymore,” Melanie said. “You don’t get to define who I am.”
Rose’s smile was cruel. “Still playing the victim? Does Leonard know the real you yet? Or are you still pretending to be sweet and innocent?”
Melanie stood frozen.
Melanie.
And now, she was here. Sleeping under his roof. Wearing his ring. Smiling at him as though none of it was forced.
She rolled her eyes but leaned in, pressing a small, quick kiss on his cheek.
Melanie’s POV
She was Melanie.
“A thank-you peck. That’s the least I deserve for getting you in.”
“Do I know you?”
“Well, if it isn’t the charity case.”
“Aaron said he’s back.”
“A little,” she admitted, her voice soft. “It’s been a while since I did something just for me. Rose always took center stage.”
Leonard’s POV
“You must be Melanie,” he said.
A student. A designer. A wife.
Maybe—just maybe—she did.
He stepped into the room and cleared his throat.
At least, that’s what she believed.
Her cheeks turned pink. “Excuse me?”
His jaw tightened at the name. He didn’t like Rose. Didn’t trust her. The few interactions he’d had with her during Melanie’s humiliation had been enough to know she was manipulative—dangerous.
It was strange how easily her presence had started to feel normal. Just days ago, she’d been a stranger—clinging to him in a drunken haze, whispering the name of a man who wasn’t him.
She hesitated for a second, then gave a small nod. “Alright.”
He noticed everything about her now. The way she chewed the inside of her cheek when thinking. The way her shoulders tensed every time someone mentioned her sister.
***
She looked… radiant.
Melanie looked up in surprise. “You don’t have to. The driver—”
***
Melanie reached for the door handle, but Leonard tilted slightly toward her.
He gave her a faint smile. “I do my homework.”
He told himself it was a business transaction. A contract marriage that benefited them both. Something clean. Contained.
