Shadows Gathered Under Fading Lights by Nyx Rowan novel Chapter 2

As I watched people hurry by, my thoughts drifted to Tristan–and to the way we used to be, the version I’d held onto for so long.

We first met during a freshman showcase my first year of high school.

I was midway through my performance when my period came early, staining my skirt. I froze under the lights while laughter rippled through the crowd, and I had no idea what to do.

Then Tristan stepped out from the audience.

He tossed his school jacket to me without a word, then turned and disappeared back into the sea of

faces.

He was the sun; I was just a tiny, insignificant pebble by the side of the road. That moment was the only time our worlds truly touched.

Three years of high school, four years of college, I’d been secretly in love with him for seven years.

After graduation, when I was finally ready to give up, I stumbled upon Tristan being abducted by a

rival.

I wasn’t sure where I found the courage, but I rushed forward with a stick and yelled, I called

the police!”

To my surprise, it worked–the kidnappers fled immediately.

But as I untied the rope around Tristan’s wrists, someone tossed an improvised explosive beside

1. us.

I did not hesitate for even a second. I threw myself over him.

Then everything went black.

When I woke up, my left ear was completely silent–there was no sound at all.

I broke down, slapping my ear over and over like I could force the hearing back, and I did not even notice my hand had started bleeding.

Tristan grabbed my wrist to stop me. Then he slid a diamond ring onto my ring finger and proposed with a seriousness that sounded like a vow. “Fiona, I’ll take care of you for the rest of my life.”

I understood it wasn’t love, it was repayment.

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But when the person you’ve loved for seven years finally looks at you, you still gamble.

I gambled that one day he’d fall in

ve with me.

To Tristan’s credit, he did what he said he would. For five years after we married, he remained

untainted, admired by everyone with no scandals to his name.

But now he had someone he truly loved, and I no longer needed to cling to false hope, torturing myself in the process.

I lost. I accepted it.

I picked up my phone and messaged my attorney:

[Draft a divorce petition for me.]

I did not wait for Tristan to come “pick me up.” I went straight home and started packing.

It was only then, standing in the house I’d called home for five years, that I realized how distant

we’d always been.

He lived on the second floor. I lived on the third.

Only on Saturday nights, when he decided it was time to do our ‘husband and wife‘ thing, was I

allowed into his bedroom.

I used to tell myself it was just his personality, his routine.

Now I understood he simply never cared enough to let me belong.

Two days later, his message finally came.

[Same place. Come tonight, there’s a get–together.]

I took one last look around the house, a house that already showed no sign I’d ever been there, then

I grabbed the divorce petition and went to our “same place.”

When I arrived, I learned he’d covered the entire bar tab, just to celebrate Natalia’s birthday.

I thought about myself, five years married, and I couldn’t recall a single birthday or anniversary

he’d ever bothered to celebrate with me.

Tristan always brushed it off. “It’s all meaningless,” he’d say. “Better to close another deal.”

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It turned out the rituals weren’t meaningless. It was me who was.

I raised my hand to push open the private room door when Tristan’s voice drifted out, casual and

amused.

“Tristan, Fiona really was perfect as Mrs. Royston,” someone said. “Obedient, quiet, never makes

trouble.”

the

test1

Another man laughed. “That’s why we set up test back then. We needed someone who’d actually risk her life for you.”

“I still laugh thinking about her face when that explosive went off,” someone added. “She threw

herself on like it was nothing.”

“Because we calculated it,” another voice said, almost bored. “Even if she hadn’t blocked it,

Tristan wouldn’t have been hurt.”

My body reeled back as if the ground had shifted beneath me.

So that was the truth.

No wonder Tristan fought so hard to stop me from calling the police after I woke up.

No wonder I’d told my story thirty–three times and he still “couldn’t remember.”

Why would anyone even bother caring about the feelings of a pawn?

As long as I stayed obedient, as long as I stayed loyal, that was enough.

Then the room erupted into chanting. “Kiss her! Kiss her!”

Through the crack in the door, I saw Tristan pull Natalia into a deep, lingering kiss.

Natalia’s eyes

triumph.

flicked toward the door, and the look she shot me was one of pure challenge and

When the kiss ended, a drunk man stepped forward with a grin. “Tristan, if you don’t care about her, let me have a go at Fiona. I’ve never been with another man’s wife.”

Everyone waited for the reaction.

Tristan’s face darkened, and his voice dropped colder. “She’s still my wife, at least on paper.”

On paper.

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I almost smiled.

Not for much longer.

I tightened my grip on the divorce petition and pushed the door open.