Rejected: A love story

Chapter 171: I should have protected her

It was quiet around, except for the repetitive sound of the grandfather clock ticking down the time. At last, Mateo had fallen asleep in the cramped and stuffy room without any windows located upstairs. Meanwhile, Viktoria was pacing in the kitchen, shivering from the coldness coming from the stone floor. She managed to gather a couple of slices of bread and prepare some tea.

Viktoria sensed someone entering the kitchen. It was Nathan standing in the doorway. He seemed to be a little more put-together now—after putting on a new sweater and washing his face with cold water. Nevertheless, his eyes were bloodshot and he moved around rather lazily. In fact, it was hard to even believe that this guy was the same one she had encountered an hour earlier in the living room.

"He’s asleep?" Nathan asked. His voice was raspy, stripped of its usual bite.

"Finally," Viktoria said, keeping her back to him as she stirred her tea. "He thinks we’re on an adventure. I hope he keeps believing that."

Nathan walked over to the kitchen island and sat on a stool. He didn’t reach for another bottle. Instead, he just stared at his hands. "I’m sorry about the... the things I said. Earlier. And in the office. I haven’t been myself since I saw you."

He chuckled, but it sounded sad. " She ran away from home, you know," Nathan said suddenly. He wasn’t looking at Viktoria, just talking to the empty space in front of him. "She had this tiny eyes that looked like she’d seen too much. I was looking for someone to be a fake fiancée. My family was coming into town, and they wouldn’t stop pestering me about getting married. She seemed like the perfect match. She needed the money, and I needed a shield."

He let out a dry, short laugh.

"It was supposed to be a business deal. Simple. But then we started talking, getting close. And I realized she was the only person who didn’t give a damn about my last name. She stayed. We didn’t have to pretend anymore."

He finally looked up at Viktoria, his eyes red and full of pain.

"I still blame myself every day," he whispered. "Every single day. I couldn’t protect her. I have all this money, all this power, and I couldn’t keep her safe from the hands of death. I was late that day. If I had just been there..."

Viktoria felt the weight of his words. She walked over and stood near him, her voice soft.

"You can’t blame yourself for something you had no control of, Nathan. Or for a car you weren’t driving. You’re human. You aren’t a god who decides when people leave this world."

"It doesn’t feel that way," Nathan muttered, rubbing his face. "It feels like I let her down."

"She loved you," Viktoria said. "From what you’re telling me, she wouldn’t want you sitting here in the dark, drinking yourself to death because of a mistake you didn’t make. She’d want you to be the man she fell for. Not this."

Nathan looked at her for a long moment. "You say things just like she did. It’s haunting."

"Maybe," Viktoria replied. "But I’m here. And I’m telling you the truth. You need to forgive yourself, Nathan. Not for her, but for you."

He took a shaky breath and leaned back. "Maybe you’re right. I’m just so tired of carrying it."

He gripped the edge of the table so hard his knuckles turned white. "I still blame myself every day. Every single morning I wake up and I think... if I had just left the office five minutes earlier. If I had just told her to stay home. I was supposed to be the strong one. I was supposed to protect her from the hands of death. And I failed. I let the only thing that mattered to me slip through my fingers."

Viktoria felt a lump in her throat. She thought about Nikolai, and how he would feel if he lost her. She thought about the way Nathan had looked at her today—not with hate, but with the pain of a man seeing a wound reopened.

She walked over to him. She didn’t think about the business deal or the fake photos. She just saw a person who was breaking apart. She placed a hand on his shoulder. It was a simple gesture, but she felt him flinch, then slowly relax under her touch.

"Nathan," she said gently. "You can’t fight death. You’re a powerful man, but you aren’t a god. You didn’t drive that car."

"I should have been there," he choked out.

"Maybe," she said. "But blaming yourself doesn’t bring her back. It just makes the person she loved disappear too. Look at you. You’re sitting in the dark, drinking alone, hating the world. Is that what she would have wanted for you? Would she want the man she loved to become a ghost himself?"

Nathan finally looked at her. For the first time, he didn’t see Fiona. He saw Viktoria—a woman who was strong in a different way. A woman who was fighting for her own family.

"I look at you and I see all the things I lost," Nathan said, his voice trembling.

"Then stop looking at me as a memory," Viktoria told him. "Look at me as a partner. Not for business, but for the truth. Someone is using your love for her to hurt me and my son. They are making a joke out of your grief. Don’t let them win. Don’t let them use Fiona to destroy more lives."

Nathan took a deep, shaky breath. He reached up and placed his hand over hers, which was still resting on his shoulder. His skin was cold, but his grip was firm.

"You’re right," he said, his voice becoming stronger. "The person who did this... they knew exactly where to hit me. They knew I wouldn’t be able to think straight if I saw her face again."

"We’ll find them," Viktoria promised. "Alex is already working on it. But I need you to stay sober. I need the man who built an empire, not a drunk, grieving man."

Nathan stood up. He was taller than her, and even though he was tired, the power was starting to come back into his frame. He looked toward the stairs where Mateo was sleeping.

"The boy," Nathan said. "He’s safe here. I have guards at the main gate now. They won’t get near him."

"Thank you, Nathan."

"Don’t thank me yet," he said. He looked at her one last time, a strange, sad look in his eyes. "You really do have her fire, Viktoria. I’m starting to see why Nikolai married you."