Chapter 271 A Substitute
The private island had become Athena’s sanctuary—a place where she could reclaim herself, rebuild her life, and rest from the chaos that had followed her. Surrounded by the lush greenery and serene isolation, she found solace in the quiet. It was a world far from the suffocating grasp of Byron’s obsession, the deceit of those who once surrounded her, and the painful memories of her past life.
She looked down at the book in her hands, but her mind wandered. Evie’s question from earlier still lingered in her thoughts. Would Byron marry Freya? Athena had to admit, the thought unsettled her.
Evie’s frustration was understandable. She had watched from the sidelines as Byron spiraled into a grief that soon turned into a tangled web of relationships, with Freya at the center of it. In the beginning, when Athena had first vanished, Byron’s sorrow had been genuine, and Athena had believed in the love they shared. But time had passed, and the truth became clearer. Love had a way of warping itself when confronted with loss. Byron’s mourning had been replaced with a desperate search for someone to fill the void.
That void, however, wasn’t something Freya could fill, nor could anyone else. And yet, Freya remained by his side, offering him a semblance of companionship. It made Athena sick to think of Byron with anyone else, but there was also a part of her—buried deep down—that understood. People couldn’t stay in mourning forever, no matter how deep the wound. They sought solace wherever they could find it, even if it was in the arms of someone who wasn’t the person they truly longed for.
Evie, however, was still angry. She didn’t understand why Athena would let Byron move on so easily. “He’s not worth it,” Evie had said countless times. “He doesn’t deserve you.”
But Athena’s thoughts were more complex than that. She wasn’t angry at Byron anymore. She couldn’t be. He had loved her in his way, and she had loved him in hers. But that chapter was over, and she had made her peace with it.
The new identity Rose had crafted for her as a member of the Stella family gave her a fresh start. No one knew who she really was, and she had the chance to live life on her own terms. She wasn’t Athena Crawford anymore. She was someone else—someone who could breathe freely, someone who could be just another face in the world, not the woman Byron had once owned.
Rose had been her pillar during this transition, making sure everything was handled with meticulous care. The records were erased, the details were hidden, and Athena’s life was restarted, one carefully calculated step at a time.
“Do you think he’ll marry her?” Evie’s voice broke through her thoughts again.
Athena didn’t answer right away. She set the book down and stretched, glancing out at the horizon. The ocean was calm today, a gentle reminder that time still moved forward, regardless of personal sorrow. “He might,” she said, her voice calm, though there was a hint of something deeper—something she hadn’t acknowledged before. “But it won’t matter. What he does now is his choice. I’ve made mine.”
The babies inside her were healthy, and she was healthy too. That was all that mattered. The world would continue, with or without Byron in her life. And as for Freya, well, Freya was his to deal with.
Athena had once feared that leaving Byron would leave her hollow, that she would be incomplete without him. But now, she saw the truth: the only way for her to heal was to let go. She couldn’t live in the past, chasing ghosts.
Evie sat quietly for a while, staring out at the water with Athena. The silence between them was comfortable, filled with unspoken understanding.
“Do you miss him?” Evie asked suddenly, breaking the peace.
Athena hesitated, feeling the weight of the question settle over her. “Sometimes,” she admitted. “But it’s not the same as before. What we had… it wasn’t real in the way I thought it was. It was a love built on lies and expectations, not on the truth of who we were.”
Evie didn’t say anything. She simply nodded, as if understanding that Athena needed this time, this space, to process everything.
“Maybe one day,” Athena continued, her voice softer now, “he’ll understand. But for now, I need to focus on what’s in front of me. I can’t change the past.”
They sat in silence again, the sea breeze carrying away their words. The life that Athena had left behind was a distant memory, fading with each passing day. She would no longer be the woman Byron thought he knew.
And that was okay.
For the first time in a long while, Athena allowed herself to believe that her future was hers to shape, free from the chains of her past. The path ahead was uncertain, but for the first time, she was no longer afraid.