Dean did a double take when he noticed the brunette in the long, hot pink dress out on the dance floor. It couldn't be. It had to be the alcohol talking. He looked at his glass of champagne. He was only halfway through it. Has he been drugged? It had to be something like that, or the woman had to be someone else. Someone who looked a whole fucking lot like her.
The man she swayed with on the dance floor slowly turned them around. Her mint green eyes looked into Dean's for a second, and he forgot to breathe momentarily. It was her. Ten long years and she looked exactly like she did that day before the accident. Before her beautiful face was destroyed forever. This was impossible. She couldn't look like that. She couldn't be that beautiful again.
"Excuse me," he looked at the bartender. "Do you know Liliana?"
"Everyone knows Liliana," the bartender chuckled.
"Who's the man she's dancing with?" Dean asked.
"That's her husband Drew McIntyre," the bartender looked surprised. "He's throwing this ball for our mayor Baron Corbin. They're really tight."
"I'll say if he'll put down this amount of money," Dean said grumpily. "How did she fix her face?"
"Her face? I assume she uses makeup like most women," the bartender shrugged. "She looks pretty normal to me tonight. Nothing out of the ordinary."
Nothing out of the ordinary. That was an understatement. When Dean last saw her ten years ago, her entire face was disfigured. Burned away by acid. One moment they had been walking hand in hand, smiling and laughing, discussing the movie they had just been to see. The next moment someone had run up and thrown something at her. She had screamed in pain. That moment had been the beginning of their end.
Dean always suspected her ex Dolph Ziggler to be behind the attack. He never found out for sure. The police did an investigation, but they got nowhere. Dolph suddenly killed himself around a month later. He opened the window in his office on the nineteenth floor and jumped. All his bones broke, and his face was unrecognizable after the impact with the hard ground.
They kept her in the hospital for a long time. At first he only saw her bandaged face. A few days in he decided to stay when they changed the bandages. He had never thought her face would look that horrible. He couldn't contain the disgust on his face, and she saw it.
After that day she changed. She withdrew from him for each passing day. She didn't seem unhappy though. Of course she went through a lot, and Dean couldn't put himself in her place, but something was off. Something someone in her position shouldn't act like. And then she dumped him.
"I see the way you look at me. You're disgusted by me. You'll never love me the same way again."
She wasn't entirely wrong. He was disgusted by her face, but he still loved her. At the same time he had a hard time picturing them going out in public. People would stare. It would be embarrassing. But breaking up had never been on his mind. He had looked at other solutions. Move far away where they wouldn't have any neighbors. Keep her inside or on their property. He'd do all the shopping. No one ever had to see her face. He would keep her safe.
He looked at the dancing couple again. Drew McIntyre. The name didn't ring a bell, but he had to be important. He had money. He was friends with the mayor. And he was married to Liliana. The love of Dean's life. And she was beautiful again, something he couldn't wrap his head around.
"Dean's here," Drew said.
"I've seen him," Liliana said.
"Are you gonna go to him?" He asked.
"I was thinking about it," she answered.
He dipped her, gave her a knowing smile, and pulled her back up.
"We made a deal," he said.
"You don't have to roll your muscles," she said.
"Don't forget what I gave you," he said.
"You gave me everything you promised, and I've done everything in return you asked for, but there was one thing you never asked for that still happened," she said.
"What?" He asked.
"I ended up loving you," she answered.
He smirked, and pulled her close for a soft kiss.
"I love you too," he said. "Go to him."
Dean's eyes widened as Drew and Liliana broke apart on the dance floor, and she started walking in his direction. Suddenly he felt nervous and cold. Ten long years and he wasn't ready for this moment.
"Hello, Dean," she said.
"Liliana," he almost whispered. "You look beautiful."
"Thank you," she said. "Would you care to escort me outside?"
She hooked her arm into his, and they walked outside together. They found a quiet place where no one was around. He placed his hands on her cheeks, feeling her skin, taking in the beautiful face that still haunted his dreams on bad days.
"How is it possible? You look exactly like you used to. You haven't even aged," he said.
"Drew," she smiled.
"No man could ever give you your face back after what happened," he said.
"I didn't say he's a man," she said.
He looked at her puzzled. He had always believed there was more between heaven and earth than humans and animals, but this was too close to him.
"What is he then?" He asked.
"The devil," she answered.
"The de... You're shitting me," he said.
He started laughing, expecting her to laugh too, but she stood there with the same facial expression. His laughter died down. Somehow he believed her. She had never been one to make up stories and lie.
"The devil? He's the devil? He's the fucking devil, and you're married to him?" He asked angrily.
"He came to me that night after you saw my face," she said. "He never looked at me like I was ugly. He never pitied me."
"Because he's the fucking devil! He wanted something from you!" He yelled.
"I know that," she said calmly. "He came every night. He would talk to me, and cuddle up in the hospital bed with me. He would hold me when I cried, and he would make me laugh again. He never tricked me or lied. From the first night he was honest about his attensions."
He started pacing in front of her. This was a lot to take in. She had sold her soul to the devil. There was no other way around it.
"His attensions?" He sneered. "And what was his fucking attensions? To own you?"
"In a way, yes. He gave me my face back, and I married him in return," she said.
"You sold out to the devil," he said.
"I'm happy, Dean. I love him, and he loves me," she said.
"Love?" He snorted. "The devil can't fucking love!"
"You don't know him like I do," she said.
He couldn't argue with that. All he had was stories from books and movies. Hollywood sure wasn't good at painting the devil in a loveable picture.
"So the devil walks the earth?" He asked.
"Mostly," she answered. "We do take holidays downstairs from time to time. You know I always preferred the heat to the cold."
"Now you're being fucking ridiculous," he said.
He took her hand, and caressed it with his own. Ten long years. He still wanted her. Beautiful Liliana. Like she used to be.
"What about us? We could try again. We went through hell together. We deserve a second chance," he said.
"No, we didn't go through hell together. I went through hell without you. You couldn't even look at me. You wanted to lock me away from the world. I set you free, and now I expect you to do the same for me. Let go of me in your heart," she said.
"I can't," he said.
"I'm gonna do you a favor. Being married to the devil comes with certain perks," she said.
She waved her hand over his face, and he took a step back in shock when he saw her disfigured face again.
"It's an illusion," she said. "Only you see it. I'm gonna let that image stay in your mind. Everytime we meet, you'll see this face. It's the only thing I can do for you to make you let go."
"It's not fair," he whispered.
"It wasn't fair what Dolph did to me either, but life is never fair. At least Drew took care of that," she smirked. "And the world thought Dolph jumped."
"Make it stop," he pleaded. "Let me see the real you."
"This is the real me when it comes to you. This will always be a part of me. The part you couldn't accept," she said.
She took a step forward, and placed a kiss on his cheek.
"Goodbye, Dean," she said.
She walked back inside where Drew stood waiting with two glasses of champagne. He handed her one of them, and placed his arm around her shoulders. He pulled her close, and placed a kiss on top of her head.
"You handled that well," he said.
"I've told you to stop listening in on my conversations," she said.
"And I have. It was just this once. I was actually scared you'd try and leave me for him," he said.
"Never. We had a deal," she giggled. "And like I said, I ended up loving you. I don't wanna be with anyone else."
