GARRIS

minutes. I'll deal with my parents," I sa

ing orders at the media team to scrub every picture of Susanne and me from the internet. I shut my office door, c

ld videos, posting memories like weapons, all bec

as my secret

been delivered to M

s derailed

s my mind tilted back to her-uninvited, persistent. She

sir. Belin

t. You

t the thought of her-her face, her lips... fuck, her skin. I wondered what her reaction would be when she opened those gi

to watch her roll her eyes as she moaned my nam

e

urned to me. "Are you ser

on was pricele

t that my ex doesn't know how t

knew exactly how relentless she could be. But I was do

er?" Martin pressed. "She's

"You've been jobl

nto the couch, scrolling through his phone. Th

inst the desk, my smile

meo

Another fanta

d not

ger than a week," he mutte

aist. The way it curved into those perfectly shaped hips. If she was

yet all grown. I imagined her crying on my cock again-then wondered, darkly, if it w

os

in a

ard is

Work suddenly felt insignificant. My mind

lowed a plan. N

a mistake. I wasn't built for marriage. My parents didn't help either. They wanted a daughter-in-law, and Susanne

acts, crises. And always my parents-pushing, dem

'd forcefully arranged with the Georges. I listened half-

down toward the

was all

li

s, her hair pulled into a loose ponytail. Effortless. Fresh. Stunn

nk, and flipped open a magazine like she belonge

d. A slow smirk t

ead. Through all the

sentative said,

in was staring

The m

ned it, and handed it back.

back-instinctively-just to m

Martin asked, f

I mur

canning the lounge. "Which one? The

But my eyes found her

ed, watching her lift her drink to her l

tting her. Not

in said quietl

ightened

e is pr

ned s

nd

ost my mind. "And, Logan-y

d me faded. Eve

irs-the one who made me feel somethin

her woman car

CHAPMA

I'm re

somehow, impossibl

idence behind. His gifts remain untouched in my room-neatly arranged, unopened-while the flowers he sent sit dying slowly in their va

even say

to name. I stepped into the elevator, pressed the button-and was denied. The same elevator that had granted

son

esn't like

y the gifts? W

ed the hallway. Drifted from corner to corner like a ghost haunting my own unease, half-hoping fate m

w I wanted

eded

I di

hing. By then, doubt had begun to settle deep in my chest. Maybe he'd already checked out. Maybe

f reading-just something to occupy my hands. I'd come here to reset my life. To breathe. To escape expecta

him, betraying every reason I'

ed I couldn't even remember the last

one b

uzzed

mot

. Passive, aggressive complaints about how

wedd

t I wasn't sure I'd ever truly wanted it at all. That the woman who had sa

ve enough to tell her t

as dating her

childre

is time with a different purpose. I searched Logan's name on Instagram, desperate for any

sister's pro

da Ch

and then my breath caught in my throat. Her hand was intert

lia

oll past when the

ur fifth-year

g inside

e y

bouquet delivered to her. Every gift signed from your man. Every soft

had worked mys

had defended w

m I was supp

augh and a sob, as the truth finally settled in my ches

my room, telling myself I wasn't crying.

fractured. My chest ached with a pa

eone else had stepped in. I leaned against the door, wiping my cheeks again

tly. He doesn't deserve t

you o

came from

ga

ad left standing. I turned toward him, but I couldn't real

hesitate. He simply stepped forw

I br

humiliation, heartbreak, exhaustion. All of it. He held me as though

red softly, over and

ehow...

first name was all I knew. This wasn't William. This

was c

was p