in a slow, mis

ninth wedding day

simple white dress already damp. We had been toge

m. I answered, my heart

can't mak

canceling a coffee date. There was

y eyes. "W

s watch, the 'Starlight' model. Sarah really wants i

y former studen

atch. He was ditching our wedding, our ninety-ninth

aid. My voic

it up to you later

hun

my hair, my dress, my soul. The bouquet of white roses

tience, my career. I was a talented architect, but I had put so many pr

so intense it burned away the desp

as

t coming

deep and smo

suit perfectly dry. He was the CEO of Blackwood Technologies

legendary in the cit

t, Liam?" I aske

t my face. His eyes, a cool, intelligent gray

osal," he said

n sound. "I've had enough

stated, not unkindly.

everything faded away. He couldn't be serio

nsane," I

king a step closer. "The one thing he thinks he owns comp

't pretending this was about lov

being a pawn in Mark' s game. Maybe it

said yes? What if, for once, I did something f

ss off Mark?" I asked, a st

. "And you need an escape. It's a

ed hand. He was right. I w

asting like freedom on my

but a glint of satisfaction app

aid, gesturing to the building

rfe

ary paperwork. We stood before a clerk in a small, sterile room that smelle

th broad shoulders and a presence that filled the room. He wasn't charismatic and

nounced us hu

tificate from the clerk and folded it caref

gs," I said, my voice steady. It was the house

, a hint of something personal entered his voice.

. B

up my neck. It felt foreign, strange, yet undeniably real. The

was playing hard to get. He thought I'd be waiting for h

livia Reed, Mark Johnson's

s Olivia

as fina