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The world and my legs screeched to a stop with an earsplitting whistle and my ears filled with thunder. My heart took the brunt of his rejection, but my entire body absorbed the pain as I staggered back, the wind knocked clean out of my lungs as my heart cracked in two. There seemed a literal split in time and reality and I might have actually died.
“This time, I think distance is best.”
“But…” My body swayed from the impact.
He couldn’t shut me out. I would fight. Do whatever he wanted. I’d plead. Literally beg. I just needed him to give me the chance to make this right.
“Hale,” my voice cracked.
“I need time to cool off. Alone.”
Hale… His name was a hollow breath, an ache too great to make a sound, a silent plea overshadowed by the ping of the elevator as he left me there.
Alone.
Unwanted.
Ashamed.
I staggered into the wall, tears welling in my eyes as I covered my mouth to hold back a sob.
“Hey,” Barrett appeared at the door, eyes apologetic.
When he reached out to comfort me, I held up a hand. If he touched me I’d shatter and then who would put me together again?
“He left.” My shock betrayed my composure as I physically crumbled.
Ignoring my request for space, Barrett caught me. “It’s okay,” he whispered, pulling me to his chest.
Nothing was okay. I was speechless. Breathless. Abandoned by the man I trusted most in this world to never leave me.
I pushed him too far and he couldn’t forgive me. He left me here. He just left. Walked away and turned his back on me.
How had I let things come to this?
Glancing down at my battered feet and filthy clothes, I smudged the tears from my eyes. Gasping for breath, I tried to find the answers I needed so I could fix this. “What happened last night?”
“We drank too much.”
I shook my head. This wasn’t just alcohol. “The last thing I remember is being in a red car. Was that real?”
He nodded. “The karaoke guy gave us a ride and we got stranded at a house party. Then…” He frowned. “This is where things get fuzzy. I think we accidentally took some drugs and got ditched or lost or… I honestly don’t know.”
My head throbbed as I tried to piece together the tattered scraps of what used to be my beautiful life. The drugs might have been an accident, but I’d been the one to run off when I didn’t want to face the mess my father made. Part of this nightmare was my fault.
We still needed to address the situation with my dad. And then there was the prenup—if that even mattered anymore. What if Hale couldn’t forgive this? Would he call off the wedding? Were we over?
The unknown taunted and terrified me. I had no control, no memories, and no fiancé. “I need to go after Hale.”
“I think you should give him some time to cool off?—”
“No! I don’t want to give him time! I want to fix this! He has to know that I would never cheat on him! I love him! He’s my world! I can’t breathe without him!”
“Hey, hey, hey.” Barrett caught my shoulders. “Take a breath. He’s not an idiot. He knows you love him and you’d never betray him.”
A jagged sob shook my chest as I wiped away more tears. “This hurts.”
“It’s never fun to disappoint those we love.”
