Page 116 of The Substitute Fiancée

Then his gaze shifts to Dorian… and to Dorian’s partner, who has just joined him. They kiss, right there, on the mouth.

I see the exact moment Alexander realizes his mistake.

Horror and panic chase each other across his face.

Too late. Some words can’t be taken back.

He turns toward me to apologize. I don’t give him the chance.

“No,” I say, my voice calm, final. “You were very clear about what you think of me.”

“I—”

“Stop,” I cut in sharply. “Just like you said yourself: it’s over between us.”

And I walk away, melting into the crowd without looking back.

38. Strike Me

Alexander

The door closes behind me.

And the weight of what I’ve just done crashes down on me all at once. Brutal. Crushing.

I slam the back of my head against the wood. Once. Twice. As if physical pain could smother the other kind.

What came over me?

Sam’s cufflinks and card burn in my hands.

Her shattered expression, when I compared her to her sister and accused her of cheating, will haunt me until my last breath. That look: that mix of betrayal, disbelief, and raw pain, etched into my memory with a red-hot brand.

How could I have said those things, knowing exactly how deeply every word would cut her?

What kind of asshole does that?

Why didn’t I listen to her before speaking words that can never be taken back?

Why did I let rage destroy everything?

I hurt a woman who has been nothing but gentleness and light. So honest, so generous, so pure in the way she loves.

A woman I love with all my soul, I realize that now.

What an idiot. I was so busy trying to protect myself that I couldn’t even read my own heart.

I love Sam. And that’s why I’ve been suffocating these past few days without her.

And I lost her through my own stupidity. Through my baseless accusations, my jealousy. Her—who had already given me so many second chances.

I remember the emptiness in her eyes before she disappeared into the crowd.

It was over. She was drawing a final line through me.

I set Sam’s gifts down on the coffee table and collapse into an armchair. I stare at my phone for what feels like an eternity before making a decision. My fingers tremble as I dial. I need to talk to someone. To untangle the emotions threatening to drown me.

Oliver answers on the second ring.