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He leaves in a huff with the extension cord and a promise to be back in a minute.
Without Julian here to distract me, I’m left to grapple with my messy emotions. I rub at the faint white line on my ring finger like one would a stain, wishing it would disappear along with the pain about my relationship.
Formerrelationship.
In order for me to move on, I need to start letting go of the past and anything that reminds me of my broken engagement, starting with the ring.
It’s everything I wanted and more, I lied as I held up myshaky hand for the camera crew hired by the Creswells to film our publicized engagement.
A lot of women would be appreciative of a ring like that, Oliver said when he caught me not wearing the eyesore once after working out.
“Having second thoughts?” Julian’s deep voice has me turning around.
“Are you sure an ability to mindread wasn’t added during your last software update?”
His glare lacks its usual punch. “You’ve always been expressive.”
“Not all of us were born with the ability not to feel anything.”
“I feel things,” he scoffs.
“Like what?”
“Excitement.” He pulls my ring out of his pocket with an unhinged smile I’ve only seen on two other occasions—when I asked Julian to prom as punishment for him scoring higher than me on the ACT, and when the school’s linebacker, who called me a prude bitch, was caught in a cheating scandal.
I never asked Julian about it, but I suspected he had something to do with the football player being busted and permanently benched from the team for the rest of the year.
“You good?” he asks in the same soft voice he saves for his mother.
My boots squeak together as I rock back. “What if this is a bad idea?”
“Do you plan on getting back together with him?”
“No. Definitely not.”
“Do you want to sell it?”
I consider the option for a few seconds before shaking my head. “And pass that negative energy on to someone else? No.”
“I could buy it off you.”
I choke on my gasp. “What?”
He assesses the ring. “It’s hideous, so I wouldn’t pay more than a hundred for it.”
“Bucks? But it’s worth—”
He interrupts me. “Hundredthousand.”
My eyes bulge. “That’s a lot of money.”
Heshrugs.
Asshole.Unlike him, I still remember the days before he was a billionaire, back when our families ordering pizza with extra toppings was considered a luxury.
He casually spins the ring around his pinkie finger.
Sweat clings to my brow. “But…”
