dden by the frame, and looked at the man stan

kles pale, head bowed just slightly, like he was holding some invisible weight steady thr

hould we... Would you like us

" Damien said, his voice fla

more began quietly folding chairs,

lding his face together the same way she'd held hers together an hour ago

ther near the gift table, voices p

bride runs, and now not one person

e Kingsleys barely admit he exists a

f the richest families in the country, and none of that money

om floor, past overturned chairs and a hotel staffer sweeping up glass, un

ed her to say something cruel or pitying, and ha

he said. It wasn't

Aurora said. "If that's

ss his face. Surprise, m

gift table, then back at him. "For what it's wort

arp, exactly. Just tired, like he'd stopped expe

he must look, still in her own wedding dress, standing in someone else's ruined ceremony.

or the first time, taking in the dress, the veil still pin

there was nothing funny about it. "So I suppos

, just slightly. "My bride left a note with the coor

almost

piece around them, chairs stacking, flowers already being carried out in buck

th that phone in her hand. It was strange, standing here trading wounds with a total stranger, and stranger still how much lighter it made th

h of us by tonight," sh

he was something to be studied rather than someone standing right there. "By tomorrow it'll be

nobody wanted enough t

sion, like he was trying to work out if she meant that as a joke o

e gloated about planning my humiliation for months." Aurora's voice stayed steady, but something

one, like he'd caught himself feeling something on her beha

t something settle into place inside her, some reckless, clear-eyed resolve she didn't fully understand yet. "I keep thinking about walking back out there.

amien said quietly. "Y

what you'

what else th

hat no longer existed, both about to walk back out into rooms full of people who woul

Felix's mother's careful, cutting kindness. She thought about ever

he did not want to walk back into that room alone, and th

id. "And you're going to

ost of a smile crosse

took a

me in