The Wife He Never Loved

pte

m door opening pulled m

w that sound-the quiet footsteps crossing the

as still wearing his black trousers and white shirt, sle

ate," I w

m at this hour unless he wanted something

e out only for physical closeness-no conversation, n

expensive bourbon mixing with his cologne. He was slightly intoxicat

, slowly shedding the layers between us. The air in the room grew thick with an undeniable heat-raw, silent, and laced with the haze of alcohol, yet entirely devoid of emotional

ong before I was

weighed down by a famili

only chilling space; the other s

r was

ays vanished before I c

el rhythm had been the f

e cover of darkness, unless he ex

d away before the first pale rays o

e had never be

mo

ad toward the

water sat waiting

ed a single, s

heavy with an ache that

what it was; the ri

ightly into the sat

stared at the tiny shape r

st of an old memory sur

years

ng was the first time I wok

mbered opening my eyes to an empty room, just as I had today. But si

gertips. When Xavier re-entered the roo

ined completely unr

t is

answered, his voice

m, my pulse fa

n," he said without a

k. "Never?"

, unyielding, and utterly

r, but the true blow came as he reached the d

said quietly, "and I

tually loved, the woman whose place I had taken after she vanishe

ook the pill. And I continued to take i

to the present. The memory rece

nd quietly prayed that he might finally look at me and

d, a bitter smile touching my lips. I had spent half

earably empty. Xavier had already returned to his world-his company, his meetings, his empire. Meanwhile,

ting in my palm. For the first tim

to stop hoping Xavier Kingsley would choose me, because the