' s first love, stood in our Manhattan penthouse

n chance

ow, predatory cu

m truly yours. Consummate t

or of cold jade,

the annulment papers

her husband, was barely cold in

at her, m

than. He

vety, filled me. I would win. Of co

ed romantic dinner. His favorite steak

e home

s brutal

, his eyes on his phone. H

do

the kind I' d seen in magazin

me, a flicker of somethi

toria... she' s not doin

a cold, dutiful press o

of his back turned to me, or empt

ke a gilded cage, bea

replaced by a gnawing frustration. His co

d at me. I confided in a "friend," someone fr

mild sedative, an aphrodisiac, bo

sic, low lights, the dru

rank

moment, he was responsive. His eye

s face c

snarled, pushing me aw

rug me, Sarah? Manip

venomous. He g

eed

w where he was going. To V

e rejection, but from the accusation

use was absolute, broken

xpensive lingerie feeling

ortress felt like sand, sl

d. It was Victoria, impeccably dress

eaf of papers. An

s up, d

was a triu

u l

en at her victorious face.

e hope died. My marriage,

called. He had

There was no intimacy, no love, just a cold,

Holdings, radiating charm and success. I was just Sarah Miller, an architecture student with dream

the way he commanded attention w

wards a stunning woman with fiery red hair, clinging to the arm of an o

sica, ever the pragm

weetheart. Dumped him flat for his fa

n then. A love story

ed conservatory. The air was thick with the scent o

denly, it melted into a passionate, desperate embrace. His hands were tangled in her

erate, illicit connection, burned itself into my mind. It was c

erhaps, I let myself be pursued. He was charming, attentive when he wanted

took a sharp decline. Sudd

society whispers, had pressured him. "Secur

sn' t romantic. It

right now. Too much turmoil. And your family, Sarah.

everyone. "Family sensitivities," he' d said. I' d swallowed the

fool I'

ained cold, distant, a stranger sharing my

Arthu

he facade for her ailing husband, reasser

er. Her cruel, calcul

ge at all. It was a smokescreen. A cover for Ethan and Victoria' s ongoing, inappropr

placeholder, a c

ctoria had brought, my hand stea

row," I told her, my v

ers. "Ten days from now, the legalities sho

rary deadline for

ca. Far away from Manhattan, from the