k doors closed behind me, my composure crumbled. I leaned against the cool marble wall in the empty hallway, the sile

istory, tossed aside for a woman I had personally brought into his life. I

hlo

ghts. I looked up to see Liam standing at

t, Liam?" I aske

a strange mix of guilt and anno

hort, bitter laugh. "Th

sound sorry at all. He sounded like a CEO handling a PR crisis. "It wa

"And what about me?

is brilliant solution, his grand compromise. "That' s what I came to talk to you about.

miliated me and gave another woman a necklace you kn

Sarah the public recognition, the title of being my cherished employee, but I' ll give

lieved I was so desperate, so dependent on him, that I' d accept being

d sharp and final. "I

revealing the ugly narcissism beneath. "Don' t

e to not be your c

dropping to a low, menacing tone.

he had to manage. The thought made my blood run cold. In that moment, I knew I had to tell him ever

n' t know I possessed. "You know about my family' s condition. You know what happen

im years ago. It was a dark fairy tale, a family curse we never spoke of. But he had

idn' t soften with concern. It hardened with a cruel, calculating glint. He saw m

. "You' re not leaving me because you' re hu

lse in three weeks? Who would want you? If you walk away from me, you' l

a slap in the face. He had taken my deepest fear, the secret

thread of affection

, my voice eerily calm. "Our whole

is arrogance reasserted itself. "I did love you, Chloe. But people ch

t the same girl. That girl ha

ed for my arm, his expression softening into a practiced look of remorse. "Chl

rom his touch as

voice low and steady. "We hav

feel his shock and disbelief radiating across the space between us. He had expecte

the cold, unforgiving lights of the hotel, l