f you refuse, you can crawl out of here," he add

me face. I looked at his friends, watching me wit

e polished bench, my back straight. The low chatter i

rs on the keys. A

t me, back when we were teenagers and I still believed he had a heart. I' d spent

. I played it perfectly, flawlessly, with a cold, mechanical precision that stripped the song of all

ing at Liam, and wal

ed my arm. His grip was like iron. "Whe

urant, ignoring the stares of the other patrons. He pushed m

t on the couch. My collection of art books on the coffee table. The scent of the vanilla candles I lo

inting to the designer purse I'd told him to throw away. It was sitting on the e

thered every single thing that belonged to me. My clothes from the closet, my toiletries from the bathroom, the spare key I kept in a drawer.

all closet. When he came out of the shower, a towel slung l

gs at my feet. "Scarlet

locked my way, his wet hair dri

ing," I s

cene," he bit out,

You said to take my bag, so I

laugh. "You know how ridiculou

at him, my exp

was always bothering you. But I've had a lot of time to thi

me off. The ringtone was a specific

idn't answer it. Instead, he leaned in closer to me, his voice dropp

ring. It was a game to him.

You should answer that," I said gently. "Bethany's new t

ack in my composure. Finding none, he finally turned awa

been busy... No, don't cry. Y

thing tones into the phone. He didn't look b

e club in the city. The purpose of the dinner was to finally set a wedding date for Li

her at the door to the private dining room, and one of the Hayes famil

st s

r, Liam arrived. A

o his arm, looking fragile an

m fell

her, the matriarch of the Hayes family. T

lear and steady. "I've proposed t

gasps. My mother gripped m

oom. "Scarlett," she sobbed, her voice full of fake vulnerability. "I know I promised I would stay away from

girl forced into a difficult situation. But I saw something else. In the brie

d. A look of someone who

, I knew. She w

her face red with anger. "Liam! Have you lost

t, all the lies and manipulations. Bu