The Lost Crown

The whiskey glasses clinked, and the air hung thick with cigar smoke at Ethan' s bachelor party.

I was just bringing in another round, playing the supportive girlfriend I' d always been for the man I loved since high school.

Then I heard my name.

"Anya? She' s an artist. No family, no connections. Marrying her would be a liability for the firm."

He laughed.

"Besides, after all these years, who else would want her? She' s practically a charity case my family took in. She' s not going anywhere."

The crystal tray in my hands shattered on the marble floor, but no one bothered to look up from their celebratory drinks and laughter.

He even had the audacity to crawl into my bed that night, reeking of alcohol, whispering about keeping me as his "secret girl" after he married his fiancée.