He Said No, She Found Love

s, through my skin, and settled deep in my bones. I was dying in a dark, abandoned war

id, his tone calm and detac

five years of our miserable, forced marriage fell away, and all I saw was the truth. He resented me. He hated me for that one night, for the misunderstandi

nothing. A dee

and familiar, broke

appy bir

snappe

led steak hanging in the air. Across the table, Harrison Hayes looked at me, a polite, distant smile on his face. He

desperate rhythm against my ribs. I looked at my hands. They were sm

ll began. The night I confessed my love t

oment I had gathered all my courage, my face flushed with wine and hope. I had told him I loved him, th

so full of a desper

old voice saying "Wrong number" was seared into my soul. The

m go. I would let him have his perf

ed, his brow furrowed with a flic

a sip of water, the cool liquid a shock to my system

n excuse, a soft voice drifte

rris

ed exactly as I remembered from the photographs Harrison kept, an image of pure, heartbreaking innoce

so fast his chair

led with a disbelief and a longing that I

ood friend, the one that got away. In my past life, her appearance had been a catastrophe, a misunderstanding fueled by

e said, her voice a delicate whisper. "I didn

y presence. To her, I was

rized. "I can' t

watching them. This time, I would be the one to leave. I would orchestrate their

, gatherin

nds like you two have a lot to catch up on. I h

sumed by Charlotte. "Oh. Right. Ava, this is Charlo

ismissive smile before turning her adoring eyes back to Harrison. T

Ava," Harrison said, hi

ed, my tone formal. I turned and

hair I had just vacated, and Charlotte was sitting down. He was leaning in close, his expression soft

sary one. It solidified my resolve. It was the

tears that finally started to fall. I wasn't crying for the love I was losing. I was cryi

But underneath it, a tiny, fragile seed of somethin

I locked my bedroom door. I didn't curl up in bed and weep for him. I sat at my desk, opened my laptop, and