A Bride's Shattered Illusion

sing down on me. The firm resolve I had shown Brandon dissolved, leaving a hollow ache in my chest. He was right about one thing. For a long

upposed to

a car accident. He was too pretty for a boy, with delicate features and large, sad eyes that made the other kids target him. I became his protector. I fo

epped out. They were the Scotts, a wealthy, distant branch of his family who had finally tracked

omes with me," he declared

tatus in the Scott mansion was awkward. I wasn't family, and I wasn't staff. I was just "Olivia," the girl the young master insisted on keeping around. Mrs. Scott, perhaps s

something of myself, to one day be able to stand on my own two feet and leave their world of cold

-one then, no longer a scrawny boy but a handsome, confident young man about to take

, his voice earnest. "I love

. Mr. Scott saw me as a gold-digger, a remnant of a past he wanted to erase. He made his pr

atic, reckless move, but it worked. A compromise was reached. We could be together, but on their terms. I had to sign an agreement, a prenuptial contract of sorts, that essential

with him. We were secretly married at the courthouse a week later. It was a quiet, sterile

ll give you the wedding you deserve. A huge celebration, in fr

living in the shadows while he built his career. I supported him, managed his home, and soothed his anxieties.

-bubbly, overtly flirtatious, and skilled in the art of corporate politics. She understood the world he now inhabited better than I did.

st he had outgrown. Chloe was the exciting presen

now the wedding is important for the merger. Olivia will play her p

That' s what I had becom

"We' re having the wedding, Li

ming back to me. Maybe he was finally ready to honor his promise, to choose me. I let myself ge

or a camera that wasn' t meant for me. It wasn't just a betrayal. It was a confirmation. I wasn' t th

llusion I had been clinging to for a decade. It show

would not play my part. I would not be managed. I