Betrayal on the Wedding Day

s my wedding night. I looked at Olivia Stone, now Olivia Hayes, the woman I had loved for ten yea

, my voice softe

idn't

an. I'm going t

e of a bride. I walked closer, my heart pounding a nervous

fore my fingers coul

"Let's be clear. This is a marriage of convenience. I married you for the Hayes family name a

lt the air leave my lungs. "Olivia, I know this wa

s. "Try what? To pretend I'm in love

thout a second glance. I stood alone in the middle of the room, the expensive sui

touched. I went downstairs, the house quiet and hollow. I was about to enter the kitchen

x asked, his voic

sgust in her voice that made my stomach clench. "God, Alex,

try an

of that man's hands on me makes my skin crawl. He's so

doorframe. My breat

"Once your family's company is stable and we secure the deal with Ha

.. It's disgusting. He' s a sick, dying man w

d through my entire body, leaving me cold and numb. The love I had held for her, so

t and stiff. I went back upstairs, my mind a st

eet of paper. My hand was shaking, but my resolve was

he couch, laughing at something Alex was showing her on his phone.

single sheet of paper on the

o words at the top of the page. She showed no surprise, no sa

the bottom. She didn't read the terms I had yet to write. She didn't ask

ed the paper

ice bored, as if I had just inte

arm around her shoulders and pulling her

myself, offering her my help, my time, my heart, only to be met with polite indiffe

er seen me at all. She had only

d eyes

ht, Ethan. You're

arefully constructed world, built around the hope of her

he ink was still fresh. It was

ferent gaze following me. As I walked out the front door of the house th

as over. My ol

earview mirror. A new, uncertain future lay ahead, but one thing wa