His Betrayal Unleashed Her True Power

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m. I had been sitting in the dark for hours, a ghost in a borrowed cubicle. I hadn' t received a single text or call from Coleton. Not o

humb hovered over his name before I pressed call, m

e you still busy?" The question was a test, a

but I heard it. The slight pause that tol

in the background. "The guys from the Phoenix project insisted on taking me out for din

e hadn' t just forgotten me; he' d chosen them over me. On my fi

said, my voice devoid of an

even doing here? I had uprooted my entire life for a man wh

burst open and Coleton rushed in, brea

return. He felt like a stranger, his body familiar but his pres

eel angry anymore. There was just a vast, hol

ement in the hallway. A figure lingered in the

ace of embarrassment. "She, uh... she

even stand. I simply picked up my suitcase, the ge

uring directions. I sat in the back, an invisible spectator to their comfortable intimacy. He' d point out a landmark, and she' d laugh at a s

ghtful, and a little bit shy. This version of him was louder, more reckless, constan

he walked to the front door of his apartment and, without a moment' s hes

rprint access

rning to Coleton. "Hey, the guys are heading to The Summit for

e, it' s the launch party. It would look bad i

years, to his apartment for the first time, and he wanted to

und. "What am I to you, Coleton? A layover?

I love you! But this is my life here, Erika. These are my friends. It' s been lone

I said, the word t

bing my hands. "Please, just for an hour. I'

was exhausted from the flight, from the confronta

d, my voice a f

ng. He gave me a quick, grateful kiss on the che

out the door, their laught

sed to be my new home. I walked to the window and watched as

The tears came without warning, hot and

the dip of the cushion as he sat beside me, and then a gentle hand tucking a blanket around my

ing even, pretending to be aslee

afraid to ask all day finally bubbling to the surface. "Have you

his breathing. It hitched, just for

' t tur

' t say

lence of his refusal,