The Invisible Girlfriend's New Start

EO boyfriend, Edward, I finally left him. Then Brody Frazier, his charming

ly declaring his love and flashing a "promise

, Jeannette, announced their engagement, and

a "youthful fantasy" and that I was his "a

remembered the small, hand-car

nnette years ago, along with a

e confession wasn't lov

pte

to be freeing. Instead, it was deafening. Then Brody Frazier walked into my life, a whirlwind of charm and a transparent agenda,

den retriever with a new favorite toy. He' d shown up at my office, sent flowers, left ri

as good.

smooth rumble through the phone. "Thirty minutes. If

he believed that promi

ion in the office window. "Fine

ant "Yes!" had made me

take. He wasn' t just charming; he was captivating. His eyes, the

red, his voice dropping to a theatrical whisper. He wasn't being sub

Brody wanted to outshine Edward in everything, and now that extended t

I wrapped my hands around the m

ugging out of his designer ja

, maybe too quickly. "It's jus

shoulders. It smelled faintly of something musky and expensi

lf, Allyson," he murmured, his gaze soft. "Ed

wouldn't have noticed. He rarely noticed anything

"Edward was busy," I mumbled, feeling the familiar need to

empire, I suppose. Some empires aren't worth the cost." He

e. The warmth spread through me, both from the dri

finally said, the safest

e better at this. Edward probably bought you a gift car

d given me a new smart speaker. "To help you manage your tasks more efficiently," he'd said, his ton

He' d asked if I needed anything, but his eyes never left the screen. When I weakly asked for a glass of water, he'd sighed, stood up, and retrieved

elt like a foreign object. A gesture

nt. His smile was so wide it crinkled the corners of his eyes. "

y in years," I admitted, a little embarrassed

"A new experience. Something Edward would never appreciate." He scribbled something on a napkin. "I've made a note of your 'l

t his earnestness. He genuinely seemed to want to make an impression. Edward had never bothered. Edward had seen me as

ace. Edward, with his calculating mind, had probably only pursued me because I represented stability,

miling, oblivious to the storm brewing in my thoughts. He was a distraction, a bright, chaotic splash of colo

d, meeting his gaze.