Chapter 7
Fiona
55 vouchers
Rick left the room without another word, and I was still standing near the table, staring down at the contract with my name on it. The pen sat beside it like it was mocking me. I felt like I couldn’t move.
That’s when I heard the slow, steady footsteps behind me. I turned. His father had returned.
He didn’t say anything at first. He just looked at me, then started walking forward.
I took one step back. He kept coming. I stepped again, until I felt the wall press against my spine. He stopped in front of me, close enough for me to smell the expensive cologne on his collar.
“You think I don’t know who you are?” he said, voice low.
I frowned and stayed quiet.
“You really think you can play this game with me and walk away clean?”
I kept my chin up. “I don’t know what game you’re talking about.”
He leaned in just slightly. “You think I haven’t seen girls like you? You saw a rich boy slumming it with his money and decided to latch on.”
“I didn’t latch on to anything.” I said.
He ignored me. “He lost most of his memory, in case that wasn’t obvious.”
My breath caught as I stared at him. “What?”
He nodded slowly. “You think he’s pretending? He’s not. He doesn’t remember that year he wasted with you.”
I blinked. My mouth opened, but no sound came out so his father did know who I was.
“You’re nothing but a gap in his mind and he’s better for it.”
That amused me for sure, if he knew I had been with Rick why was he trying to get him to be with my sister? I had guessed something was wrong but his father confirming the loss of memory shook me to my
core.
I looked down for a second, then back at him, “he left me before that.”
“Yes,” he said with a twisted smile. “He did because he saw through you.”
My chest tightened.
“He cut you off then because you were dragging him down and now, like something rotting in the past, you show up again, shameless.”
1/4
8:40 pm ED
Chapter 7
“You don’t know anything about me,” I said, jaw locked.
55 vouchers
He tilted his head. “You think this marriage makes you something? You’re here because he doesn’t remember how low you really are.”
“Say what you want about me but don’t talk like you know him better than I do.”
“Please,” he snapped. “You really think he’d want you back if he knew the full story?”
I narrowed my eyes. “What full story?”
“He doesn’t even know you had a child, a child with another man, no less or did you forget to mention that
part too?”
I sucked in a breath.
He laughed once. “A child born out of wedlock, I always knew you were horrible news.”
I didn’t say anything. My eyes were burning. I swallowed hard, fists clenched at my sides. I had never met him enough to know he had so much against me.
His words landed like bricks. I looked at him but couldn’t even speak. My throat felt like it was closing.
“If Rick ever gets his memory back,” he said, stepping away, “I hope for your sake you’re long gone.”
He left the room, his footsteps fading until the door clicked shut.
I didn’t move for a long time. I kept my eyes on the floor, trying to breathe. My legs were stiff, my hands were cold. I pressed them to my face and held them there, trying to stop the burn behind my eyes.
He really didn’t remember me and worse, maybe he hadn’t wanted to before he forgot.
I forced myself to leave the room. I walked back down the hallway slowly, one step at a time, like I was still processing what just happened. I reached the living room and sank down on the couch.
I didn’t cry. I stared straight ahead, holding my stomach with both arms. I couldn’t stop hearing his father’s voice in my head.
I didn’t know how long I sat there until Lena came running into the room.
“Mommy!” she said, climbing up beside me. “Did you see the swings in the garden? There’s a pond! And the lady gave me cookies and let me color on this giant paper.”
I wrapped my arms around her. She smelled like sugar and fresh air.
“Mommy, are we living here now?” she asked, eyes wide.
I nodded. “Yes, baby, we’re going to be staying here.” Even as I said the words I didn’t believe it.
Her face lit up. “Really?”
I smiled for her. “Really.”
2/4
8:41 pm ED.
Chapter 7
“Do I get to sleep in the big bed with the lights in the ceiling?”
“If you want to.”
:
55 vouchers
She laughed and squeezed me. I held her close, not saying anything. She didn’t need to know how twisted everything was, one of the staff came into the room a few minutes later.
“Miss Hart,” she said gently, “Mr. Sterling has asked to see you.” My stomach dropped. I nodded once and stood, Lena looked up.
“Where are you going?”
“I’ll be back soon,” I said. “You stay here and play, okay?”
“Okay,” she said, hugging her rabbit.
I followed the staff up the stairs and down the west wing hall. She opened a large set of doors and stepped aside.
I walked into Rick’s bedroom. The place was massive. Bigger than the last apartment I’d rented. Floor–to- ceiling windows covered one wall. Heavy curtains were drawn halfway back. The bed was huge, perfectly made, dark gray and deep navy. A large desk was set up across the room, sleek and spotless. There was a fireplace, unlit but polished and the room smelled like cedar and leather.
He wasn’t there.
I stood in the middle, unsure where to go. I walked to the edge of the bed and sat, then stood again, pacing in front of the fireplace. I kept going over the words in my head. What I would say. How I would say it. I wanted to tell him everything, that we had a past, that he had a daughter and that none of this was a
coincidence.
I turned when the door opened fast. He stepped in, closed the door behind him, and looked straight at me.
I stood still near the bed.
He didn’t stop walking until he reached me. He grabbed my wrist and turned sharply, pinning me against the wall. His hand braced beside my head, his face was inches from mine.
“I don’t know what games my father is playing with my life,” he said, eyes hard, “but listen to me carefully.”
I stared back at him, not moving.
“I only did this because it was his choice. And between you and your sister, you seemed easier to control.”
My chest dropped and that made me almost go crazy.
He leaned in just slightly.
“Don’t you dare expect me to treat you like a wife. This marriage is for show, that’s all it will ever be.”
He pulled away from the wall and started unbuttoning his shirt, one button at a time. I blinked, confused, my voice catching.
3/4
:41 pm E
ED
Chapter 7
55 vouchers
“What are you doing?”
My eyes dropped to his chest without meaning to. Every muscle was sculpted like it was carved from stone, abs cut deep beneath golden skin, his frame so heavenly it looked unreal in the soft lighting, his broad chest and defined arms. Every inch of him was built to make people stare.
He leaned in just enough to whisper, “What married couples do on their wedding night.”
Before I could speak, his arm swung around my waist, yanked me forward, and my body collided with his. He caught my mouth in a kiss, hard and hot, swallowing the sound I made as my hands pressed against his bare chest.
Chapter 8
