Chapter 22

Twenty-Two

Nathan

'... I could never be happy... Not with you...'

Her words rang loud in my head and even though they shouldn't hurt, they twisted in my gut like a knife.

I glanced at Chloe beside me. How could she say such words to me and still laugh so brightly at my father's words? How could she give me hell while looking every bit like an angel descended from above?

She looked beautiful. Dressed in an elegant blue dress. The makeup artist had chosen colors that made her icy blue eyes pop out alluringly. They didn't look icy like they had in the parking lot. They looked at Dad with vivid interest as the man told stories of his days as a sailor. I had heard that story a gazillion times and every time, it gets exaggerated. Yet she seemed to believe every word that dropped from the old man's mouth.

Her lips were coated pink. They parted to let out a hearty laugh when dad said something that I couldn't figure out because I wasn't listening. How could I? All I could hear were her wor