Prologue

They say love is about respect. About choosing each other every day, over and over again, until forever becomes more than just a promise.

I used to believe that.

Until love taught me a different lesson.

My name is Melissa Ashgrove, and this is my story.

********

It was the day before my wedding to Sebastian, the man I believed was the love of my life.

I wanted to do something special for him, something that would make the day even more memorable. To me, Sebastian was perfection, and I loved finding little ways to make him happy.

So, I bought him a gift.

Something he had desperately wanted for a long time but had never managed to get his hands on because, unlike me, he wasn't particularly good at distinguishing fake art from the original.

Dante's Inferno.

It was an extremely rare piece, and finding it hadn't been easy. But after weeks of searching, I finally got my hands on it.

I couldn't wait to see his reaction.

Since I wanted it to be a surprise, I decided to take it to his house myself.

When I arrived, I noticed that the front door was slightly open.

That was strange.

For a man like Sebastian, leaving a job unfinished was practically a death sentence. He liked everything in its proper place, every detail perfect. An unlocked door was the last thing I expected from him.

Still, I pushed it open and stepped inside.

The house was quiet, but something about it felt wrong. The sitting room was untidy, with things scattered carelessly around. It looked nothing like the home of the man I knew.

"Sebastian!" I called.

No answer.

"Babe?"

Silence.

I walked farther inside, checking the kitchen and the lower balcony before heading toward his work area. He wasn't there either.

"Sebastian, where are you?"

Again, nothing.

I shook my head, wondering if he had stepped out and forgotten to lock the door. I carefully positioned the portrait in a corner of the sitting room before bending to gather some of the things scattered across the floor.

That was when I heard it.

A soft, familiar giggle.

My hands paused.

For a moment, I thought I had imagined it. Perhaps someone was watching a video in another room.

Then it came again, followed by a woman's voice.

"Don't stop, Sebs. I fucking love it."

My heart gave a strange, painful jolt.

Sebs.

Only one person called him that.

I stood still, staring toward the hallway as my mind desperately searched for a reasonable explanation. There had to be one. Sebastian wouldn't...

A loud moan interrupted my thoughts.

"Yes!"

"Fuck me!"

"Harder!"

My stomach twisted.

No.

No, this couldn't be happening.

I moved toward the sound, each step heavier than the last. I could hear them clearly now, their voices mingling with the unmistakable sounds of what was happening behind the closed bedroom door.

My fingers closed around the doorknob.

For one final second, I hesitated.

Some foolish part of me still hoped I was wrong. I wanted to turn around, walk out of that house, and return tomorrow to marry the man I loved.

But I had to know.

Taking a shallow breath, I slowly opened the door.

And my world fell apart.

Sebastian, my fiancé, was in bed with Stephanie.

The woman he had introduced to everyone as his little sister.

They were tangled together beneath the sheets, completely lost in each other until my presence finally caught their attention.

I couldn't breathe.

My fingers tightened around the doorknob as I stared at them, unable to make sense of what my eyes were seeing.

Tomorrow was supposed to be my wedding day.

Tomorrow, I was supposed to walk down the aisle and promise this man the rest of my life.

Instead, I stood in his bedroom, watching him betray me with the woman I had believed was his sister.

A wet, broken laugh escaped my throat.

Tears blurred my vision before I even realized they were falling.

"You two could have at least proved me wrong."

My voice came out surprisingly steady.

They both turned toward me.

Sebastian's eyes widened.

"Melissa!"

He scrambled out of bed, reaching for his shirt. "When did you get here? You didn't tell me you were coming."

I stared at him.

Was that really what he was worried about?

"Since when do I need an appointment to see my own fiancé?"

His expression changed. He pulled on his shirt, looking more irritated than ashamed.

"You still could have called."

I let out another disbelieving laugh.

"So you could hide this?"

He opened his mouth, but I wasn't interested in hearing another word from him.

Instead, I turned toward Stephanie.

She hadn't even bothered to cover herself properly. She simply leaned against the pillows, watching me with an almost amused smile. Her lipstick was smeared, and there wasn't a trace of guilt on her face.

I swallowed hard.

"His sister."

Stephanie raised an eyebrow.

"You could have shown a little decency," I said, my anger slowly pushing through the pain. "Instead of sleeping with an engaged man in secret while pretending to be his little sister in front of everyone."

She tilted her head, studying me as though I had said something amusing.

"Yeah, I could have."

Her smile widened.

"But do you honestly think I'd give up a man like Sebastian just because he happens to be engaged to you?"

My hands curled into fists.

"You're a fucking bitch!"

"At least I'm the bitch he loves fucking," she replied without hesitation.

"Enough!"

Sebastian's voice cracked through the room.

I flinched.

Actually flinched.

The man I was supposed to marry tomorrow had just raised his voice at me for confronting him about cheating.

He moved closer to Stephanie, wrapping an arm around her waist as though he were protecting her from me.

Then he looked at me.

There was no guilt in his eyes. No regret. Not even the slightest trace of the affection he had shown me only yesterday.

He looked at me like I was a stranger who had wandered into his house uninvited.

"Do you really think I'd marry a woman like you?"

My lips parted.

"Sebastian..."

My voice cracked around his name.

He scoffed.

"Steph and I have been together since before you and I even started dating. I only kept our relationship a secret because I needed you."

He pulled Stephanie closer and pressed a slow, deliberate kiss to her lips.

Right in front of me.

"I had to tell everyone she was my sister. It was the only way to keep our relationship hidden while I got what I wanted from you."

I stared at him, struggling to process his words.

"What... what are you saying?"

"Do I really have to spell it out for you?" he asked impatiently. "Everything between us was a lie, Melissa."

My chest tightened.

"You told me you loved me," I whispered. "You told me I was the only woman you wanted. We talked about getting married, having children, building a family together."

My voice trembled despite my efforts to control it.

"Was all of that a lie?"

"Obviously." He rolled his eyes. "Are you really that dumb?"

I felt as though the floor had disappeared beneath my feet.

He wasn't even trying to deny it.

He wasn't trying to explain himself or beg for forgiveness.

He was standing there, looking at me with nothing but contempt, as if the years we had spent together meant absolutely nothing.

"It was all about what I could get from you," he continued.

I stared at him, my mind refusing to accept what I was hearing.

"You had the brains to make me rich, so I made you my bait. My authenticator."

He paused, almost as though he were proud of himself.

"No one comes close to your eye for rare art. You can tell an original from a fake when other people wouldn't even know where to begin. And you're a doctor, too. You have money, connections, and a reputation people trust."

His lips curved into a cold smile.

"Do you have any idea how useful that made you?"

The words didn't sink in all at once.

They came slowly, one after another, tearing through every beautiful memory I had ever held on to.

Bait.

That was what he had called me.

All those dates, the flowers, the promises, the nights he had held me close and whispered that he couldn't imagine his life without me...

Had he been pretending through all of it?

Had every loving look, every gentle touch, every sweet word been nothing more than a carefully planned lie?

I had thought I was the love of his life.

I had been so blinded by my feelings for him that I hadn't noticed he was counting my value instead of cherishing me.

My throat tightened.

"Was that all I was to you?" I asked quietly. "A tool?"

Sebastian didn't hesitate. He didn't even blink. "Exactly."