LOGINThat night, long after the last of the guests had left for their rooms, Andrew and I returned to the presidential suite to find that the staff had decorated it in preparation for our stay. All the décor, right down to the bed sheets, had been switched out for matching red and gold pieces. The light
Andrew’s eyes met mine as I approached the altar. He smiled at me, and I smiled back. He looked so handsome in his classic black tuxedo that I could hardly wait for after the reception to be with him. As I took my place across from Andrew, I handed my bouquet to Lily. The priestess bega
One month later, I stood in a suite at a private beachside resort, admiring my wedding dress. It hugged my curves in all the right places while still gently brushing against the ground like a low-hanging cloud. Crystals glistened in the room’s fluorescent lights, and the train flowed behind me effor
“Let’s continue this in the bedroom,” I said, breathless. Andrew nodded his agreement. I pulled Andrew to his feet as he stuck the ring box back in his pocket. Then I dragged him back to the bedroom, leading him by the tie. Not that he needed to be dragged; he would have followed me anywhere by th
Andrew texted me and said his flight was delayed by a few errands he had to run, so I waited. And waited. I waited for an entire day, and even began to worry that Andrew had changed his mind. Then I heard a knock at my door. I leapt off the couch and rushed to answer it. Stopping just short of the
Noah left the next day. I took him to the airport, we exchanged a hug and a brief farewell, and then I watched him walk through the gate. That was the last time I ever saw him. With a heavy heart, I returned to an empty apartment. All our furniture and my belongings—what little I still had—were the
My skin crawled. The very thought of being Bob’s paid lover sent a flurry of emotions through me that I could scarcely control: disgust, anger, repulsion, hatred—towards him for suggesting it and a little towards myself that my life had come to this. I tried to shake the last of these off and remind
The wall that we sat next to featured real bricks and wine grape vines growing up the side of it. As Noah pulled my chair out for me, the iron scraped against the hard ground. The authenticity—and Noah’s manners—made me smile. Noah ordered balsamic and rosemary-marinated Florentine steak, while I
I tried to keep my spirits up on the drive home for Noah, but I kept thinking about Andrew and the anger with which he had glared at us. Could he truly have been that mad about seeing me with another male? No, that couldn’t be possible. Andrew could have any female—any person—he wanted. He wouldn’
We picked up Donner and left him at the house with Eliza before taking Nikolas to the hospital. The hospital was in the next town over, so it was quicker than waiting for an ambulance and cheaper, too. When we got to the hospital, the doctors rushed Nikolas off to the ICU, and we were left to fill







