CHAPTER 2

Jane

Julius Armstrong's piercing grey gaze locked with mine, and I didn’t think it was possible, but the humiliation grew even worse. 

It wasn't enough that I had caught my fiancé fucking my best friend minutes before our wedding. 

It wasn't enough that Hudson had kept going, had mocked me and had reduced me to nothing while he buried himself inside Maribel.

Now his father had witnessed it too. The most powerful and intimidating man I had ever known had just seen me at my most pathetic.

Fresh tears spilled down my carefully made-up face. I couldn't breathe. The walls were closing in, and Hudson's voice still echoed in my head.

Pathetic. Unwanted. Nothing.

My hands fisted in the layers of white lace as my entire body trembled, my lips quivering. I had to get out. I needed to run. 

I had to be anywhere but here, standing frozen while Julius Armstrong looked at me with those unreadable eyes.

I raised my dress slightly and raced out of the room, my heels clicking against the floors.

“Jane—” Julius’ voice was deep and commanding, but I barely heard it over the roaring in my ears.

My heart pounded frantically against my chest as I fled down the hallway. The hotel was a maze of luxury, thick carpets, gold fixtures, crystal chandeliers that blurred through my tears. 

I had no idea where I was going and at that moment, I didn’t care. I just needed to get far away from here.

My chest heaved as I stumbled around a corner, the massive skirt of my wedding dress tangling around my legs. I nearly fell but I caught myself against the wall and kept moving. 

Guests would be arriving downstairs. My parents. Hudson's business associates. Everyone waiting to watch me marry a man who thought I was nothing.

A man who was right. I was truly nothing.

I found myself in a quieter wing of the building, away from the ceremony venue. Service elevators and storage were present. It was perfect because the guests would never come here.

The elevator doors opened with a soft chime. I raced inside, my shaking fingers jabbing at the button for the ground floor. 

The doors began to slide closed, and for one blessed moment, I thought I had escaped, then my legs gave out.

I slid down the mirrored wall, my dress pooling around me like a cloud. The elevator didn't move. I must have hit the wrong button, or maybe it sensed the doors hadn't fully closed. 

I didn't care. I just sat there on the cold floor and finally let myself break. The sobs came from somewhere deep inside. It was loud and it was ugly. 

My hands covered my face as my body shook with the force of them. Maribel's moans echoed in my head. The wet sound of Hudson's cock sliding in and out of her. The cruel satisfaction in his eyes when he saw me watching.

“You were always going to be nothing, Jane.”

He was right. God, he was right. Why else would he choose her over me? Why else would my best friend betray me so easily? 

Because I wasn't enough. I wasn't pretty enough, sexy enough. I was probably not a good enough friend either.

I had tried. God, I had tried so hard. I had tried to be what Hudson wanted. I had tried to make him love me. 

I tried to convince myself that I deserved this wedding, this life, but then, I had failed, just like I failed at everything.

The elevator chimed softly. I was startled but I didn't look up. I didn't stop crying even as I felt the shift in air pressure that meant someone had entered.

I heard heavy footsteps. Expensive shoes against polished floor, then, to my shock, a large body lowered itself to sit beside me. 

Not across from me or standing over me. Whoever they were sat right next to me on the floor, back against the same mirrored wall.

I looked up and my breath got caught in my throat. It was Julius Armstrong, Hudson’s father. I instantly looked away, a small gasp escaping my lips.

I couldn't look at him. I couldn't bear to see disgust or pity in those intense grey eyes. He had always been intimidating.

He was tall and powerfully built, with a presence that made rooms go quiet when he entered. 

He was cold, controlled, everything his son pretended to be but wasn't, and now he was sitting on an elevator floor with his son's broken bride.

“I'm sorry,” I choked out, my voice barely recognizable. “I'm so sorry you had to see that. I'm sorry I—I ruined everything. I should have been better. I should have—”

“Stop.” His voice was quiet but firm.

I hiccupped, my hands still covering my face. The words kept spilling out, all the poison Hudson had poured into me over the months and years bubbling to the surface.

“It's my fault. I'm not—I'm not pretty enough. I’m not sexy enough. I didn't try hard enough to keep him interested. My body is—I'm too—” My voice broke. “And now no one will want me. No one will ever want me. I had one chance and I ruined it because I'm not—”

“Jane,” Julius' baritone voice cut through my spiral. It was still quiet, but with an edge of something I couldn't identify. “Look at me.”

I shook my head, curling tighter into myself.

“Jane,” He was gentler this time. “Please.”

Something in his tone made me obey. Slowly, I lowered my hands and turned my head to meet his gaze.

Up close, Julius Armstrong was devastating to look at. He had a strong jaw, dark hair with silver at the temples, and those piercing grey eyes that seemed to see straight through me, but there was no disgust there. 

There was no pity. Instead, there was something almost like anger, but somehow, I could tell it was not directed at me.

“My son,” He said carefully, his eyes never leaving mine. “is a fucking idiot.”

I blinked, completely startled.

Julius continued, his deep voice steady and sure. “You are not inadequate. You did not fail. Hudson is cruel, entitled, and weak, and he has spent years trying to make you believe you're as small as he is,”

Tears streamed down my face, but I couldn't look away.

“You are beautiful, Jane,” The words were quiet and almost reluctant, as though he was admitting something he shouldn't. “You're loyal and hardworking. Entirely too good for my son, and he knew it. That's why he tried so hard to break you down.”

“But Maribel—”

“Is as worthless as he is,” Julius's jaw clenched. "Hudson doesn't deserve you. He never did and any man who can't see what's right in front of him is a fool."

Something cracked open inside my chest. For years, Hudson had told me I was nothing. That I should be grateful. That no one else would want me, and here was his father, this cold and intimidating man was saying the opposite with absolute conviction.

“Julius.” I whispered.

His grey eyes held mine, and suddenly, I was aware of how close we were. We were sitting side by side on the elevator floor, our shoulders almost touching with the scent of his cologne filling the small space.

I saw something flicker in his gaze. It was something dark and forbidden and it made heat coil low in my belly despite everything that was going on.

Before I could think or stop myself, I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his.