Chapter 005

DEVON

My gaze lingered on her, the sudden confidence she tried to portray making me wonder if there was something deeper beneath it.

It couldn’t just be that Dominic cheated on her. Not completely. That was never the surprising part. It was what men like him do when no one was watching.

Still, Alice wasn’t acting like a woman whose heart had been broken. She was acting like someone who had already decided the exact ending of her story, and that made me curious to know more about her.

"So now that you're my wife," I said, leaning back slightly. She looked over in my direction, a flash of shock crossing her face. "Do you have the idea that you're going to be staying with me."

Her eyes widened as if the reality of the situation had just hit her. "No. We don't have to live together or do anything like that."

I arched an eyebrow at her, watching as she quickly shifted her gaze away from me. "Well, cupcake, that setup doesn't work for me. The whole city already knows we got married today, and you don't want the media talking even more, do you?"

She bit her lower lip as the realization dawned on her that my words were true. But before she could find her voice to argue, I beat her to it.

"If you truly want to get your revenge on Dominic, you might as well do it the right way," I added.

She met my gaze instantly, staring at me as if she were trying to figure out exactly how much I knew. She rolled her eyes, trying to keep up her confident act, but I could see her guard slipping. "Fine. But I get my own room, and we are not doing anything intimate with each other."

I stared at her in amusement, pleased by the way she had just humbled Dominic. He had always been good at only one thing, standing in the spotlight like it belonged to him alone.

He acted like the entire hockey team bent around his name and like the league had decided he was completely untouchable. People like him never noticed the cracks forming right beneath their feet. I had looked forward to a day like this for a long time, and the fact that she had handed his downfall to me so easily made me realize that keeping her close would be a massive benefit.

"Okay," I said simply.

She looked away from me, turning her attention back to the window as the car drove down the quiet road. A few minutes later, the vehicle pulled into the driveway of my house. The driver got out, walking around to open the door for us.

I stepped out onto the pavement right after she did, watching her as she stood frozen for a moment, her gaze drifting over the house as if she dreaded going inside. Her hand clutched the torn hem of her wedding dress tightly.

"Shall we?" I asked.

She nodded softly, not saying a word. We walked up to the front door, which slid open after I pressed the security passcode into the panel. I waited for her to step inside before I followed. She stopped right by the couch, her eyes scanning the living room as if trying to take everything in at once.

"You can stay in my room tonight," I said while she kept looking around. "I'll have my housekeeper prepare the guest room for you in the morning."

She turned to face me, hesitating for a second, her expression showing she never actually wanted to be here. "Okay," she said, tilting her jaw up as if none of this situation could get to her.

I gestured for her to follow me up the stairs. We walked up to the second floor and reached my bedroom. I pushed the door open, and she walked in. She looked around the space, her eyes passing over the team posters on the wall before she walked over to the section where my trophies stood.

"I'll leave you to get some rest," I said, turning around to head back to the door. But her voice called out, making me stop in my tracks.

"Can I get something to change into?" she asked simply, still trying to keep up her strong front. "I can't stay in this dress all night."

"Okay." I walked over to my walk-in closet, searching through the shelves until I found a large, plain shirt. I pulled it out and handed it over to her.

"Thank you," she said, looking down at the fabric. Then, she turned her back completely to me.

My eyes widened slightly as I wondered what she was doing. She definitely didn't plan on changing right in front of me, did she? "I'll give you some privacy," I said, making a move toward the exit.

But she stopped me again. "Can you please help me with the zipper?" she asked softly.

I caught her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes were closed tight, like she couldn't believe she was the one making that request. I swallowed hard, a small smile touching my lips as I moved closer. I carefully held the top of the zipper, attempting to pull it down, but I noticed it had a small flower-shaped hook catching the material. I moved my fingers against the metal, gently easing it upward first.

She winced slightly at the movement. "Carefully, please."

The soft way she said the words made something inside my chest twitch, but I ignored the feeling and pulled the zipper down in one smooth motion. I looked away immediately as the skin of her back came into view. "I'll be down in the living room in case you need anything else," I told her before walking straight out of the room.

The door clicked shut behind me. I walked back downstairs into the living room and collapsed onto the couch, loosening my tie to allow myself to breathe. The events of the wedding replayed in my mind like a movie. It felt like fate had finally given me the perfect opportunity to get back at Dominic for what he had done to me in the past.

I stood up from the cushions and walked over to the kitchen fridge, grabbing a bottle of water to calm my thoughts. After taking a few quick gulps, I let out a slow exhale, my fingers gripping the plastic bottle much tighter than I needed to. And then, I felt it again, the familiar pressure against my left wrist.

I didn't even need to look down to know what was there. I had stopped needing confirmation a long time ago, but my eyes drifted down anyway. The faint mark pulsed gently beneath my skin, quiet and perfectly precise. It was counting down.

There was less than a year left