Chapter 3

Ciara's POV

I laughed out loud.

"Move the wedding up? How?"

He frowned, as if the answer was obvious.

"Haven't you already made all the arrangements?"

So he did know everything. He knew I'd been running myself ragged planning and taking care of every detail regarding the wedding venue. He knew how badly I wanted to marry him.

And that was why he had no qualms about exposing me like this.

"Keith Hummel, do you really think you're the only man I could possibly marry?"

His breathing noticeably faltered, and just as he was about to speak, a voice cut in.

"Keith, what are you doing here?"

Madeline walked in and looped her arm through his. "Didn't you promise to make up for my birthday today?"

Not wanting to humiliate myself any further, I turned around and walked out.

That afternoon, I took a cab to the new house we'd bought—a house meant to be our marital home.

I was going to cut every last tie between me and Keith.

But when I punched in the door code and stepped inside, I discovered everything had been renovated. The creamy white walls were repainted pink. The walk-in closet had been changed from the blue I loved to pink. Even the nursery had been turned into a pink gaming room.

As I approached the main bedroom, unmistakable moaning drifted out.

The moment I saw two naked bodies tangled together on the marital bed I had meticulously furnished, my mind went completely blank. I grabbed a vase and hurled it at them with all my strength.

Madeline screamed, and Keith immediately threw himself in front of her.

The vase smashed into his back, and he let out a muffled grunt.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Ciara? Get out!"

Pain twisted through my chest.

"You have three minutes," I said, my voice so quiet it was barely audible.

I staggered into the living room, my legs feeling as heavy as lead. I stared blankly at everything around me. It was both so familiar and yet somehow completely foreign.

A wave of nausea hit me, and I doubled over the trash can, throwing up violently.

Keith came out and gently patted my back. "Is your stomach acting up again?"

He was wearing nothing but a bathrobe.

I recoiled from his touch. It was disgusting. All of it was beyond disgusting.

He stiffened, then walked over to the couch, sat down, and lit a cigarette.

"Maddy's afraid I'll abandon her after I get married to you. She's insecure, so I plan on giving her a baby."

Smoke swirled before my eyes. I struggled to my feet, feeling as if I couldn't breathe.

"This is my marital home, Keith. Do you have a heart at all?"

A flicker of guilt crossed his eyes.

"Ciara, did you misunderstand something?"

A giggle came from behind me.

Madeline emerged in her pajamas and pulled a blind box from the cabinet. It was clearly something she'd prepared in advance.

The card attached to it read, "For the Ultimate Sucker."

"If you didn't like the blind box from last night, how about this one?"

Instinct told me something wasn't right. I snatched the box from her and ripped it open.

The moment I saw the deed to the property, I froze.

"Owner: Madeline Lively."

The transfer had taken place six months ago.

Back then, I was running all over the place, overseeing every detail of the renovations. I even developed pneumonia just from personally supervising the construction on site, coughing nonstop every single day.

At the time, Keith held me in his arms as he thanked me for all the hard work. He looked at me with a heartbroken expression and red-rimmed eyes and promised that soon, we'd have a home of our own.

So that had all been a lie.

Meeting Madeline's taunting gaze, I couldn't stop myself from trying to shove her away. The next second, however, someone slammed me hard against the wall.

"Have you lost your mind, Ciara?" Keith yelled at me as he shielded Madeline in his arms.

Agonizing pain shot through my back. All I could think was how ridiculous I'd been for the past ten years.

As he looked at my deathly pale face, he finally seemed to realize he might have taken things too far. He released Madeline and started toward me.

"Ciara—"

"Don't come near me!"

I forced myself to sound calm.

"Keith Hummel, we're done. It's completely over between us."

With that, I turned and stumbled out of the house.

When I reached the ground floor, my phone vibrated.

"Ciara, I've just landed at the airport. Are we still on for the arranged marriage?"

I wiped away my tears.

"Yes, we are," I replied.