Semua Bab The Vows We Fake : Bab 91 - Bab 100

I had walked these same chapel aisles with Zane before, when it was just us planning, fighting, circling each other with barbed words and smoldering tension. He had leaned close in these halls, his voice low and cutting, his eyes lit with the same fire that had burned me alive five years ago. And now… here I sat, reduced to a spectator, watching my ex-best friend walk up to the man I loved. Sera reached the altar, her hand slipping gracefully into Zane’s. He didn’t look at her. He didn’t look at anyone. His gaze remained fixed somewhere far beyond the moment, beyond the ceremony. But he… took her hands. My stomach twisted violently, bile rushing up my throat. His fingers wrapped around hers, the gesture so intimate it made me dizzy. Those were my hands he used to hold like that. My fingers he used to lace with his, as if they had been made to fit together. Once, I had believed they were. The way his thumb brushed her knuckles, it wasn’t tender, not in the way it had been with me.

The reception was everything I had dreamed it would be. Soft chandeliers glittered overhead, draping the hall in golden light. White roses cascaded from crystal vases, their petals so pristine they seemed unreal. Tables gleamed with polished silver and fine china, laughter bubbled in corners, and the air thrummed with the sound of clinking glasses and music drifting from the string quartet in the corner. Every detail had been touched by my time and hours, by my hand. It should have been my triumph. Instead, it was my ruin. I stood at the edge of the room, watching as guests drifted to their tables, marveling at the beauty, praising the couple, delighting in the spectacle. All I felt was an ache deep in my chest, hollow and relentless. This was supposed to be mine. My creation, my masterpiece, yes… but in another world, it should have been my moment. I pressed a hand against my ribs, as though I could hold myself together. My eyes stung, and I forced myself to swallow the grief dow

My rage started as a spark, a tiny flame in the ashes of my humiliation. But it grew, fed by every cruel smirk and whisper. They thought they destroyed me tonight. Catherine, Sera, the guests with their snapping phones. Even Zane, with all his power, had failed me.But they didn’t know me. I would not be destroyed. I would not be forgotten.I sat up, staring into the mirror on the opposite wall. My reflection was a ruin. Mascara streaked, hair tangled, eyes red and bloodshot. But beneath the wreckage was something new. A steel I hadn’t seen in myself for years.This wasn’t my end. It was my beginning. And I would start with Zane Blackwood and Sera Voss. I would burn down their empire of lies, brick by brick. Let Catherine smile now. Let Sera smirk.The game had only just begun.##I fell asleep pretty shorty, and by the time I woke up, I felt drained. My phone was vibrating angrily on the nightstand. The curtains in the hotel room were only half drawn, and thin morning light filtered

I walked slowly, savoring each step, each stare. The luxury car I’d rented gleamed behind me like proof that I wasn’t broken, that I had claws sharp enough to climb back. Inside, my chest thundered like a caged animal, but I masked it with the poise of someone who had nothing left to lose. I caught sight of Catherine first. Her smile faltered, just for a heartbeat, before snapping back into its perfect, practiced façade. Sera beside her shifted uncomfortably, her hand brushing her still-soft stomach as if it might protect her. Zane stood a few paces away, glass in hand, staring at me with something I couldn’t read. The sight of him caused my stomach to tumble. It was crazy that he still had that effect on me. But I ignored him. I ignored them all. Leah had done her part beautifully. I could already hear the whispers, planted like tiny seeds before I’d arrived. “Catherine’s firm had layoffs last week.” “Zane’s marriage isn’t so perfect, you know.” “I heard Amara’s got backing no

The man Catherine was with in this picture taken years ago was… Sera’s father. The world tilted, a sharp ringing filling my ears. I pressed the photo flat on the table, staring at it as if the image would dissolve. Oh my God. Catherine and Sera’s father were having an affair. Oh wow. Leah leaned over my shoulder, her breath hot against my ear. She let out a low whistle. “Oh, shit,” she whispered, awe threading through her voice. “Do you know what this means?” I nodded, the edges of the photo cutting into my fingers as I clutched it tighter. It meant Catherine Blackwood had been screwing Sera’s father back when Sera was a kid. Suddenly, so many moments clicked into place. The way Catherine always looked at Sera with something softer in her eyes. The way she defended her, shielded her from whispers, even before she was officially tied to the Blackwood name. The way she seemed to take Sera under her wing after her mother’s death, stepping into a role that, at the time, I thought was