Chapter 4
Across the crowd, I watched them.
Felix stood close to her, laughing at something she said. She looked up at him, eyes shining with admiration, smiling like he’d hung the stars himself.
At one point, she pouted and touched her stomach. Felix chuckled and reached out to ruffle her hair.
And for a second, I felt like an outsider. Like the other woman, eavesdropping on something private that didn’t belong to me.
From that kiss last night to the way he touched her now- it was obvious.
Felix liked her.
Then again, why wouldn’t he?
She adored him. Quietly. Unconditionally. Never asked for anything, never questioned a thing. Just gave and gave like he was the sun and she was born to orbit him.
I smiled to myself–bitter and tired–and turned away.
That’s when I saw Damon,
He stepped out from the shadows like he’d been watching all along, eyes fixed on Felix with a sharp, cutting intensity.
“This is whoy
you chose to replace me with?” he said.
I met his stare without flinching “Don’t flatter yourself.”
He cocked his head. “Why’d you stop chasing me, Lydia?”
I blinked. Was he serious?
I chased him for ten years, Gave him everything I had. And now he wanted to know why I stopped?
Since I gave up on him, he kept showing up like some ghost that refused to fade.
Not because he wanted me.
Just like Felix, he couldn’t stand the idea of losing.
“And you’re still going through with the mating ceremony?” Damon asked
I smiled coldly. “Mind your own damn business.”
“I’ve let you go, Damon. Fully, completely. And believe me–I have no interest in looking back“.
As I brushed past him, his voice followed me.
Π
“So what? Doesn’t bother you that Felix has someone else now?”
It did.
My chest tightened, a dull ache radiating from the place just beneath my ribs.
But I told myself I’d survive it.
Twenty more days, Lydia.
Just twenty more days.
On the way home, I told Felix I’d ruined my custom wedding gowTL
“Feels like a bad omen, doesn’t it?”
I watched his expression closely.
He barely flinched. Just furrowed his brows, then reached for my hand and gave me that warm, familiar smile.
“Then we’ll go find another one tomorrow, okay? Something even better.”
That gown had taken six months to design. My favorite designer. My favorite silhouette. One of a kind.
It had just arrived last week. I tried it on once.
Felix never saw it.
And now?
I didn’t want it anymore.
Was I disappointed?
Not really,
Because this game he started?
I was just getting warmed up-
The next day, we spent hours dress shopping.
None of the off–the–rack gowns fit right, obviously. But I pretended to search anyway, dragging him from boutique to boutique.
By the end of the day, I sighed and said, “Such a shame. Guess it really was my fault.”
Felix just smiled and squeezed my hand. “It’s okay. We’ll find the right one. No rush.”
I looked straight into his eyes.
“Felix…. maybe we should cancel the mating ceremony. I mean, the dress got ruined maybe it’s a sign
He slammed
on the brakes.
The sudden jolt flung me forward, but he caught me with one arm, cradling me instinctively.
“You okay?” he asked, voice tight.
I nodded and laughed it off. “Relax. I was joking.”
But his grip didn’t loosen.
He pulled me into him and whispered, “Don’t say that. Not even as a joke. You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for this,” Really? Wasn’t this the plan all along?
Walk me through the perfect engagement. Smile through every photo. Help me write the invitations.
Make me believe I was the luckiest woman in the world-
Then crush me.
Wasn’t that the idea?
I was just helping him make the fall more dramatic.
So why did he look like he was cracking?
That night, we barely made it through the front door before Felix pinned me to the cabinet by the entrance.
His body was hot and trembling with something wild–panic, desperation, guilt, I couldn’t tell.
Clope 4
He kissed me like a man trying to erase his own lies.
And maybe, just maybe, he didn’t even know which part was real anymore.
