Chapter 1
Three months after William Thorne got back together with his ex, he suddenly asked about me.
“Has Sera been hiding away, crying her eyes out again these past few days?”
His friends exchanged glances. “Come to think of it, we haven’t seen her in ages.”
“Didn’t I hear she got married a while back?”
“No way. That’s just a rumor, probably a desperate ploy to get William’s attention.”
William’s voice was cool and detached. “Go tell her to meet me at the usual place tonight.”
His friends started to whoop and holler. “If she shows up crying, you gonna go soft on her, William?”
He let out a soft, dismissive laugh. “We’ll see.”
But that night, I never came. I waited until the city was draped in the deep blue of late night, and still, there was no sign of me.
He called my phone. I didn’t answer.
He had a girlfriend, and I was a married woman. It was better to keep our distance.
1
The day William Thorne and his ex–girlfriend, Mélina Vance, got back together was my birthday.
Just as I was about to cut the cake, the door to the private room was thrown open with a violent shove.
It was Melina again. The one who had nearly driven William to self–destruction.
She was breathtakingly beautiful, her dress and makeup flawless, every strand of her hair seeming to catch and hold the light. My first instinct
was to hide my hands behind my back, but the rough calluses on my fingers snagged on the delicate silk threads of my dress.
“William.”
Melina pushed past one of our friends, her designer skirt swishing as she rushed toward him.
“I give up,” she declared, her voice ringing through the sudden silence. “I’m waving the white flag this time.”
Though her words were of surrender, she held her chin high, a queen refusing to let her crown slip, fighting back the tears that welled in her eyes.
The room was dead quiet.
I couldn’t help but look at William. He sat on the sofa, his expression a mask of cold indifference. He hadn’t even glanced at Melina, but the hard line of his jaw told a different story.
“William, I’m only going to ask you this once,” Melina’s voice trembled. “Do you want me back, or not?”
A dry, cynical laugh escaped William’s lips. “Who do you think you are, Melina? You break up with me when you want, and you get back with me when you want?”
As he spoke, he reached out, yanking me into his lap. The movement was so abrupt that my nose slammed into his solid chest, the impact sendi- ng a jolt of pain so sharp it made my eyes water.
“Can’t you see I have a girlfriend, Melina?” William’s voice was a low growl.
He dipped his head, and his lips found the damp corner of my eye where a tear was forming.
The color drained from Melina’s face. “Fine. You’re ruthless.” She pointed a shaking finger at him, tears finally streaming down her cheeks. “Willi- am Thorne, I swear I am done with you for good this time!”
Her furious gaze then landed on me, a look of pure venom, before she spun around and shoved the table with all her might.
The champagne tower crashed to the floor in a symphony of shattering glass. The cake, my beautiful birthday cake, was now a ruined mess on the carpet
Chapter 1
08 47
Shards of glass flew through the air, cutting both of us. A deep gash on her arm, and for me, a slice across my face.
But in that instant, William let go of me. His immediate reaction was to grab her.
“Don’t move. You’re bleeding,” he said, his eyes filled with a raw, undeniable ache for her.
“Don’t touch me! Go worry about your precious little girlfriend!” Melina cried, shoving him away before running out of the room.
It was as if I’d become invisible. William stood frozen for only two seconds before he bolted after her, not even sparing me a single backward glan-
- ce.
