CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR: ETHAN 'SPOV

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR: ETHAN 'SPOV


The bed felt colder than usual.

Maybe it was guilt. Maybe it was shame. Maybe it was the way Diana had stormed out last night, leaving nothing but the echo of Liam’s name hanging in the air like a curse.

I sat up, my sheets tangled at my waist, and stared at the phone on my nightstand. It mocked me. I still couldn’t reply to him yet I called his name in a moment of passion.

I didn’t know how. What do you say to someone you love when you keep choosing everything except him?

The wedding was speeding toward me like a bullet train, and I was chained to the tracks. The preparations, the public appearances, the expectations Diana had tightened the noose so elegantly I hadn’t even noticed I was suffocating until it was too late.

And then I said his name.

Right there. In the heat of the moment. With her hands on me. Her mouth…

God. I buried my face in my palms.

The door creaked open, and my heart skipped.

But it wasn't Diana. Not yet.

After dragging myself through a shower and throwing on something passable, I headed down to the dining room where she was already seated, poised like a queen ruling from her throne. A glass of orange juice in one hand, a buttered croissant in the other. Her smile was slight, but the gleam in her eyes was unmistakable.

Deadly.

I cleared my throat. "So... what now?"

She didn’t look up. "What do you mean?"

I forced a breath through my nose. "You know what I mean. Last night… I know you’re upset. I know I screwed up. Just what's your plan?"

She set the croissant down delicately. Then she finally met my eyes.

"Ethan," she said with a tone so sweet it could slice skin, "has anyone ever hurt me and gone unpunished?"

I didn’t answer. Because we both knew the answer.

"But," she continued, dabbing her mouth with a cloth napkin, "today isn’t about punishment. Not yet. Today is about us."

I stared.

"We’re going shopping. I need to finalize some jewelry choices for the wedding. And you, my darling, are going to come with me."

"You want to go out together?"

She smiled. "Of course. We’re the happy couple, remember? The power duo everyone is watching. You don’t think I’d deprive the world of that, do you?"

It wasn’t a request.

……….

The boutique smelled like expensive candles and ambition. Everything sparkled, not just the diamonds and gold, but the air itself.