Page 18 of When Forever Comes

I wave goodbye to her sister, the spectator to my heart’s destruction, and leave without another word. I already humiliated myself enough for a lifetime.

Finding out Olivia never wanted me in the same way I wanted her shouldn’t have surprised me as much as it did. Even with all the money I have, I’m not enough for her. I never have been and never will be.

“I’ll never be worthy,” I mutter to myself.

“You don’t need to be,”a still quiet voice reminds me.

My phone beeps with a new email. I open it and read the message.

Someone wants to book a last-minute wedding ceremony on the beach. They are offering an obscene amount of money, too.

I reply to the email chain and tell my assistant to have the only available accommodation cleaned and prepped for our new guests. I could have prepared the vacant bungalow for Olivia and Dana, but once I learned it was the Swann sisters who were double-booked, I knew my penthouse was the better option for their stay.

Not that it matters now.

I bottle my embarrassment and rejection, putting it away to be absorbed later. Now isn’t the time to dwell on what almost was. Now I need to focus on work.

When I reach the check-in desk, Mindy is with a guest. I step through the door and walk to my office.

“Mr. Lockwood, wait,” Mindy calls to me. “Our guest, Mr. Washburn, asked to speak to a manager.” My blood freezes in my veins.

“Lockwood? As in West Lockwood?” Brad’s familiar voice booms from the lobby.

Mindy nods to our newest guest and I clench my eyes closed.

“No way! It’s been years, man.”

My gut rolls and I’m transported back to high school, where Brad and his minions battered what little confidence I had. Where my self-worth was at an all-time low and the only light in my darkness was a girl named Olivia Swann. Just like that, I’m brought back to reality, where Olivia Swann rejected me when I was at my most vulnerable and I am face to face with her ex-fiancé.

Brad looks me over with a demeaning smile. “This is a nice place.”

“Thanks,” I grit through my teeth.

“You’ve created quite an empire here, haven’t you?”

I say nothing.

“Have you found anyone to share this with? You know Olivia and I settled down together, right? Have you seen her recently?”

Brad fires the questions in rapid succession.

“I think you mean you failed to settle down with Olivia when you cheated on her.” His smile turns into a scowl, and I fire my own question without answering one of his. “Why are you here?”

“Brad?” Olivia’s shocked voice cuts in before Brad can answer.

He turns to face her. She has my jacket draped over her arm, and her eyes are puffy and rimmed in red.

“What are you doing here?” she asks him.

“To do what I’ve planned to do for the last two years.”

She crosses her arms, clutching my jacket to her chest.

“What’s that? Sleep with more of my bridesmaids?”

Brad looks irritated, not ashamed. “Liv Bug, don’t do this. You had it all planned out. A ceremony at sunset on the beach. Our family and friends together, creating an intimate audience as you became my wife.”

Olivia shakes her head. “No, Brad. You destroyed that when you slept with Lexi.”

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