Page 82 of Landlord Wars
ChapterThirty-One
Sophia
When I reenteredthe ballroom after unsuccessfully attempting to remove the stain from my dress, champagne was being passed out to everyone in attendance, which I wasn’t feeling after having Gwen’s poured down the front of me.
Heat burned behind my eyes. I would not cry. This was a fancy date Max had set up, and I needed to hold out a little longer until I found him.
Just as I managed to blink away the tears, I finally caught sight of him at the top of the massive staircase.
Relief filled me. Until I saw the woman he stood beside.
For a moment, I was back at the rooftop party, watching Max and Gwen arm in arm, looking for all the world like the Golden Couple.
Max’s face was expressionless as he stared straight at me, his jaw tense, while Gwen beamed up at him.
A loud female voice came over invisible speakers, welcoming everyone.
Max’s mother?
She’d spoken of a gala she was planning when I first met her, and this must be it. She went on about donors over the loudspeaker, and then said, “It is my husband’s and my greatest pleasure to announce the betrothal of our son—”
The rest of her words turned into a loud buzzing sound inside my head.
Max was getting married? To Gwen?
Memories flashed before my eyes:Gwen at Max’s mother’s house, sipping tea… Gwen leaving Max’s apartment the other day… Gwen’s look of surprise when Jack called meMax’s girl.
Had they been together the whole time, and I was the idiot who never knew?
The thought cut like a thousand knives to my chest. I wobbled in my heels, the world spinning, my chest rising and falling rapidly.
Even though I hadn’t seen much of Max this week, in my mind, we were together. He’d checked in every day and made sure I ate lunch, which I often forgot. When I was with him, my world was lighter. He made me laugh, and he supported me in ways that made me believe I could conquer the world.
But nothisworld.
After everything I’d experienced tonight, it was clear I’d never fit into Max’s world.
My hands shook, and I swiveled in a circle, not knowing where to go but knowing I couldn’t stay. And locked eyes with Paul.
I’d gone numb after the announcement, and all I could do was stare at my ex.
He was alone this time, no fiancée clinging to him. But Paul didn’t look smug. For once, he looked concerned.
I didn’t remember leaving the ball, but in the next moment, I was walking down Van Ness, the expensive heels Max had bought me hurting the balls of my feet, my ankles wobbling every time I stepped in the cracks of the concrete.
Max had never taken me out on a proper date. Never introduced me to his friends. No one knew we were together except Jack, who was only marginally a part of Max’s society.
Was Gwen Max’s official girlfriend and I the secret?
Elise was wrong. A person didn’t need to be married to have a sidepiece. They could be so heavily entrenched in the upper crust that outsiders would always be “other.”
A wave of dizziness washed over me, and I stumbled. The heel of one shoe scraped the ground loudly before I caught my balance.
Maybe this had been a setup by his family. I didn’t know. I couldn’t process it. What I knew was that I had no value in the eyes of his parents, nor anyone at the ball—the people he rubbed shoulders with daily. Even if he wanted to be with me, I’d never be welcome.
Tears burned behind my eyes, but they didn’t flow. They sat there choking me. I wasn’t angry enough to cry, as numbness filled every cell.
It wasn’t until I was halfway home that I reached for my phone to call for a ride and remembered I didn’t have it. The phone wouldn’t fit inside my grandmother’s purse, so I’d left it in my workbag.
