Page 73 of The Husband Contract
"What?" I ask.
"I swerve to the right or the left, and I leave them in their path. You may think you’re getting your revenge on me foryour fucking little wimp of a brother, but you can’t break me. You will never break me."
She shakes her head.
"I was a fool. A fool in love. Yeah, I thought this was real. You got me. You really got me. But now that I know that it’s not, I will never tell you I love you again. I will never look at you the same way. And when you find out the truth—that your little punk of a brother was nothing to me, that our relationship was literally nothing—I hope you choke on the fucking ridiculousness that you’ve put me through."
"I guess I’ll choke on it when you choke on those ten million dollars," I say and head out of the bathroom.
I slam the door behind me, but I’m confused. I’m confused by the absolute bitterness. I’m confused by the confidence in herself—that she’s right. I’m confused by it all. How could she still not take accountability for the money?
And for a moment, there’s a niggle of doubt in my mind. There’s a niggle of doubt that something isn’t right. But I’d seen the photographs. I’d seen the files. Sergio had even confirmed that Willow was her name.
I don’t know what game she is playing, but I’m not going to allow myself to be sucked in. She is getting what she deserves.
Chapter Nineteen
Willow
Desolate despair settles in my bones. I feel like the air has been sucked out of me and there’s no oxygen left in the room for me to breathe. The situation I find myself in is almost comical, or it would be, if it wasn’t so heartbreaking and gut-wrenching.
Sebastian Laurence had turned into a category five hurricane and wreaked havoc on my life. I didn’t know how to deal with what he’d said or done. It was hard to process the last forty-eight hours and not have a mental breakdown.
“You need to get Clark Kent to tell him the truth,” I mumble to myself as I reach for my phone. As I grab it, I stare at my small green suitcase—the one I’d packed so excitedly days before. I try to keep my tears in because I’m just not ready to break down. I call both of the numbers I havefor Clark Kent, and neither one of them works. They just keep ringing, and I don’t even get sent to voicemail.
I know that he’s blocked me. My heart sinks. He’s blocked me, and I have no other way of getting in contact with him.
A part of me wonders if I should demand that Sebastian put us all in a room together and hash it out, but I know that’s never going to happen. Sebastian loves his brother deeply, and it’s obvious to me that he’s protective over him. I don’t know what lies his brother told him, but it it’s obvious to me that Sebastian will always look out for him, over me. I admire his protective nature and his loyalty. They are traits I want in a partner.
In fact, I’d thought that protection was something he’d also offer me, along with a deep love and acceptance of me and all my faults, but I’d been blind to the truth. I’d been an idiot to think this man could love me barely knowing me. There’s no such thing as love at first sight or serendipity.
I want to slap myself for going along with everything so easily and for believing his lies. I’d so badly wanted my knight in shining armor to come along and rescue me from the abject pitifulness of my life. I was so desperate for love, oh so desperate—that I’d gone along with this speedy relationship and ignored all the warning signs that everything was too good to be true.
I knew, in my subconscious, that I’d been questioning things, but I didn’t want to listen to that voice.
My eyes feel heavy, and tears threaten to burst the dam and cascade down my face. I want to cry so badly that it pains me to keep the tears inside. Screams want to exit my body and ripple through the air in large waves, but I refuse to give Sebastian the satisfaction of seeing me break down. The man is a sociopath. He’d likely delight in seeing that he’d almost broken me.
It’s pitiful the number of times I told him I loved him. As I gazed at him, all my emotions showing on my face, he must have been laughing inside.
I hate myself for being such an idiot.
How could I marry a man I barely knew? How could I gush about him and proclaim love so many times to a man who had not once said it back?
A flush of shame courses through me, and I close my eyes as coldness seeps through my veins. I feel as though I’ve just walked through an office building naked. Exposed, shamed, broken.
I wonder if there’s any part of Sebastian that will listen to reason. Is there any part of him that will try and understand and believe me? Was any part of what we’d shared actually true? I stupidly thought he actually believed in fate and stars aligning.
“You’re a fucking fool, Willow,” I whisper, steeling myself when I hear the door opening. Despair courses through me. I square my shoulders and lift my head high.
You’re stronger than this.
Sebastian strides in with his confident, self-assured manner. His eyes narrow as he gazes over at me. He’s still as handsome as ever, and my heart flutters for a moment before it realizes that he hates me and that I should hate him.
“Are you ready?” he snaps, and it takes everything in me not to tell him to go to hell.
I want to punch him and scream about how much he’s broken and hurt me, but I won’t allow myself to go that low. I almost wonder if this is part of the game for him. Maybe he wants to break me. Maybe that’s how he wins.
“Can we talk, please?” I hate the whine in my voice as I plead to his good senses. “Sebastian, I’ve never heard of Sergio.”
