Chapter 4

Simon glanced at my back, but Letitia laughed and waved his worry away before it could take hold.

"What are you scared of? Penelope isn't from Camelback Hollow. Of course she can't understand our dialect."

Only then did Simon relax, turning to meet one curious pair of eyes after another.

"Don't play dumb!!"

"Come on, we want to hear it straight from your mouth. Wouldn't that make the story of your little affair even better?"

Letitia spoke up first. "So do you all know who hired that crowd?"

"Wait—was it you?"

"Smart." "Who told her to come around getting in the way? We were right at the good part, and I didn't want anyone interrupting."

The room burst into loud laughter.

Some laughed at how pathetic I was, and some said Letitia's people had come down too hard.

And Simon, who'd sworn over and over that no outsider would ever push me around, forgot every one of those promises now, laughing right along with them, smug as could be.

I gripped the blanket tight, but I didn't have the courage to sit up and face them.

Because I knew I couldn't win against all of them. Even if I fought, I couldn't make a single one of them pay for it.

"You two are living the dream, teaming up to hurt poor Penelope."

"Wearing a set of horns and none the wiser, lying there fast asleep."

The most sickening part was Simon sitting beside me, reaching over to stroke my back to lull me to sleep while he kept up the banter with them, easy as anything.

"Right now the thing I worry about most is the baby in Letty's belly."

The room went quiet for a few seconds, and I froze hard.

"What do you mean?"

"She's pregnant. It's mine."

Letitia laughed, proud of it. "We already, two months back, over at Penelope's place… heh heh!!"

Someone jabbed an elbow into Simon's chest.

"You dog, look at you!"

"That thing's got some stamina."

"Simon, don't worry."

"She doesn't know anyway. When the time comes we'll just say my baby is somebody else's, and it's done!"

"That's the only way, really!"

When I heard that, the last shred of an image I had of Simon crumbled to nothing.

From the pure, lovely picture I once held to this ruin now, it took him only a few sentences.

I thought my heart would ache again, but it stayed quiet, same as ever.

I didn't choose to have it out with him. I accepted a friend's invitation to work overseas.

The flight I booked was for the wedding day. That wedding would have a groom and no bride.

Seven days later, it was the wedding day.

Simon was in the dressing room, letting Letitia's hands roam over him.

"Simon, won't you really think about me?"

"My love for you is no less than hers!"

Simon liked every touch of Letitia's, and his body responded.

He didn't hold back. The two of them ended up together again.

When it was over, he straightened his groom's suit.

"From now on, whatever's between us is finished. You're not to come around bothering our lives again."

Letitia sniffed at his hair, unbothered, not taking a word of it to heart.

Once Simon finished speaking, the groomsmen came in to walk him out.

Inside the hotel, a full house of guests was already seated, but the bride was nowhere in sight.

Simon picked up his phone and called me, and the call wouldn't go through.

"What on earth is Penelope doing? Turning off her phone now, of all times."

The words had barely left him when my friend came in carrying a box.

"Simon, Penelope has a gift for you."

"She told me she hopes you'll open it the moment you get it."

The Gilberts smiled, pleased, sure their future daughter-in-law knew how to keep their son happy.

But when Simon tore off the wrapping and saw what was in his hands, he was so terrified he flung it away.

"Hey! What's wrong with you? Didn't Penelope ever tell you she used to be from Camelback Hollow too?"