Chapter 1

On the wedding day, a woman came bursting into the room I shared with Barret Gilbert.

She threw herself straight into his arms without a word, her voice already raw from crying:

"You promised me you wouldn't marry her. How could you do this again?"

Barret glanced at me, then looked away.

Before he could say anything, the girl's eyes landed on me, and she went on:

"I know who you are."

"The day your parents died in that car crash, I was the one in Barret's bed."

"You know why nobody was ever held responsible? Because your husband begged them to let my father go."

"Now my father's dead. He's all I have left."

A cold weight went through me, and I stood frozen where I was.

That day I'd sent him to keep vigil for them, and when he came back he told me the matter had been dropped.

So it turned out someone had paid him with her body.

Five years. Every single day of them I'd lived inside the pain of losing my parents.

And he had never said one word about any of this.

Eyes stinging red, I pointed at the door.

"Take your woman."

"And get out!"

01

Barret looked at me, a flicker of panic in his eyes.

But all he did was slip his hands under the woman's arms and settle her onto his lap.

"Angela Barnes, we're not married. She's the one who threw herself at me."

"I booked you a hotel. Go back there first, and I'll explain everything tomorrow, all right?"

"And it'll be cold tonight, so bundle up. I'll come see you later."

She nodded hard, hooked both arms around his neck, and gave the tip of his nose a playful little push.

"Barret, you have to come. I can't be without you."

Then she hopped off his lap, pushed the door open, and walked out.

I turned and met his eyes.

Mine had gone red long before this moment.

He only lowered his brows and gently took my hand.

His tone was like a man discussing something perfectly ordinary.

"It was so dark that night. I mistook her for you, and I got into bed with her."

"She told me I was the only family she had left in the world. How could I have the heart to turn her away?"

"You know what it's like to lose your parents. If it had been you who came to me that night, I'd have gone soft on you the same way."

I clenched my fists tight.

My nose burned, and something bitter and tangled twisted through my chest.

"So?" I asked him. "So all these years you've been sleeping with her behind my back."

"Barret, you're so selfish. Those were my parents!"

"I waited all these years just for the truth, and what right did you have to hide it from me this long?"

The next second, the vase on the table hit the floor with a crash under his hand.

Seeing my body flinch, he bent down and cupped my face.

Those tender eyes of his. I couldn't count how many times I'd seen them.

"I'm sorry. I got too worked up."

"But the two of us are not having an affair. Last time I nearly hurt her, so I never dared take her to bed again."

"You're different. You've been divorced, and even the repair surgery couldn't hide it."

"The two of you were never from the same world to begin with. Can't you show her a little more understanding?"

"Stop making a scene, all right? Tomorrow I'll go with you to your parents' grave. Call it my way of making it up to you."

I gave a bitter little laugh.

Even a visit to see my parents was something he was handing down to me as charity.

I gave a bitter little laugh and shoved him away.

Then I stood up, and it was a long while before I could speak.

"Barret, let's get divorced."