Chapter 35

Chapter 35

POV: Adelaide

I knew as soon as I answered Corinna’s call that she was up to no good. Besides insulting me, she was

also very insistent about me coming over. Which wasn’t like her at all. She didn’t even like me.

“I need your help with the wedding planning,” she’d said. “Grandma said I should ask you.”

It was a lie, of course. I knew for a fact that Corinna would never leave anything unplanned this long

and that Grandma would never tell her to ask me even if she did need help.

Grandma knew we didn’t get along, and she was always on my side. She never would’ve volunteered

me like that.

But I agreed anyway.

I knew without a doubt this was about the photos of me and Damon that’d been posted all over the

front covers of the magazine. So it didn’t surprise me in the slightest that Corinna would have

something to say about it.

It took only a few minutes to get to the apartment, and by that time it was already nightfall.

“Addie!” Corinna smiled as soon as I opened the door.

I raised an eyebrow at her unusually friendly behavior as she ushered me into her apartment. It was a

mess, as usual. I knew my father had hired a cleaning service to take care of it every couple of days.

Corinna didn’t do chores.

“It’s so nice to see you.” Corinna shot me a grin. I eyed her suspiciously, especially her casual clothing.

Corinna never wore T-shirts. Especially not in front of me. She always tried to make sure she looked

better than me at any given moment.

“What is this really about?” I asked, firmly, not buying into her excuses.

Corinna sighed. “I can’t get anything past you, can I?”

1 narrowed my eyes at her, crossing my arms as I leaned against the wall, even as she took a seat on

her couch. Candles were burning-some kind of floral scent hanging in the air.

“It’s about Damon,” she said as she looked up at me with guilty eyes. “I should’ve told you this before

you got married, but I didn’t want to hurt you.”

Bullsh*t. I knew she’d jump at the opportunity to hurt me. She was definitely lying.

“I don’t have time for this,” I scoffed, turning on my heel to leave. I didn’t even want to entertain her

blatant lies. Just as I put my hand on the door handle, however, her voice cut through my thoughts

sharply.

“Don’t you want to know the real reason we broke up?”

I paused, my heart beating loudly in my chest.

“Now I have your attention. Why don’t you take a seat, Addie?” Corinna smirked, crossing one leg over

the other.

I gritted my teeth, turned away, and walked back to her.

“Tell me, then.” I crossed my arms, sitting down on the loveseat and glaring at her.

“Damon,” Corinna sighed. “He’s just using you.”

“Likely stary,” I rolled my eyes. “Couldn’t you come up with something better?”

“But it’s true!” Corinna insisted. “Damon’s been in love with me for a long time, but when I broke things

off, he got upset. He’s using you to get back at me.”

Liar. I’d seen the way he looked at me; he’d told me he loved me. I knew he did.

I glowered at her, wanting to spit every insult I’d been holding back for years at her, but I knew better.

“You’re lying.” I snapped coldly, getting to my feet.

“Wait, Addie!” Corinna jumped up. gripping my shoulders to pull me back. “Let me explain, please.”

“You have five minutes.” I shot at her but remained standing this time.

Just as she opened her mouth, ready to explain, there was a firm knock on the door. Corinna’s eyes lit

up in surprise.

“He’s here early,” Corinna muttered to herself then glanced up at me. “You need to hide.”

“What?” I asked, bewildered. But Corinna wasn’t answering questions.

“I’ll explain later,” she snapped as she grabbed me by the shoulders and pushed me toward the coat

closet. She opened the door and shoved me in..

“Hey!” I growled as I caught myself on the coat rack.

“Stay quiet,” she said, firmly and then shut the door.

It was pitch black inside of the closet, with only a sliver of light coming from the crack under the door. I

ducked under the coat hangers, sitting on the floor of the closet as I waited.

Surprisingly, I could hear quite clearly.

“Sorry for calling you over this later,” I heard Corinna’s voice, then the sound of her leather couch being

sat on. “But I didn’t know who else to go to.”

“It’s fine,” came the voice of a man I knew.

My eyes shot up in surprise. Damon?

What on earth was he doing here? Did Corinna plan this? She must have, but whatever for?

Was she trying to drive a wedge between us? Why did Damon even come despite knowing Corinna’s

nasty nature?

I frowned. We hadn’t talked about this at all. I had no idea why he was here.

“I heard you two eloped. It’s such a shame you couldn’t have a proper wedding. I know our families

would’ve been happier that way.”

I rolled my eyes. Yeah, right. She was just mad she couldn’t interfere and ruin another of our events by

overshadowing it with one of her own. She didn’t care one bit about our families.

“I don’t care,” I heard Damon snort, the leather shifting loudly.

I pressed my ear to the door, hoping to catch more of their conversation but also dreading it too. He

had to be just playing her, right? He wasn’t playing me, was he?

But what information did he need this time? Doubts plagued my mind as I listened. I tried to silence

them and just trust

Damon.

“I didn’t want to get married. I just did it to get the money.”

My blood ran cold. Even though I knew he had to be lying, it still hurt to hear. I glanced at the ring on

my finger, just barely

able to make out the shadow of it.

I pulled my hand to my chest, trying to soothe the wounded part of me. I had to believe in Damon,

but….

1 had believed in Ashton too.

Until he betrayed me. I hadn’t seen that coming either. I wasn’t the best judge of character, and

apparently, I was easy to lie

10.

What if all of this was Damon’s plan too? What if Corinna was right, and he never loved me at all? I

wanted to believe he was lying to her, but I just couldn’t be sure.

“But I thought you loved Adelaide?” Corinna asked, her voice flirtatious. I bit my lip, not wanting to know

what they were doing, but by the sounds of their movements against the couch, it wasn’t anything

good.

“Love?” Damon snorted. “Addie forced me into it. She wouldn’t sleep with me unless we had a real

wedding. And as you know, I have to get her pregnant to get the inheritance.”

It wasn’t true. It wasn’t. It couldn’t be.

I knew this better than anyone, but I couldn’t stop the pang in my heart from the dark tone in his voice. I

hated myself for doubting Damon, for even one part of me believing the nonsense coming out of

Corinna’s mouth, but…

I couldn’t stop my what-ifs. My wild thoughts hurt more than anything Corinna or Ashton had done to

me. Damon was different. He’d been different. Their betrayal was at least somewhat expected after

finding out how bad they really were.

But if Damon betrayed me too….

Could I even come back from that? Was I strong enough?

I already knew the answer.

“Can I repay the favor?” Corinna’s flirtatious voice reached my ears, and hot anger swelled up in my

chest.

“I’m married.”

I breathed a sigh of relief, but it was too soon to speak.

Something metal dropped onto glass, spinning around, and I knew instinctively what it was. I grabbed

the rings on my hand, my eyes wide.

“Now you’re not.”

No.

“I always loved you, Damon. You loved me too. At least when we were dating, didn’t you?”

Say no. Please, Damon, say no.

“That was a contract,” he said back.

“Then why did you come running? When I called you here tonight, you didn’t even try to tell Adelaide,

did you? It’s because you loved me all along, not her. And you still do, don’t you?”

My emotions gathered in the pit of my throat, too much to swallow as I felt like I was choking on them.

All he had to do was

say no.

But I knew this wasn’t how the story was going to go.

“Yes,” Damon said clearly. I almost couldn’t believe my ears.

My heart sank to my feet as I crumbled under his voice.

My heart sank to my feet as I crumbled under his voice.