Chapter 4The Wedding I Burned

Liam dragged me out to the car.

He moved with a grim efficiency, not looking at me once after we got in. I stared out my own window, a silent, vibrating wall of anger between us. He drove until the city lights faded, pulling over on a deserted stretch of road on the outskirts of town.

I thought… I hoped… I would finally get an explanation. Even a lie would have been something.

Instead, he said, "Audrey, Isabelle is a good person. I'm not going to let this wedding happen, but not like this. Not by destroying her reputation."

He turned away, a flicker of discomfort on his face, and rolled down the window. He lit a cigarette with a trembling hand.

I knew his every tell, every gesture, after all our years together.

So, he could feel guilt after all.

What was I supposed to say? Scream at him? Hit him? Join forces with him to stop my brother's wedding?

If none of this had happened, maybe I would have swallowed my pride, done whatever it took to protect Ethan.

But now… I didn't want to.

"Liam," I said, my voice flat. "We're done."

I would stop this wedding. But I would do it my way.

The hand holding the cigarette shook. The burning tip fell from his fingers onto his crisp white shirt, instantly searing a small, dark hole. I had rarely seen him so undone.

He turned back to me, a look of genuine helplessness on his face. "So what do I have to do? Tell me what to do to make you forgive me."

Some things can't be forgiven.

For me, betrayal was the line. There was no coming back from it.

I held his gaze, letting my contempt show.

He looked down, and in a soft, pathetic voice, he told me everything.

"I met Isabelle during the first big fight we ever had. She was… gentle. Kind. She had a way of calming me down. She was like a drug, Audrey. I got addicted. But I was never in love with her. I swear. The only reason I ended it for good was because she started pressuring me to break up with you."

My nails, already short, dug into my palms. I didn't feel the pain.

What he was saying was… if Isabelle had been content to be the other woman, to stay in the shadows forever… would he have kept her a secret from me for the rest of our lives?

The thought arrived like a punch to the gut, turning every beautiful memory we ever shared into a sick joke.

I opened the car door.

"Liam, I will never forgive you. And I won't let Isabelle get away with this."

Since she was so prepared to be a homewrecker, she should be prepared for the consequences.

Liam’s eyes narrowed, his expression hardening. "So you're still going after her?"

So, he was still going to protect her.

That day, Liam left me there. He drove away alone.

I was on a deserted road, and the sky was growing dark.

He never came back for me.