The memory cut sharper than I expected. I could feel the echo of his words, the sting that had never fully faded, the humiliation, the abrupt, keen knowledge that he had meant every syllable.
The girl laughed, a velvet sound that made him turn his head, and suddenly, she wasn’t just beautiful—she washis, and my heart throbbed with the weight of every tiny fracture I’d tried to glue back together over the years.
Khalifa nudged my shin under the table lightly, but I still flinched. His eyes were searching my face, but I couldn’t look away from them, from the scene frozen in front of me. I felt like a ghost, hovering outside of life, outside of happiness, outside ofhim.
I willed myself to blink, to pull my gaze away from her, and finally—finally—tipped my chin and let a small, measured grin curve my lips.
“Malik,” I greeted. “I’m great.”
He raised an eyebrow, the corner of his mouth quirking. “Aren’t you going to ask me how I am?”
“No,” I spat out sweetly.
His eyes hardened for a moment, then he laughed, that low, familiar sound that always seemed to scrape at some corner of myself I didn’t want him touching.
Khalifa glanced between us, oblivious. “You two went to school together?”
“Briefly,” I said, forcing a smile that felt more like a grimace.
“Back when she was terrifyingly competitive,” he corrected.
“I prefer the termambitious,” I shot back.
“Sure. Ambitious enough to make the rest of us question our career choices.”
My voice came out before my filter could catch up. “You mean before you went back to school and got your PhD?”
He smirked, clearly pleased I remembered. “Yup. Guess you could call me a double doctor now.” He glanced at the girl, his smile melting in a way that made me want to throw my water glass. “This job makes it so I can spend more time with the love of my life.”
I had to repress the urge to vomit. “Touching. I’m sure your students are thrilled.”
He chuckled. “You’re still as funny as you were ten years ago.” He turned toward the group, sweeping them in with that fluid charisma. “She always kept us on our toes in school. I don’t think I would have passed without the challenge of wanting to beat her.”
“Really?” I said. “I was under the impression you passed thanks to my late-night tutoring sessions—you know, the ones where I quizzed youandhanded you tissues like a full-service emotional support human, because if you failed, yourBabawould’ve severed the financial umbilical cord.”
The table went still, and I felt a little thrill at the crackle between us. Malik’s smirk fell, but the fire in his eyes didn’t fade.
“You got me there,” he said. “I guess we were all dramatic at that age.”
He let go of the girl’s hand, sliding his arm around her shoulders and pulling her impossibly close, as if marking his territory, while his gaze never left me.
“This is Habiba, by the way. Mywife,” he said, emphasizing the last word, savoring it.
I scoffed inwardly. Of course her name would beHabiba. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d made her legally change it just to fit some perfect picture in his head.
A wild, reckless impulse sparked in my chest. Before I could think better of it, I reached for Khalifa and hooked my arm through his, catching him completely off guard, and yanked him close, almost making him topple from his chair.
“Nice to meet you. This is Khalifa. Myhusband.”
Khalifa stiffened, blinking at me in confusion, but didn’t pull away, and my pulse skipped a beat at the sudden proximity.
Malik raised a brow. “I never would’ve guessed you were the ‘Lillian’ Khalifa married. You weren’t thesettling-downtype, but I’m glad you managed to change.”
His words stung, a keen reminder of who I used to be...and who I’d become.
And then, because my brain had obviously gone rogue, I leaned in and planted a kiss on Khalifa’s cheek. His eyes widened in shock as I said, with a mischievous glint, “Apparently all I was missing was amanworth settling down for.”
Malik’s smirk faltered, igniting a triumphant rush. The tables had turned. The game was different now, and for once, I was playing by my own rules.
