He perks up. “Other Keys to the Key were made Lady of the Brassiere, so I don’t see why you shouldn’t be. Right?”
“Right.”
“We have it easier than the previous tandems.” He shrugs. “But hey, we fulfilled our mission, didn’t we? It’s all that matters. A brush with death isn’t a prerequisite for the honor.”
So many words, so little meaning…
“What about the show?” I ask.
“What show?” He gives me a blank stare, before slapping a hand on his forehead. “You meanWed at First Sight. Of course! I’m so stupid.”
“They’re expecting us back in Paris tomorrow.”
“Laura—”
I interrupt, “And what about”—my voice cracks—“us? What happens to our marriage?”
“I’ll notify Isabelle of our ‘trial separation,’” he announces, all dry and pragmatic.
“When?” I manage.
“Straight away. There’s no need to wait until the official Decision Day. I’ll fly directly to Mount Evor tomorrow morning. You to Chengdu, then Paris. We’ll get divorced and move on with our lives.”
I stare at him, unable to process how nonchalantly he just demolished everything we’d built—or what I thought we’d built. That’s when my mind finally understands his cruelty.
“You, me, our marriage,” I say, “it was all an elaborate deception. You lied to me from beginning to end, Antoine. You used me.”
His jaw tightens, but he doesn’t deny it.
I stare at him, my heart pounding. “All the kindness you showed me, all the encouragement and protectiveness, it was all fake! It was all an act.”
“No,” he says quietly. “Not all.”
“I don’t believe you.”
Hell, he didn’t even pass Denise’s test!
When he asked to see my designs, it wasn’t out of a genuine interest. And certainly not because he cared. It was only because he hoped they might contain a clue to his precious key.
The tears come before I can stop them, hot and humiliating.
“Wow,” I whisper. “Just, wow.”
“Laura, please?—”
“What was it you said about compensation?”
“Three million euros.”
“Assuming it’s true, you think you can buy my forgiveness?” I grit through the lump in my throat. “Go fuck yourself, Antoine! And stick your money where the sun don’t shine, while you’re at it!”
I turn my back to him and slump onto the edge of the bed, as far away from him as possible. Tears blur my vision.This can’t be happening.I was so happy! I thought?—
He scoots closer and sets a gentle hand on my waist. “Laura, I do hope one day you’ll forgive me.”
“Never.”
“I didn’t have a choice,” he pleads. “The fate of my country was hanging in the balance.”
