Ophelia
“Without Me-Halsey”
Dinner with Brayden feels like punishment wrapped in candlelight. Everything about the restaurant screams wealth. Yes, I have more money than most, but that’s not who I am. I’d rather be eating gas station food sitting in front of the TV watching trash reality shows than this.
Tiny portions of overpriced food served by waiters who look terrified to spill water on anyone important. Brayden talks across from me while sipping expensive wine, but his words blur together into meaningless noise.
Business. School. Future plans.
His father. My father. Our future.
The thought alone makes me nauseous.
“You’re quiet tonight,” he says, and I force a smile.
“Just tired. It’s been a long week,” I say, and he narrows his eyes like he doesn’t believe me.
Smart.
Still, he reaches across the table, taking my hand anyway. I almost laugh because his other arm is still in a cast.
“I know things have been rough lately,” he says, stroking his ring on my finger, and I almost roll my eyes.
If only you knew.
“I just…” He sighs softly. “I want us to be good again, Effie.”
My chest tightens painfully, because he isn’t always cruel, and that’s a problem. Sometimes he looks at me like he genuinely loves me. Like I’m something precious instead of something he owns. And in those moments, guilt creeps in hard enough to hurt.
Because no matter what he does… he’ll never be Hayden.
And that isn’t fair to either of us.
“Yes. Everything is falling apart, and I want to feel okay again. I just need some time. I know that is asking a lot from you after the way I’ve been behaving lately, but I promise things will get better,” I lie.
I can’t tell him the truth.
That I’m only here because I have no other options. That I’m here to protect my own ass from being shipped off to Brimstone House.
This shit between us… is not fucking real. It’s transactional. It’s the only way.
My heart can never belong to him.
It can’t.
The rest of the evening I play nice. I smile and speak when spoken to. I engage in the conversation. I fucking play perfect girlfriend.
After we leave the restaurant, Brayden drives through Brimstone with one hand resting casually on my thigh while the other sits against the bottom of the steering wheel the best it can since it’s in a cast.
“I wanna show you something,” he says softly. “Somewhere I’ve never taken another girl before.”
A strange feeling curls in my stomach instantly.
“Where?” I ask, and he grins.
“You’ll see.”
Twenty minutes later, my entire body goes cold.
