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I drove back to my house, determined to remove every trace of Eliza Monroe from my life.
The house was filled with memories–proof that at one point, there had been love between us. As I looked around, my mind drifted back to my childhood.
I was an orphan, with no family to care for me, scavenging for food on the streets. One day, I found a scrap of meat and held it up, triumphant. Suddenly, a starving dog lunged, grabbing it from me. Desperate, I fought it, wrestling the animal with everything I had.
I sat against a dumpster, bruised and bleeding, chewing on what was left of that meat while watching children pass by, holding their parents‘ hands and laughing with candy in their grasp. I wished I knew what that tasted like.
A little girl in a princess dress noticed me. She let go of her mother’s hand and came over, holding out a piece of candy.
“Here, this will make the pain go away,” she said, her smile radiant, angelic.
That smile and that moment stayed with me, etched deeply into my heart.
Years later, in college, I saw a woman who looked like the grown–up version of that little girl. Her name was Eliza Monroe, but she was already with Julian Hart. I buried my feelings, never daring to hope.
When her family lost everything and Julian left, I stepped in. My company, Carrington Holdings, was just taking off, and I used every dollar I had to help her family.
Her parents invited me to dinner, and that night, they sent Eliza into my arms. I knew they were after my money, but I had enough to spend a lifetime, and I was willing to use it for the woman I believed to be my angel.
No matter what they wanted, I complied. I believed that if I loved her enough, I could take Julian’s place in her heart. I saw her as my sun, blinding myself to reality.
But today, reality burned me to the core.
I looked around the room, filled with remnants of our time together. Tears fell once more.
I remembered the day we bought this house. Eliza had stood next to me, wearing a mask, her wide eyes sparkling as she gazed up at it and talked excitedly about the future.
I had thought I’d won her heart completely.
But she had probably been thinking of Julian even then.
My phone buzzed with an alert–a hotel charge. Eliza didn’t have her own card; every expense went through mine. I knew exactly where she was: at The Grand Union Hotel, still in her wedding gown with Julian.
Just hours earlier, I had been holding her hand, asking her if she’d marry me.
How could the angel!nce adored have turned into this?
I sank onto the sofa, hands over my face, as tears came once more.
Three days later, after packing up all the reminders of our relationship, I sat in the now–bare living room, waiting for the moving truck.
The front door opened unexpectedly.
Eliza walked in, laughing with Julian, their happiness like a knife in my heart.
