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“What?” Angelo squeaks like I just told him I stomped on a headless roach, so it won’t be living for weeks. “Why?”

“She wants to talk to me.”

His eyebrows flex in consternation. “Uh…That’s really not a good idea—”

“I don’t care. I want to hear what she has to say. And I want to know if she has anything to do with Rhys pulling this out-of-town act on me.”

“It doesn’t have anything to do with her. Please, I can’t protect you from Sorcha. She doesn’t fight with fists.”

“Either you tell me what Rhys is up to or you take me to Sorcha.”

Angelo stares at me like I just told him he’s going to get permanent erectile dysfunction in the next two weeks. In the end, he takes me to the house, although he obeys every traffic sign, every speed limit, and doesn’t run a single yellow light.Loyal to the bitter end, I think, torn between admiration and resentment.

Frederich comes to open the door. “Welcome, Max.”

“Hello. Sorcha asked to see me.”

He nods placidly. “Yes. Please, this way.”

He leads me to a path that curves around the house and ends at the garden. It’s all lush flowers, many of them too exotic for me to identify.

But instead of Sorcha, Rhys’s ex steps out of the shade created by the rose-covered arches.

“Selena?” I look at Frederich. “I’m here to speak with Sorcha.”

“I am quite aware,” Selena answers. “I asked her to bring you here.” The smile on her face is entirely too smug. Her eyes take in my simple office outfit—a jade-green dress and nude pumps—and contempt slowly fills them. Guess she’s proud of herself, in a formfitting dress with an impractically short skirt that’d never fly in a professional setting.Oh,look at me,I’m so rich I don’t have to work!

“What do you want?” I say coolly. “Losing to me at the auction wasn’t enough?”

Fury wipes the superior smirk on her face. “That meant nothing. Do you honestly believe that throwing money around can erase the history between me and Rhys? Wakeup. You’ll never beat our shared past.”

I sigh. Doesn’t she get tired of clinging to something that happened so long ago? “But I already have. You’re in the rearview mirror while I’m in the front seat with Rhys.”

“Confident, aren’t you?”

“Very.” I give her a thin smile.

“Let’s see if you can remain that arrogant,” she sneers.

She pulls a stack of printed photos from her purse and shoves it in my face. I take it, then freeze at the photo on top.

It shows Rhys, topless and hugging Selena. From the angle it’s impossible to tell if she’s clothed. Acidic bitterness floods my mouth. My hands shake; my heart thunders. The next photo shows Rhys kissing her. It’s a vacation shot on some beach. The tip of my left eyebrow starts pulsing. The next one is of the two of them together in bed. My hands tighten, creasing the photos as I struggle to drag in air into my tight chest.

Betrayal,betrayal,betrayal.

The furious voice booms in my throbbing head, each beat a knife plunging into my heart.Does this have anything to do with Rhys not being here?

Fury surges at the injustice of being confronted by Selena—and the fact that Rhys has sown doubts in my heart, whether he meant to or not.

A self-congratulatory satisfaction radiates from Selena as she stands there, smirking with her arms crossed. She cocks an eyebrow in a taunt:See? I won.

“That’s me and Rhys, and there’s more. You’re just a temporary distraction. He still has me in his heart. I was his first, truest love. The one he wanted tomarry. If his parents hadn’tscandalized me, we would’ve tied the knot a long time ago and had a pair of adorable children by now.”

Nausea roils in my belly as I think of the life growing in my womb. I stare at the photos again. The kiss. His mouth on her. I try to look for any traces of these being AI-generated, but find nothing. They seem genuine. Agony burns in my chest.

I begin: “Is this—”

“No!Wait!” comes Rhys’s desperate shout. “Freckles, just give me a minute to explain.”