Chapter 5

Our food came. Our food went cold.

Finally, his voice frayed open.

"Rowan. You don't understand. I didn't cheat on you.

There's something I never told you. I had a sister. She died in an accident when she was little.

Her name was Celeste.

The first time Juliet looked up at me with that wide-eyed sweetness, it was like seeing Celeste alive. That's why I wanted to give her everything. That's all it was.

I know this sounds like an excuse. I swear to God it isn't."

To prove Celeste had existed, he pulled out the one photo he kept in the hidden flap of his wallet—him and a little girl.

I glanced at my phone for the time. My voice was flat.

"What you think Juliet is, that's your problem. Ashton. Juliet or no Juliet, I was always going to leave."

I stood up. I'd taken two steps when he caught my wrist.

"Rowan. Seven years. Do you remember what you whispered to me the first night we were together?

You said you loved me. You said you'd love me forever.

You said every day we held hands, your love for me would grow."

I looked straight into his panicked eyes and pulled his fingers off my wrist, one at a time.

"Ashton. Seven years. Seventy. It wouldn't have mattered. I could still walk out today without a second's weight in my chest. Stop taking the things women say in bed literally."

His hand fell.

He swallowed. He tried to smile. It came out raw.

"Fine. Just so you know, Rowan—you aren't half as important as you think you are."

Then, right in front of me, he booked the next flight out and left the bistro before I did.

I watched him disappear through the window and let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding.