31. Betrayal

Jane

In the span of two minutes, I went from being the happiest girl on earth to a complete mess. I finally opened up to someone, felt like I found my family and could move forward, and he had to go and pull the worst betrayal I could have imagined.

I don't have the strength to get out of bed and look at myself in the mirror, but I'm pretty sure my face is red and swollen. I've been crying all night and through most of the morning. But a few minutes ago, the tears suddenly stopped coming. Maybe I've dried out. Marcie came to pick me up as soon as I called her, and she brought me to the apartment she shares with her siblings.

A light knock on the door startles me. "Yes?"

"Bonjour, Jane," Agnes says, quietly shuffling into Marcie's bedroom. It's odd seeing her here, and without her usual uniform. She's holding a cat carrier, and it's the only balm that can soothe my heart right now.

"Truffles," I cry, springing out of bed to take the carrier. I open it, and Truffles practically jumps into my arms, purring. I rub my forehead against her fur and kiss her all over. I've missed her so much since yesterday. Since I left Colton.

I force myself to offer Agnes a smile. It's a half grimace, but it's the best I can do. "Thanks for bringing her here so quickly. I only texted you an hour ago."

"Of course," Agnes says, putting down a large plastic bag containing more of Truffles' stuff. "Are you okay? You gave us all a scare the other night."

For a second, I don't know what she's referring to. Then, I remember the allergic reaction. As if it could compare to the way my heart is hurting right now.

"I'm fine," I say, my body going stiff.

"Good. Well, I'd best be getting back to work," she says. I guess she's too proper to address the giant elephant in the room, which is fine by me.

"Yes, well, thanks again." I continue to pet Truffles, who's now sprawled on her back, enjoying light scratches on her belly.

Agnes turns around and places her hand on the doorknob, but before she opens the door, she snaps back toward me. "I'm not sure what happened between Monsieur Green and you, but I've never seen him like zis."

So much for ignoring the elephant. Looks like I got her all wrong.

"Agnes . . ." I start.

"He's locked up in his room, refusing to eat or go to work—"

"What do you think I've been doing here, huh?" I say, raising my voice. Truffles doesn't like my volume and jumps off the bed to cower under Marcie's desk. "I'm not exactly chilling out and having my best life either."

"But I'm sure you can work zis out," she says, clutching her chest. "Monsieur Green iz a complicated man, but—"

A painful snort comes in response. "Of course you'd be Team Colton. You're his most loyal servant. Well, I'm done being used by him," I spit. "Now please just go, Agnes. There's nothing you can do to plead his case. What he did is unforgivable."

She opens her mouth, then closes it.

"Thanks again for bringing Truffles over, though. I appreciate it," I say in a softer voice.

She twists her mouth and wrings her hands. For a moment, I expect her to continue arguing in his defense, but instead, she gives me a small smile before backing away. "It was my pleasure. Au revoir, Jane."

Agnes has been gone only a few minutes when Marcie's head peeks through the doorframe.

"Hey. How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine. Better now that I have Truffles," I say with a weak smile. "I'm sorry for crashing here. I just didn't know where else to go."

"You're welcome any time," she says, sitting at the end of the bed. Truffles jumps back onto the mattress and struts over to Marcie for more cuddles.

"Thank you."

"So, Colton—"

I let out a long swoosh of air. "I really don't want to talk about him, Marcie." I can't suppress the irritation in my voice. "Agnes already tried."

She bites her lip, clearly hesitating. But she decides to speak her mind anyway. "Look, I don't know what happened between you guys, and you don't have to tell me. It's none of my business. But you two are married, so I think you should know he's been calling me nonstop asking to talk to you. Whatever he did, he regrets it. Badly. I'm pretty sure he was crying too. Now, I'm not saying you should go and forgive him, but I just thought you should know." With that, she stands up and walks toward the door. "That's it."

I let out a groan. "I'm so sick of people trying to defend him. Don't tell me you're on his side too."

She gives me a pointed look. "Of course I'm not on his side. You're here, aren't you? I'm just saying that you guys could talk. I'm sure you'd figure it out."

"He tricked me into marrying him," I blurt out, and I regret it instantly. Part of me hopes she didn't hear me, but she stops dead in her tracks and swings around.

"What did you just say?"

Damn it. Why did I open my big mouth? Even if he betrayed me, the NDA still stands. "Nothing," I say. "Forget it."

"Jane." She sits back down on the bed, a concerned look on her face. "You can talk to me. I'll never share any of your secrets. I promise."

Well, I already got myself in this deep. Might as well tell the truth now. Who knows? Maybe it'll help with the lump in my throat that's preventing me from breathing. "You can't tell anyone. And when I say anyone, I mean not even your sisters, your brother, your parents. You understand?"

She frowns slightly, then pats my leg. "Yes, of course."

"I mean it, Marcie. There's a lot of money on the line if this gets out." Not to mention it would ruin Colton's reputation. No, screw him. That's the last of my concerns.

"Jane, you're scaring me."

"Promise me."

She nods. "I promise."

My eyes dart to the door. "Are we alone?"

"Yes. Dean and Jules are both out."

I take a deep breath before letting the words flow out. "I was hired to be Colton's wife for two years."

She gasps, throwing a hand over her mouth.

"I went to an audition and got the part. Basically, I had to pretend to get engaged to him, then marry him and stay married for two years. In exchange, I would receive a big check at the end, and all my living expenses would be paid for the duration of the contract."

Her face falls. "So, it was all a sham? The engagement party, the dress shopping, the wedding. Everything?"

My heart tightens, and tears pool at the corners of my eyes. "I'm so sorry I had to lie to you," I say. "You were so excited about being my maid of honor, and it felt so real." I start sobbing again, and Marcie crawls next to me to hug me tight. Looks like I still have a little left in me.

"I don't understand," she says, shaking her head. "You guys seemed so in love. The way you looked at him, talked about him. I just can't believe—"

"That's because I fell for him," I say between sobs. "Hard."

"Oh . . ."

"I wanted to pull the plug on the whole thing to avoid getting my heart broken, but we had—well, have, I guess—a contract. I couldn't pull out without owing him tons of money. And a part of me thought he might fall for me too." I bury my face in my hands. "Oh, gosh. I know how stupid this all sounds."

She pulls my hands down from my face and squeezes them in hers. "It's not stupid, Jane. It sounds like love. We get carried away and hopeful because of it. That's normal. It's not your fault he didn't fall for you. He must still care very deeply, given the phone calls I got."

I shake my head. "No, that's not it. He actually loves me too. Yay, me," I say bitterly, and tears start falling down my cheeks again.

She pats my shoulder. "I don't—"

"I told you it was messed up." A harsh laugh bubbles out of me. "At the hospital, he admitted he loved me too. But he'd been lying to me. The reason we had to be married—something about getting foreign investors interested in his company—was void before the wedding began. Which means we didn't actually have to get married."

"Oh, I see. But you wanted to get married?" she asks, her face still scrunched in confusion.

"I did, I guess. I don't know. It doesn't matter anymore. He lied to me, betrayed me, tricked me into marrying him when we could have waited. And you know what his reasoning was?"

She shakes her head.

"Because he thought there was something real between us, and that I would fall in love with him too."

Her eyes widen. "Oh."

"I know how ironic it sounds. But does that sound healthy to you? Is that how you start a real relationship with someone? What hurts the most is that he knew my ex was manipulative and abusive, and he still lied to me."

Her eyes close. "Jane, I'm so sorry."

"I literally had to escape from my old life. My ex was keeping me captive. Then one day, I finally managed to get out and start fresh, and now it happens again? I can't believe he'd do this to me."

My fury boils back up, and I see red. Him knowing about Zander and my past is the worst part of this whole fiasco. Maybe someone else could forgive the man she loves and laugh about it, but I can't. What he did hit too close to home.

Colton

It's been forty-eight hours since I last saw Jane. Forty-eight hours since she gave me that look, the one that's been haunting my every waking minute. A mix of hurt, anger, and betrayal. I know I ruined everything. Why didn't I just tell her about the deal? We could have called off the wedding, started dating. We could be happy now. But I didn't. Because I thought she didn't love me. Because I thought she wasn't ready.

She's right, in a way. I did try to possess her. I'm like a teenager seized by an overflow of emotions. All of this is new to me. Here I am, twenty-eight years old, and I've never been in love. Now that it's finally happened, I ruined it because I'm such an amateur.

Rolling onto my back, I draw my fingers through my hair. I've been in bed for two days straight, which is another first for me. I only got up to ask Agnes to send gifts over to Marcie's place for Jane. I sent a meal from the truffle restaurant we went to, a box of chocolates spelling "I'm sorry," and a bunch of toys for Truffles.

I'm hoping that last one will open her eyes to how much I love her.

My phone chimes, making my heart leap. I grab it from the bedside table and glance at the screen. I don't even have to open the text to see what it says. It's so short it fits in the preview box.

Jane:Stop sending me gifts.

My heart thumps loudly. I open the message app, trying to figure out what I could say to her so she would talk to me. But I'm no poet, and the only dumb thing my brain puts together is a lame, "I'm sorry, Jane. Please, can we talk?"

The text is marked "read" seconds after I send it, but she doesn't reply. I'm not even graced with the three little dots telling me she's writing a response.

I cradle my head in my hands. Today, I have to go back to work. I'll be forced to pretend everything is fine, even though my world has flipped upside down. Even though all I want is to stay under the covers and cry, because that's the only thing that seems to make me feel better. But I have to start acting like Colton Green again. Not this moody teenager who can't handle rejection. Rejection has been part of my life since day one. I can handle it. At least, that's what I repeat to myself over and over as I drag myself out of bed and get ready for work.

"You look like hell," Max says, waggling his eyebrows. "Sleepless nights?"

"Yeah, something like that," I mumble, sinking into the chair behind my desk. I hate when Max is waiting in my office before I even arrive. Usually, that means we're swamped with work. And I can't handle it today.

"So, how's life as a newlywed treating you?" he asks with a bright smile. "I guess you have me to thank, in a way. It all worked out in the end." With a wink, he starts retrieving folders from his briefcase.

I fly to my feet, slamming both hands on my desk and making it shake. "No, Max. I don't have you to thank. You ruined my life! This whole thing was a mistake. Now, it's all over. Jane won't even talk to me. I lost everything. All because of a stupid deal and a stupid idea."

Max's eyes widen, and his jaw drops open. "But—" Then, realization seems to hit him. "She didn't know before . . . Oh. I see. But the contract still stands either way. She can't ignore you forever. Or maybe we could—"

"We're not doing anything," I roar, sitting back down. "In fact, I'm retracting from the Middle East contract. I still can, right?"

"Colton, I don't think—"

"Can I, Max? I'm asking a simple question." I'm so furious, I actually see Max with a red shadow around him.

"Y-yes. Technically, you can. Ten days haven't passed yet. But—"

"Do it. I don't want this expansion anymore." It would only ever remind me of what I lost to achieve it.

"Colton—"

"Max, just do your freaking job, please. I don't have the energy today. Cancel everything. It's over."