Chapter 5

### Chapter 5

The lawyer sounded stunned, then came back quickly.

"Miss Hughes, Morris Finch is your fiancé Mr. Farley's worst enemy. Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. I want to sell to Morris Finch."

That thirty percent stake had come from Tyler, back when Farley Group went public.

That day he pressed the share agreement into my hands, his arm around my waist in an office a hundred meters up, murmuring against my ear.

"These shares are your security, and your engagement gift. Do you like them?"

I believe he meant it in that moment.

But barely a year later, when we moved into the new villa, he decided on his own to give the best guest room to Susan.

I stood in the doorway of that sunlit room for a long time.

He only frowned at me.

"You're jealous over me keeping a room for your best friend? I only did it so the two of you could see each other more."

Only now do I understand. His heart had already turned by then.

The next day I packed my things and pushed my suitcase into the storage room on the ground floor.

In the afternoon, the call from the consulate finally came.

"Miss Hughes, your visa has been approved. We're sending it to you by express now."

"That's wonderful. Thank you."

Two hours later the visa was in my hand.

I opened my passport, and just as I slid the visa page in, my phone buzzed. Susan's name flashed on the screen.

I answered, and there she was, at my parents' grave.

In the frame she sat on the headstone without a shred of shame, drunk, shouting at me.

"Queenie Hughes, is it wrong to love someone? In a relationship, the one who isn't loved is the real mistress!"

"If Tyler weren't so scared you'd do something to yourself, would I have needed four years of a secret affair with him?"

"Susan, you're drunk. Stop talking nonsense."

Tyler grabbed her wrist, trying to take the phone, but so careful, afraid he might hurt her.

But drunk words are the honest ones.

So through all those years I called her my best friend, through all those nights I planned my wedding with a full heart, the two of them had already been sleeping together.

Four whole years of betrayal.

The words scraped out from between my teeth.

"Susan Henson, you murderer. You'll rot for this!"

Tyler's face went dark in an instant.

"Are you never going to stop? Susan came to see your parents out of kindness, and you keep pushing. If anyone's to blame, blame your parents for having no eyes in their heads, blind old fools!"

My eyes went bloodshot.

"You two really were made for each other. A trash man and a shameless woman."

Susan burst out laughing.

The next second she pulled out a marriage certificate and slapped it up to the camera.

"Bullshit! He and I registered ages ago. Queenie Hughes, you're the one clinging to my husband. You're the shameless one!"

My whole body jerked.

Everything inside me drained away.

No wonder the wedding could never happen, time after time.

Ten years together. Five years engaged.

And in the end I was only a joke standing outside their legal marriage.

Tyler threw out one last line. "I can explain. Wait until I get back."

Then the screen went black.

It reflected my face, my eyes cold.

"Don't bother. Go explain it to the ghosts."

I dragged my luggage and walked out the front door without looking back, got into the car waiting at the curb.

"The airport."

The old scenery fell away behind me, and the international terminal drew closer and closer.

Boarding, seated, the cabin door easing shut.

It was all over.

My phone suddenly buzzed like mad. Tyler had sent dozens of messages in a row.