By the Time He Looked Back

"You are Robert Miller's daughter. The Miller heiress."

The room went still for a few seconds.

Then sharper laughter exploded across the table.

"Ben, you have not even been drinking. How is your brain already fried? How could she be the Miller heiress? She just happens to have the same last name."

Madison scoffed.

"Ben, if you want to rescue a damsel, you do not need to invent such a bad lie."

Ben looked at Luke.

"Luke, she is your girlfriend. You should know her best.

"Do you really not know she is Robert Miller's daughter?"

Luke stared at me, brows drawn tight.

Madison pulled him closer to her side, placing a clear line between us.

"Ben, if you like Miss Miller, go after her yourself.

"Luke has already broken up with her. He will not stop you.

"But you teaming up with Miss Miller to lie to all of us? Did she offer you something?"

"Ben," Luke said, his dark eyes turning to him. "When did you two get in touch?"

"Enough!"

I did not want to keep performing in this circus.

Luke cut me off, his tone suddenly sharp.

"You are defending him?"

"Luke Bennett, I am Robert Miller's daughter.

"What happened between us has nothing to do with Ben. You do not need to question him."

Luke gave a cold laugh.

"Emily Miller, you are lying to me for him?

"Since we started dating, when were you not with me? Which dress, which pair of shoes, which bag of yours did I not buy?

"Would Robert Miller's daughter have that much free time? Would she use her body to trade with a man for money?"

The slap rang through the suddenly silent banquet hall.

I lowered my hand and looked into the black eyes in front of me.

Once, I had seen those same eyes in the dark.

That night, when a creep cornered me and I was too frightened to move, he had appeared like the only light in a sky full of darkness.

Later, I learned his name was Luke Bennett.

To get close to him, I began asking my best friend Sarah Collins to bring me to parties in his circle. I chased him openly and warmly.

The night our relationship changed, Madison handed me a glass of brutal high-proof liquor.

She said, "If you can finish this, Luke will date you."

I glanced at Luke. He was hidden in the corner of a couch and said nothing.

They wanted me to back down.

But I, Emily Miller, had never been good at lowering my head.

I smiled and took the glass.

Just as the liquor reached my lips, Luke rushed over with anger in his face.

"Are you crazy?"

I fell into those eyes again.

Now, it was still those eyes. But when they looked at me, there was no warmth left.

"Emily Miller, are you crazy?"

Luke backed me into a corner, his long fingers clamping around my wrist.

"Do you care that much about how he sees you?

"Am I wrong? Back then, were you not the one chasing me like your life depended on it?

"We dated for a month. Did you not sleep with me?"

He glanced at Ben, who stood frozen nearby, and smiled with bitter mockery.

"Or do you think you found someone more worth trusting than me?"

He lowered his head close to my ear.

"Emily Miller, ask him. Would he dare take a woman who was mine?

"Between us, you were never the one who got to decide."

I pushed him away and looked at the man who once made my heart race.

When I loved him, I was willing to run into the wall again and again.

Because I had loved him, I had wanted us to part with dignity.

But now that I saw him clearly, I no longer wanted to swallow a single grievance.

Before I could speak, noise rose at the entrance.

"Emily, happy birthday! Look who I brought!"