I Stopped Loving Him

Jason's voice came through the phone. "Chris, why have you been going after Pigliana so hard lately? You care this much... Don't tell me you actually fell for her. Weren't those five years in the church supposed to convince your family to let you marry Jessica?"

"Fall for her? Impossible." Christian's tone dripped with mockery. "Juliana turned down my proposal and left without a word. Then she comes back whenever she feels like it and says she regrets it. What does she take me for? If I don't do something, how does that make up for the whole year I forced myself to date her through sheer disgust..."

I almost laughed. "So that's the truth behind his five years in the church. How ridiculous."

Everyone had assumed he had shut himself away because I had broken his heart. Everyone believed I had come back to steal the groom and win him back. Even Christian believed it so completely that he kept punishing me for it.

But I had already told him the truth. I was married and had a child.

The thought of Virgil and Anna warmed me. By my count, they would return in three days.

I had expected them to keep me locked up until the engagement party was over. Instead, they let me out on the morning of the party.

Christian stood in front of me, his expression cold. "Jessie wants your blessing. That's the only reason I let you out. Behave yourself. Don't try anything again."

I said nothing. My gaze drifted to where my mother's memorial grave had once stood. It was gone. They had torn it down and replaced it with a sea of flowers.

The party buzzed with life. Perfume and champagne filled the air. Guests clustered in small groups, admiring the scale of the event.

"I heard Mr. Fairmont spent tens of millions on this engagement party."

"No kidding. He even invited Virgil Carrington. Mr. Carrington lives in Goldridge now and almost never returns to Imperius. If Mr. Fairmont managed to bring him here, it shows how much he values Jessica."

Virgil Carrington?

My heart jumped. I took out my phone to message him, but before I could open the chat, a hand closed over mine.

"Juliana, what are you trying to do now?" Christian looked at me with open suspicion. "I just told you. Don't pull anything."

"I'm not." I met his gaze. "I've said this so many times. I didn't come back for you, and I'm not going to do anything to stop your engagement."

Something shifted in his expression as he looked into my eyes. For the first time, a flicker of unease crossed his face.

Could it be true? Could Juliana really have come back for reasons that had nothing to do with him?

His breathing deepened.

Then the entire venue erupted. We both looked up at the same time.

A slideshow played on the giant screen at the front of the venue. It was filled with intimate photos from when Christian and I were dating.

In every picture, I weighed over 200 pounds, dressed in loose clothes, leaning against him with a naive, trusting smile.

The guests burst into chatter.

"Oh my God, that's Juliana? She used to be that fat?"

"I already heard she came back to steal the groom, but this is shameless even for her. Playing these photos at someone else's engagement party?"

"No manners at all. Figures. A girl like that was obviously not raised right."

Their mockery cut into me like blades. My body locked in place.

I had not even managed to speak in my defense when Jessica's sobs rang out nearby. "Julie, I know you still haven't let Chris go, but you shouldn't humiliate me like this at my engagement party. If you had just told me, I would have given Chris back to you!"

Crying, she gathered her skirt and ran out.

"Jessie!" Christian shouted. He started after her, then stopped when he saw me still standing there.

In the next instant, his hand struck my face.

Pain flared across my cheek.

Christian's eyes were bloodshot with fury, yet for one strange moment, I had the sense he felt relieved.

"Juliana, so this is what you meant when you said you wouldn't do anything to stop my engagement? You planned this from the start." He glared at me as if he wanted to burn straight through me. "I'm telling you now, this engagement will go on. You won't get your way."

He shoved past me and ran after Jessica.

Then a small, childish voice rang out across the venue. "Don't bully my mommy!"