Dead Before You Loved Me He Realized the Truth Only When My Grave Was Cold Chapter 03

Dead Before You Loved Me He Realized the Truth Only When My Grave Was Cold Chapter 03

Darien glanced at me in the rearview mirror.

“Elara… have you forgotten that you once loved me?”

He had someone else. I was married to his brother. Bringing it up was wrong.

I stared at him, shocked.

“That was high school.”

He pointed out the window at a school building, his face soft with nostalgia.

Seeing the familiar walls, I was pulled back in time.

In high school, Darien was the most soughtafter wealthy boy on campus.

The school banned dating, but rules didn’t stop crushes.

Love letters poured in from every corner.

He never kept them. He’d throw them in the trash right in front of the girls, watching them run away redfaced and heartbroken.

“You can’t do that,” I told him. “It’ll hurt their feelings.”

I seethed with anger for those girls.

“You want me to take their letters? Be honest, Elara.”

Something had shifted in his eyes, dark and intense.

I shook my head. I didn’t want that at all.

He tapped my head, then laced his fingers through mine inside his coat pocket.

After my father died, I stopped celebrating my birthday.

On my 18th birthday, Darien took me to my parents’ grave and lit candles.

He said, “Elara, I’ll take care of you from now on.”

Spring flowers bloomed around the cemetery. The wind carried petals, like my parents’ gentle touch.

I felt truly happy.

But what I thought was love was later erased by Darien, like it had all been a mistake.

I stared out the window. It was all so long ago.

A sharp, piercing pain shot through my bones. I couldn’t hold back a quiet whimper.

Darien frowned. “Does it hurt that much because you’re leaving him?”

He thought I was crying.

I waited for the pain to fade before speaking quietly.

“So few people have ever really loved me. And now he’s gone too. It hurts.”

I was dying. I thought I’d hate Kael for cheating.

But I didn’t hate him.

I just felt sorry for myself.

Before I died, no one loved me anymore.

I was such a failure…

I’d loved them both with everything I had.

Darien’s face darkened. “He loved you? If that’s what you call love… I loved you more than he ever did.”

His voice sounded strange.

I cut him off. “I don’t want to talk about him anymore, Darien. I’m tired.”

And I was in so much pain.

Darien didn’t argue. His tone softened.

“Come back to the Blackwood Manor. Mom and Dad miss you.”

I shook my head. “Take me to Willow Creek Estates.”

“Going back to the manor wouldn’t be right. It wouldn’t be fair to Seraphina.”

Darien shrugged indifferently. “You’re overthinking it. When has she ever cared about you?”

He caught himself, pressed his lips together, and said no more.

I’d known for five years.

Seraphina Cole never needed to look at me. Darien would never let his lover feel even a little upset.

He gave her everything.

I’d been his fiancée for years, fooling myself into thinking I was special to him.

How arrogant I’d been.

I thought Darien had loved me.

The school banned dating.

But teenage hormones didn’t care about rules. The principal was driven crazy by complaints.

One morning, his mistress found yet another bald spot on his head. He lost his temper.

At the assembly, he shouted, “You can date. But don’t date someone who lets go of your hand when they see a teacher.”

A few days later, Darien and I were caught.

We had to read an absurdly long self-criticism in front of the whole school.

It was the first time Darien had ever been embarrassed.

Minutes after the apology, he had to give a speech as a top student.

As the whole school laughed, he stayed expressionless, stepped down, and grabbed my hand.

“You knew the principal was doing this on purpose.”

“I know. And I’d never let go of your hand, not even for him.”

I thought the principal was right. I’d chosen the right person.

I never imagined that years later, Darien would tell me he was in love with someone else.