Before His Wedding, the Good Girl He Used Quietly Vanished Chapter 05

Before His Wedding, the Good Girl He Used Quietly Vanished Chapter 05

I went upstairs after breakfast and laid down.

I didn’t start packing until the shakiness passed.

I ran my fingers along the hangers. Half of them were designer pieces he’d had sent over each season, tags still on.

I grabbed the ones I actually wore and stuffed them into my suitcase. Then my toiletries.

I crouched in front of the nightstand and pulled open the bottom drawer.

A metal box sat at the back.

Inside it was a piece of hard candy that had melted and resolidified.

He’d given it to me three years ago, the day I couldn’t stop crying.

He’d said, “Here, good girl. Something sweet, so the bad stuff doesn’t stick.”

That night, a girl from my year had dragged me to some corporate mixer. I’d ended up cornered by a balding exec.

One drink after another.

His hand was on my waist, his grip tightening every time I tried to shift away.

I couldn’t shake him off. Couldn’t make a sound. I just sat there, pinned to the chair, shaking.

Everett was there that night. Some business thing.

He saw the whole thing.

He waited until the man’s hand started sliding lower.

“Drop the hand.”

That was all he said.

The man let go immediately.

Everett pulled me out of the chair.

“Come with me.”

I stumbled after him.

The second we were out the door, he let go of my arm and I broke down.

He reached into his suit pocket and handed me a piece of candy.

…

I looked at it for a moment. Then I closed the box and put it back.

I wouldn’t take it with me.

Something that had melted couldn’t go back to what it was.

That afternoon, he drove me to campus.

Sunlight came through the windshield, warm across my legs.

“What happened to Paige?” I asked. “The girl from last night…”

She’d been just like me.

I’d thought she could take my place.

“Sent her home.” He said it like it was nothing.

“Where?”

“Where she belongs.”

I didn’t ask anything else.

I closed my eyes and wondered who’d come after her.

That estate was an assembly line. Girls went in one end and came out the other.

I was just another product on the belt.

The only difference was that I’d come off the first batch and lasted a little longer on the shelf.

“Why are you asking about her all of a sudden?”

“It’s nothing. I just… felt like maybe I didn’t make her feel welcome enough…”

He kept his eyes on the road and said nothing.

I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

He pulled up at the campus entrance.

“Call me when you’re done. I’ll come get you.”

“Okay.”

I stepped out, then turned back. “Can you grab my suitcase?”

“Why?”

I felt my cheeks flush.

I ducked my head, fumbling with the seatbelt. “You said you were taking me somewhere tonight… I want to change and do my makeup after my lectures.”

He studied me for a beat, then let out a quiet laugh.

“You want to dress up?”

“Yes.”

He leaned across and popped the trunk.

I pushed the door open.

I was halfway out when he called my name. “Willa.”

I looked back.

He was watching me through the glass. Sunlight cut across his face, half of it lit, half in shadow.

“Be good,” he said.

I smiled.

Eyes, mouth, all of it curved the right way. “Okay.”

The engine revved, then faded down the street.

He turned at the intersection and was gone.

I stood there watching until the wind whipped hair across my face.

My fingers were numb when I pushed it behind my ear.

I looked down at my phone.

Ms. Holloway had sent a file.

[Transfer paperwork, expedited. My address in Bellwether City. University contacts. Monthly stipend, all set up.]

My grip tightened on the suitcase handle.

I flagged down a cab.

“The airport, please.”