He Thought I Loved Him, I Only Loved His Face Chapter 01

He Thought I Loved Him, I Only Loved His Face Chapter 01

The pregnancy test came back positive. Maya Vale did exactly one thing before anything else.

She called her lawyer and had divorce papers drafted.

“Maya, once both parties sign, we file with the court. The judge signs off. The marriage is legally dissolved.”

Maya’s expression stayed calm. “Can I sign for him?”

The lawyer paused. Then he shook his head. “No. He has to sign personally. Or through a legally authorized representative.”

“He agreed to the divorce. He’s just too busy with work to come in. You don’t believe me? I’ll call him right now. He’ll tell you himself.”

She pulled out her phone and dialed Rowan Cross.

“Rowan. I have something I need to tell you.”

She didn’t even finish the sentence before his voice cut through—cold, impatient, almost bored.

“I told you already. Your life, your decisions. Don’t waste my time with trivial nonsense.”

Right next to him, Piper Lane let out a soft, syrupy laugh.

“Rowan, you’re peeling them too fast. I can’t possibly eat all this.”

The line went dead.

Maya looked up at the lawyer and smiled, just slightly. “See? I told you.”

The lawyer frowned but followed procedure. He slid the papers across the desk.

Maya signed. When she set the pen down, it felt like a stone she’d been carrying in her chest for years had finally cracked and fallen away. She went home. She took out the framed photo she’d kept like a relic and wiped it clean, slow and careful.

The housekeeper walked past. She saw Maya polishing that same frame again and couldn’t help whispering to the other staff.

“She’s so in love with him. She stares at that photo every single day. Cleans that frame every single day.”

“What good does loving him do? Rowan doesn’t care about her at all.”

“Right? Back when Piper was still in London, he used to fly out to see her constantly. Now that she’s back in New York, he spends nearly every waking moment with her. He barely even comes home.”

Their voices carried pity.

Maya heard every word. The whispers hit her like water on glass. Nothing stuck.

She wasn’t polishing a frame.

She was polishing her whole world. And in that world, Rowan Cross wasn’t even background noise.

Because the man in that photo was not Rowan Cross.

The man she loved was never Rowan Cross.

She married Rowan for one reason. He had the exact same face as Caleb Cross.

Rowan and Caleb were identical twins.

Maya met Caleb at Columbia. They were young then. Bright. They made plans to meet his family after graduation. To get married.

Caleb died in an accident.

It happened so fast. He didn’t leave a single word behind. She lost the man who loved her like she was the air he breathed. Forever.

Once you’ve been loved like that, you know you’ll never love anyone else again.

So she wanted one thing. A child who looked like him. Someone to walk beside her for whatever time she had left.

Caleb’s younger brother Rowan was the perfect solution.

After that, she set her sights on him. She did things people called crazy. Desperate. Humiliating. She didn’t care.

At the time, Piper Lane—the woman Rowan had secretly loved for years—had just left for London.

After she left, Rowan fell apart. Quietly. Slowly. He needed someone to prove he didn’t care. He needed to show himself, and the woman who never once looked back at him, that he could have someone too.

Maya appeared at exactly the moment he needed that anesthetic. He said yes to her proposal.

He laid out his terms.

She could have the status. The money. The house. Whatever she wanted.

She was never to expect his love.

The conditions were humiliating. Maya agreed without hesitation.

Rowan assumed she was just that obsessed with him. He never thought twice about it.

On their wedding day, Piper said she felt “unwell.” Rowan skipped the ceremony entirely and left Maya standing alone in the church. She became the joke of the Upper East Side.

After the wedding, he flew to London constantly to see Piper. He made Maya book the flights for him.

Their marital bedroom had Piper’s photos on the nightstand. His study drawers were stuffed with gifts meant for Piper. Even the backyard was planted with white hydrangeas—Piper’s favorite.

Everyone said Maya was pitiful.

She never cared.

She played the role of the quiet wife. The only thing she ever insisted on was this: whenever Rowan came home, she seized every chance to sleep with him.

Rowan thought she was insane with love for him.

The way he was insane with love for Piper.

He loved Piper so much, he’d never even dared confess. He just stood there watching while she went off to London with someone else.

Maya never explained.

There was no need.

She was pregnant now.

Goal achieved.

Time to leave.