My Fiancé Married My Best Friend Chapter 09

My Fiancé Married My Best Friend Chapter 09

Xavier leaned against the car at the curb, his silhouette dark against the harsh white glow of the hospital.

He’d cleared his impossible schedule just to be here for this moment.

He opened his arms. I walked into them. His solid frame steadied me. “Don’t see them anymore,” he

murmured against my ear. “It makes you sad. I don’t like it.”

I pulled back and forced a small smile. “Do I look hurt?”

He studied my face. His thumb traced lightly over my cheekbone. Slowly, he smiled back. “No. You look free.”

He took my hand. Our fingers interlaced. “Nina. This fake marriage… I don’t want it to stay fake. Don’t file for

an annulment.”

I’d thought about it. Of course I had. The hunger I felt for him was a tide that never receded. But I was a

shipwreck. Salvaged from the water but still taking on leaks. I needed to be fully stripped down and rebuilt before I could sail on my own.

“Xavier… I can’t. Not yet. I need to just be me for a while. Not the betrayed fiancée. Not the revenge bride.

Just Nina. I need to know who that is without all of this.” I squeezed his hand. “Starting something real with

you right now… it wouldn’t be fair. Not to you. Not to me.”

Pain flickered through his eyes. But he nodded. “Alright. But my offer doesn’t expire. I’ll wait for you, Nina.

However long you need.”

The last time I saw Liam was at a charity gala. I was on Xavier’s arm, wearing a gown that cost more than

Liam’s first car. Everyone in the room noticed. The whispers followed us.

Then I saw him. Liam. Gaunt. The arrogance gone from his face. He spotted me. A flicker of desperate hope

crossed his features. He crossed the room, ignoring the stares.

“Nina. I did it. The divorce is final. The baby… it’s all over. There’s nothing between us anymore. We can be

together now.”

I didn’t let him finish. “Liam, I’m married.”

“I don’t care!” His voice was a desperate hiss. “I’ll wait. I’ll wait for you to leave him. I’ll wait forever.”

“I’m not leaving him.”

The light in his eyes dimmed. Then died. “You… you really don’t love me anymore?”

I looked at him. This man who’d once been my whole world. And my biggest mistake. “No, Liam. I don’t love

you. Not at all.”

He stumbled back like I’d struck him. I turned and walked away.

A month later, Xavier and I stood in a quiet law firm and signed the divorce papers. Our public spectacle ended in a private, dignified conclusion. For my family’s sake, we decided to keep up the pretense a little

longer.

Through Xavier’s connections, a position had opened up at a prestigious firm in Milan. A fresh start. An

ocean away.

He drove me to the airport himself. At security, I turned and, before I could overthink it, threw my arms

around him. He froze for a heartbeat. Then his arms wrapped around me. Tight.

“Nina,” he rasped into my hair. “Do I still have a chance?”

I pulled back just enough to look up at him. “That depends.”

“On what?”

“On you. On me. On who we are when we meet again.”

He smiled. “I can work with that.”

The future stretched out ahead of me. A blank page. Terrifying and hopeful in equal measure. But for the first

time in a long time, I was the one holding the pen.