She Didn’t Fix Her Reputation. She Threw It Away. Chapter 32

She Didn’t Fix Her Reputation. She Threw It Away. Chapter 32

At the awards ceremony, I stood at the podium to give my acceptance speech.

The spotlight was warm on my face. I looked out at the audience and saw Julian, his face beaming, and my teammates, all applauding wildly.

My heart was calm and full.

Just as the ceremony reached its celebratory peak, Beckett appeared.

He was dressed in an absurdly expensive suit and clutching a massive, garish bouquet of dyed blue roses—the kind of ostentatious display that screamed of the old world I’d left behind.

His face was gaunt, but his eyes burned with a feverish, obsessive light.

He pushed his way through the crowd and stormed toward the stage.

He was trying to stage a grand, public reunion.

He wanted the world to see him win me back.

Julian was by my side in an instant, positioning himself between me and the approaching figure.

“Can I help you?” he asked, his voice calm but firm.

Only then did Beckett seem to notice him.

A raw hostility flared in his bloodshot eyes.

“We’ve known each other for twenty years. We grew up together,” he snarled. “Who the hell are you?”

Julian didn’t flinch. He took my hand, his grip steady and reassuring.

“I’m the man who loves Claire Novak.”

He used my new name.

My present. My future.