Page 75 of Only Ever You

I cradle my head in my hands. How could he do this? This man, who spent months telling me he loved me—telling me that he wanted to spend the rest of our lives together.

He made me feel like a queen.

What a hard fall it is to be dethroned.

“Pippa, your luggage is at the airport. I’ll go and get it.”

My head spins. “My luggage?”

“Deacon took the jet.” Lucas squeezes my shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”

“I guess he’s enjoying our honeymoon on his own.”

Deacon planned the whole honeymoon around everything I always wanted to see. Now he’s swanned off to see the sights while I wallow in self-pity here.

When he left town the first time, I thought I was heartbroken.

But that’s nothing compared to the pain I feel now.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Pippa

The first week is the hardest. There’s no word from Deacon—no explanation as to why he took off. At first, I thought maybe he’d lied to me and this was some kind of revenge against Lucas. But nothing makes sense.

If that was the case, wouldn’t he be crowing about it?

Mum is handling returning the gifts. I couldn’t face it.

The first two days, I spent in bed before dragging myself out to breakfast on the third day.

“Morning, love.” Mum hugs me. “Go take a seat and I’ll bring you something to eat. Toast okay?”

“Toast would be great.”

I take a seat next to Dad, and he reaches over, gripping my forearm. “How are you today, sweetheart?”

I shoot him a faint smile. “I’m okay, Dad. Just doing a lot of thinking.”

He nods. “I guess you have some decisions to make.”

“I’m going back to Auckland. My things are packed ready to move into Deacon’s place, so I’ll get them shipped into storage here and come home for a bit.”

Dad frowns. “What about your job?”

I blow out a breath. I’ll miss Infinity, but there’s no way I can stay there now. I haven’t spoken to any of Deacon’s friends since the day after the wedding when they left, and they all insisted that I take my time making any big decisions.

But I’m spent. Even if I take the next month off, being in that building with Deacon doesn’t have any appeal. Things will just be awkward, and I can’t see how I have a future working there.

“I’m going to quit. If I hand in my notice now when I’m on leave, I won’t have to go back to work before Deacon returns.”

“You took the month off. It’s not anything you have to hurry to do.” Mum places the toast in front of me.”

Movement from the door catches my gaze as Lucas slips into the room. His brow has been permanently furrowed since my aborted wedding day. I know he’s concerned—they all are, but I have to handle this in my own way.

“I want to do it now and get it over with. The sooner I can get my things shipped down here and get out of my flat, the better. All I have to do is change the booking for the movers.”

“But quitting your job? That’s a big decision to make when you’re so fragile.”

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