Page 39 of When Hearts Surrender

I slow my steps, my footfalls quiet on the Persian runner on the floor and walk toward the shadows of two people clearly in an emotional discussion.

Thunder rumbles outside and the wind hammers against the windows, letting in a howl akin to someone in pain, but I barely notice. Instead, unease sifts through my veins, an icy chill wafting my back because of the conversation occurring.

“Ryland, please. You don’t understand. I…I love him too. But we married too young. I don’t think I realized, but I learn it’s possible to love two people at the same time. I can’t get you out of my mind, Ryland.”

My breath wrenches out of my lungs. I stagger back a few steps, my hand braced on the fleur-de-lis wallpaper.It’s only been two months, Sydney. Don’t blame this on our age. You knew what you agreed to.

I thought she was happy.

Sydney is the only woman I’ve ever loved romantically. The woman who has brought back joy in the house.

I hear a sharp inhale, the taller masculine shadow backing away. Ryland. My twin is just around the corner with my wife, who apparently has loved him all along.

And from the looks of it, she loves him more than she loves me.

Blood rushes in my ears as their voices pick up in volume. Sydney pours her heart out to Ryland, telling him how long she has loved him, how she thought when they met atmyfirst and only art exhibit, that Ryland was me, and how she lost her breath over him.

My lungs rattle, each sentence from her mouth a javelin to my heart. I hunch over and try to dispel the blackness dotting my vision.

She stood by me every single time I butchered a public presentation. She didn’t jeer at me like my classmates, who were eager to knock down a privileged Anderson. She’d stay with me at the estate even though I knew she’d rather go out and party with her friends.

I let out a mirthless chuckle, the storm drowning my sounds of pain. Of course, she wants Ryland,the perfect twin…the perfect man.

The signs were there, weren’t they? Her smiles always seemed brighter in his presence. She’d look disappointed whenever he wasn’t around during game night. Then she’d insist on keeping the lights off when we had sex because she couldn’t bear to see my scars.

The same scars on my torso throb and pinch, reminding me of my flaws—both physical and mental. Steeling myself, I straighten up, lean back against the wall, and listen…because I have to know what Ryland says.

Was I the interloper all along?

“You said your vows, Sydney. For better or worse.” Anger seeps through my twin’s voice.

“I regret them! Ryland, don’t you see? I can’t go on living like this. You feel something for me. I can see it in your eyes. This…this is right. The right thing to do. Stem the bleeding now before it hemorrhages. We can’t help what the heart wants!”

A fresh wave of agony slices through me, my heart pulverized by her words, and a heavy silence fills the air…even the howling winds and pouring rain are giving us a reprieve.

Holding my breath, an oppressive blanket of dread smothers me. I peer around the corner, and the remnants of my heart are incinerated by what I see.

Sydney…my Sydney, pressing Ryland against the wall, her lips on top of his.

I choke back a gasp and clutch my dirty shirt, not caring I’m smearing the paint from my fingers on the soft fabric.

A second later, Ryland hollers, “Excuses. All of it. Youdisgustme!”

But it’s too late.

I saw his eyes fluttering shut when she was in his arms and how his fingers tightly clutched her slender waist, touching what I thought was mine.

He likes her. He may not act on it, but he likes her.

I hurry back down the stairs, past a bewildered Morris, and step onto the pavement, letting the storm wash over me, the water pelting my skin like bullets to the chest, a chest flayed wide open.

Present Day, The Gentlemen’s Club Inside The Orchid

But it was too late for Sydney then…I’d already fallen in love with her. Even if she loved Ryland more, she also loved me. We were married, and we confessed our love to each other.

That was enough for the curse.

“I just want you to be happy, like what you’ve wanted for me.” Ryland clasps his hand on top of mine, drawing my attention back to the room. His eyes are somber. I wonder if he’s remembering the same moment…the moment that changed everything.

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