Page 141 of Be My Bride

Darkness falls heavy on my shoulders.

As I watch her walk away, it feels like I’ve truly hit rock bottom. She’s floating on a current that I can’t get to while I’m drowning in the depths, barely able to keep my head above the water.

I’ve been brought to my knees by one gorgeous woman.

Will I ever recover from this?

This is your fault idiot.

True.

I lied to her.

I chose to leave.

I chose this.

They were all steps I made of my own free will, so why does living with the consequences hurt so badly? Why does watching her walk away from me stab a hole into my heart?

This is the right decision.

The best one for Asia.

I’m protecting her from me. Why can’t my heart understand that?

As I leave the news station and plod to my car, my mind keeps tripping on Asia.

Last month, when I woke up next to her in Vegas, I was groggy and hungover. She showed me the ring and I sobered real fast, but I wasn’t shocked for long. The more I stared at that diamond, my diamond, on her finger, the less foreign it felt to me.

Like hell yeah Asia was my wife.

Hell yeah, I’d whisk her away to a VIP lounge.

Hell freaking yeah, I’d take her out shopping and introduce her to my parents and spend the night worshipping those gorgeous curves.

My heart pangs with every memory.

I tighten my fingers on the wheel and force myself to focus on the road ahead. Reaching out, I turn the radio on and hear a slow, crying rock song about heartbreak and pain.

It’s killing me.

Still, I don’t turn it off.

I coast away on the lovesick melody, diving into memories of me and Asia and realizing with each painful breath that I really, really miss my wife.

Thirty-Three

Asia

“He misses you.”

I glance up.

Focus on Elizabeth.

She’s sitting across from me in the little breakfast nook of my—I mean Hansley’s home. Divorce papers lie in front of me. Her husband, Brogan, is a lawyer and I asked him to help me draw up the documents.

I didn’t expect Elizabeth to deliver them herself.