Chapter 23
Right?
Some lies are easier to believe when they’re the only thing you have left.
But even Rhett knew the truth.
She didn’t love him anymore.
And he… he was still drowning in it.
His chest ached like something vital had cracked inside him. His vision blurred. His body swayed from blood loss.
Just as he felt himself about to lose consciousness, someone grabbed him–hauled him upright and dragged him away.
His eyes fluttered open, just barely.
Not her. Not Vivian.
Just a stranger in a suit. A bodyguard, probably.
Of course she wouldn’t come for him.
Of course not.
With that final thought, darkness claimed him.
When Rhett came to, he was no longer in the restaurant. He was locked in a pitch–black room–so lark he couldn’t even see his hands in front of his face. It was the kind of darkness that didn’t just
ide things–it swallowed them whole.
He sat still, heart pounding.
Then, suddenly, a wall lit up.
Two photos appeared.
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On the left: Rhett kissing Faye.
On the right: Vivian and Caleb kissing–an exact mirror image.
He froze. His fists clenched.
He didn’t need a name on the footage. He knew exactly who had orchestrated this.
Caleb.
And it didn’t stop there.
For every photo of Rhett and Faye–laughing, touching, wrapped in each other–another appeared beside it. Vivian and Caleb. Matching smiles. Matching intimacy. Pose for pose. Moment for moment.
Dozens of them. Hundreds.
Flashing across the screen in rapid, merciless succession.
Each one stabbed deeper than the last.
It was like watching his soul being set on fire. A slow, intentional punishment.
He snapped.
Screamed.
Slammed his fists into the wall.
“STOP! TURN IT OFF! I SAID STOP!”
But the images didn’t stop.
They kept coming.
Like a voice whispering: You did this first.
Why does it hurt when it’s her turn?
Now you know how she felt.
Even when he closed his eyes, the images burned behind his lids. Etched into his memory. A
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nightmare on repeat.
Eventually, Rhett slumped to the floor, whispering hoarsely:
“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry, Vivian…”
He said it over and over, until his voice was raw. But no one answered. The torment didn’t end.
He staggered to his feet, drenched in sweat, and stumbled into the bathroom. He twisted the faucet, turning the heat up full blast.
Scalding water poured over him.
He scrubbed his skin again and again, as if trying to erase the past–or rip it off entirely.
“I’m not dirty,” he whispered. “I’m not. I won’t touch anyone else. I swear… Vivian, never again..”
When the display finally ended, Rhett emerged from the room like a shell of his former self. Hollow.
Faded. Eyes vacant.
People on the street stared as he passed, but he didn’t see them.
Back at his hotel, he threw himself into work–buried under files, meetings, obligations. He barely
slept. Barely ate.
Until, at last, the final document was signed.
He picked up the phone.
….Release Faye,” he said. “Bring her to me. I want her to face Vivian.”
Within a day, she arrived.
But the woman who stood before him was not the same.
Faye looked like a ghost. Her skin was pale and bruised. Her eyes sunken and dull. Her hair had lost
its shine. Her voice–when she spoke–was flat and hollow.
“…Okay.”
No resistance. No fight. She simply followed him.
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Chapter 23
He had already arranged everything. People had been tracking Vivian’s whereabouts for weeks.
Finding her wouldn’t be difficult.
That evening, as Vivian and Caleb returned home, Rhett and Faye were waiting at the gate.
Rhett stepped forward.
“Vivian, look. I brought her. She’s paid–tenfold–for what she did to you. I swear I don’t love her. She
can confirm that.”
Faye’s voice was mechanical. Rehearsed.
“I don’t dare think of Mr. Sinclair like that anymore… Vivian is the only woman he ever loved. I won’t ever hurt her again. I’m a criminal… a monster…”
She repeated it with the precision of someone who’d said it a hundred times before.
Vivian’s stomach turned.
She stared at Faye’s battered frame and, despite everything, didn’t feel triumphant.
She only remembered her own time locked in that same hell.
There was no joy in revenge.
Her eyes snapped to Rhett, trembling.
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