Chapter 25
“Bullshit!”
Yet here was Grayson, still glued to her side.Bastien’s outburst didn’t even make them flinch.]
With the casual confidence of someone who belonged there, Grayson hug Ophelia’s waist. She smiled up at him,give her a kiss.[]
Grayson’s lips curled into a smirk against hers, his eyes practically screaming “she’s mine now.“[]
The kiss wasn’t awkward or new.[]
“This is insane. Ophelia.you can’t be serious…”
Ophelia raised an eyebrow and actually laughed. “We? Yeah,I had a crush on you back in the day, then you trapped me in a fake marriage. You honestly think I kept loving you the last five years?“]
“You are a loser!“]
Ive said everything. Stay the hell out of my life!“]
As her words sank in, Bastien dropped her arm,looking completely shell–shocked.]
Grayson kept his arm firmly around Ophelia as they walked to the car. With a slight frown, he fired off a quick text before pulling away.]
Ophelia seemed totally unbothered by the whole scene. She turned to Grayson and asked, “Baby,what are you in the mood for dinner?”
Grayson smirked as he drove. “Why? Thanking me for my Oscar–worthy boyfriend performance back there?”
Ophelia shot him a look. She’d figured out his game pretty clearly over the past few months.],
But she wasn’t ready to jump into relationship number two–not because she was hung up on Bastien, but because she needed a damn break from men and their drama.
She had grad school apps to finish anyway.]]
“Look, I’m applying to grad school. I’m not looking to sign another marriage license anytime soon.“]
“Nothing,we could just date.”
Grayson said it so casually that Ophelia couldn’t help but smile.[]
“Why not?”
They kept their relationship on the down–low from the Hartley family.[]
Connor had his suspicions about Grayson’s feelings, but figured his sister needed time after her divorce disaster. He had no clue they were already hooking up right under his nose.
Months later, Ophelia found out that Bastien had wrapped his car around a tree after seeing her that day. He’d lost a leg in the crash. His mother and the whole Moreau clan had even flown to London.[]
The Hartleys hadn’t exactly rolled out the welcome mat. Her mother had secretly met with Bastien’s mom once, but whatever went down at that meeting had torpedoed any remaining connection between the families.
Ophelia didn’t ask for details. She was drowning in coursework, and Grayson was either in surgery or dealing with his company’s endless business crap.]
The next Moreau update came when Bastien’s mother had the nerve to call her directly.]
She laid into Ophelia for being a heartless bitch, saying Bastien had already lost a leg.Did she have to take down the entire Moreau Group?
Listening to this garbage, Ophelia thought about all the things she’d once believed were special but now realized were complete bullshit.
Bastien losing his leg has zero to do with me. I didn’t push him in front of a bus.”
But he was coming to see you!“]
Ophelia actually laughed. So that was her fault too?
“I never asked him to do that. That’s on him.”
Bastien’s mother hung up on her, absolutely fuming.[]
When Ophelia asked Connor about it later, she learned that he and Grayson had tag–teamed the Moreau Group’s takeover.[]
Ophelia just shrugged.
“Trust me, I couldn’t care less what happens to them.“]
The last Anastasia update came via Twitter. Ophelia learned that after Bastien’s wedding stunt, Anastasia had spiraled into massive debt and ended up as the plaything of some rich bastard.]
Ophelia figured people eventually pay for their choices one way or another.[]
Three years later, as flowers blossoms filled the air, Ophelia texted Piper a wedding invitation.[]
As
As spring sunshine warmed the earth, Ophelia walked hand in hand with the man who actually loved her toward a future that was finally, completely her
own…..
