Page 47 of When Hearts Collide
“You said your vows, Sydney. For better or worse,” I growled.
“I regret them! Ryland, don’t you see? I can’t go on living like this. You feel something for me. I see it in your eyes. This,” she motioned between us, “this is right. The right thing to do. Stem the bleeding now before it hemorrhages. We can’t help what the heart wants!” she cried before throwing herself on me and pressing those soft lips of hers onto mine.
I froze for a second before wrenching her off me. “Excuses. All of it. You disgust me!”
And worst of all, for a moment when her lips touched mine, my body reacted. My heart skipped a damn beat again.
I was disgusted with myself.
Shoving the memory away, I crinkle the exam in my hands, lava flowing hot in my veins, but my eyes are no longer focused on the beautiful writing in front of me. It’s a blur of gray against white.
Sydney died a week later. A boating accident. Maxwell was devastated, withdrawing into his cold, hard shell once more. The curse is real…and there’s no way on God’s green earth I’ll ever let him know his wife, the woman he once loved, made a move on me mere days before she passed. That she wanted to leave him. I’ll never do that to him.
I stare at the exam in front of me, my breathing rapid, a thin layer of sweat coating my skin. It can’t be. She can’t be a cheater. But the lead sinks deeper inside my chest.
I need to get to the bottom of this.
My phone pings with an incoming text.
Maxwell
Sorry, Ryland. We need you back here. There are some issues with the IPO and it’ll take all hands on deck. When can you get back?
My hand grips the phone, wanting to throw it against the wall and see it shatter into pieces. Time to go back to the real world where hundreds of years of Anderson history falls on me to uphold.
But first, there’s something I need to do.
Chapter 19
The moment I step into his office after his terse email, I know it’s over. He knows.
He motions for me to sit across from him, his brows furrowed, his face serious.
“Millie,” he murmurs and slides my exam over to me.
My breath lodges in my throat and cold sweat breaks out over my skin. Jocelyn ended up fake coughing and nudging me during the exam, desperation in her eyes. The test was harder than expected and there were questions we didn’t cover the night before.
In the end, I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t ignore the little girl trying not to disappoint her dying mom. And so, I leaned back in my chair, nausea churning in my gut, and let her look at my answers before we turned in the exam.
“Yes, Professor?”
He slides Jocelyn’s test next to mine, and he has circled in red phrases and answers that are identical on the two packets. Damning evidence of our deceit. A chill sweeps through me, and I want to throw up. Damn it, Joss. You couldn’t have varied your answers just a little bit?
“I’m concerned your friend has cheated off of you on the exam.”
His words draw my attention to him. There’s a hesitation in his words, a thin thread of hope, like he’s holding his breath.
“Did Jocelyn cheat off of you? You seemed troubled in class. Is there anything I need to know about?”
My lips tremble and I open my mouth to speak, but no words come out. I twist my fingers on my lap. I try again.
“P-Professor, what are you going to do to her?”
Ryland’s eyes narrow, the concern in his slate irises shifting into something colder. His nostrils flare. I can feel the temperature of the room dropping by ten degrees.
“If she cheated, I’ll report her and she may get expelled.”
“No! Please don’t do that.” I look down at my lap. “I-It’s not what you think it is. W-We have reasons.”
