The next day, I went straight to the town’s military office and signed my name on the list for the National Rural Service Program.
He’d trapped me in a fake marriage for seven years. From this moment on, I would never wait for him again.
——
I had just gotten home and hadn’t even started packing when the door suddenly swung open. A well-dressed woman stormed in and slapped me hard across the face.
“Looking like that and still trying to be someone’s mistress? Disgusting!”
I fell to the ground along with the table, and shards of a broken bottle cut deep into my hands. Only then did I see clearly that the woman was Briar Alden, the widow who had married Callum Vance in Washington.
She was about to kick me when I scrambled to my feet and shoved her away.
Just as the door swung open behind me, a familiar figure rushed in, quickly wrapping an arm around Briar before she could fall.
“Briar, are you okay?” he asked her worriedly.
Then he frowned at me and snapped, “Why would you hit her? Hurry and apologize to her!”