Terri pulled up the contract on her phone.
Without hesitation, she signed it.
She put on her sunglasses as she got into the car.
She didn’t want to go, but she had no choice.
Her makeup was thick, covering the dark circles under her eyes.
After Blayne left last night, she cried herself into a daze and couldn’t sleep no matter what.
In the middle of the night, Mrs. Tilley texted her.
Blayne had gone back to get the jewelry his mother left behind.
Terri knew that necklace.
Back when Blayne was lost in the moment, kissing her with unrestrained passion, he had promised—once she married him, he would put it on her himself.
And now?
They weren’t even officially together, but even drunk, Blayne still made sure Valerie got her dignity.
Bitterness filled Terri’s chest, yet somehow, she felt a little lighter.
It didn’t matter. She had already signed the termination papers.
Five more days, and she could finally leave.
“Terri, isn’t it?”
Terri snapped out of her thoughts and turned toward the voice.
The car window on the other side rolled down—both front and back.
She finally saw who it was.
Her sister—Valerie.
And someone else.
Blayne was there too.
The two of them sat together in the backseat, their fingers tightly interlocked, leaning into each other.
Side by side, they looked straight at Terri.
She had been prepared for this, but seeing them like that still sent a sharp sting through her chest.
Then, she scoffed at herself.
Why was she even reacting?
She had known this was coming.
“You only sent a driver to take Terri? Today’s her first public appearance as your wife, after all.”
Valerie glanced at Terri, then turned to Blayne, pretending to chide him.
Her eyes were full of warmth—sisterly concern, soft and affectionate.
But she never let go of his hand.
Terri was Valerie’s younger sister.
And Blayne was, in name at least, Valerie’s brother-in-law.
Yet here he was, sitting with her.
“One person is fine. She’ll have to get used to it sooner or later.”
Blayne shrugged, his gaze on Valerie filled with tenderness.
Even with Terri sitting right there, he didn’t spare her a glance.
In the backseat, Terri clenched her fingers together.
The spot on her waist—where Blayne had held her down last night—was still faintly warm.
The thrill of being wanted.
The sting of being ignored.
The emotions tangled together, making her legs instinctively press tight against each other as she swallowed back the aching in her chest.
“I don’t mind going alone…”
She had barely started speaking when Valerie cut in.
“We happened to run into each other. I’ll go have a chat with Terri—we haven’t seen each other in a while.”
Without waiting for a response, she turned to Blayne.
He didn’t object.
He only sat up straighter, watching Valerie step out of the car.
His warm expression shifted into something else.
A warning.
His lips moved silently.
“Stay in your place. Don’t make trouble.”
Terri suddenly felt like laughing.
Stay in her place?
Don’t make trouble?
What trouble, exactly?
Did he mean when he had almost forced himself on her after finding out Valerie had left the country?
Or when he had thrown money at her face, only to pull her into bed night after night?
Valerie was his precious jewel.
And Terri?
What was she?
A stand-in? A decoration?
For once, a faint sense of satisfaction burned in Terri’s chest.
She lowered her gaze, pretending not to see Blayne’s warning look.
“I heard Blayne went to see you last night?”
Valerie got into the car, rolling up the window behind her.
The outside world disappeared.
Her earlier warmth vanished.
Her eyes were cold as she looked at Terri.
“He didn’t come to see me. He came to warn me.”
Terri’s voice was calm, but the bitterness was impossible to hide.
