Too Late Ex-Fiancé: I Belong To Your Brother Now

“You vicious bitch! How could you push her?!”

The violent slap sent my head snapping to the side. A sharp, burning heat exploded across my cheek, making my ears ring. My heels slipped on the polished floor, but I grabbed the cold golden railing of the staircase behind me, forcing my legs to hold my weight.

At the bottom of the grand stairs, Sarah lay curled on the white marble. She clutched her left ankle, her shoulders shaking with small, pitiful sobs. The gentle string quartet stopped playing instantly, champagne glasses paused mid-air. The entire room of high-society guests fell dead silent.

“Julian... it hurts,” Sarah whimpered, her voice trembling, echoing off the high ceilings perfectly so everyone could hear. “I only wanted to congratulate her on the engagement... I didn't mean to make her mad…”

Julian didn't even look at me. He dropped to his knees beside her, his expensive custom tuxedo pants hitting the floor without a second thought. His hand rested on her waist, drawing her flush against his chest.

“I've got you,” he whispered. I had never heard his voice so soft, not even once in three years. “I'm right here. Don't cry.”

I pressed my cold, trembling fingers against my burning cheek. I could taste the metallic tang of blood on the inside of my lip.

Whispers broke out across the ballroom like hissing snakes.

“She pushed her?” “How cruel. Just because she was Julian's first love.” “The Blackwoods are going to ruin her family for this…”

Cameras flickered in the dark corners of the hall. Two hundred pairs of eyes locked onto me, heavy with judgment and disgust.

“Julian, listen to me,” I said, forcing the air back into my lungs. My voice sounded thin, but I kept my chin up, refusing to let them see me break. “I didn't push her. She tripped on the hem of her own dress—”

“Be quiet!” Julian barked, leaping to his feet.

He took two quick strides toward me, his chest heaving. His dark eyes, the ones I had spent three years trying to find a drop of warmth in, flared with raw hatred.

“Do you think I'm stupid, Evelyn? She’s terrified of you! Ever since Sarah came back from London, you’ve been watching her like a hawk, and now you resort to physical violence because you can't handle your own jealousy?”

“I am telling you the truth,” I said, locking my eyes onto his, begging him silently to just trust me this one time. “Check the security cameras. I didn't lay a single finger on her.”

“I said enough!” Julian shouted, his hand sweeping through the air to cut me off. “I am sick of your cold, arrogant act. You think just because your family used you to pay off their debts to us, you can walk around here like you own the place? Look at her! She’s bleeding!”

He turned back around, bending down to scoop Sarah into his arms. Sarah buried her face in the crook of his neck, her fingers tightly clutching his jacket. But as Julian lifted her up, Sarah’s eyes peeked over his broad shoulder.

She wasn't crying at all. Her lips curved into a sharp, smug smile aimed right at me, as she mouthed the words, I won.

Julian stood tall, holding Sarah tightly in his arms right in front of me.

“I regret the day I ever let my father force a ring on your finger,” Julian declared, his voice cutting through the silent ballroom like a butcher's blade. “You are completely heartless. Pray to God nothing happens to her ankle, Evelyn, or I will personally make sure you and your family pay for every single tear she sheds tonight.”

Gasps rippled through the crowd like wildfire. Flashes went off faster, white light blinding my vision.

Julian shifted his weight, turning his shoulders toward the massive front doors, ready to make his grand exit. He didn't even look back. He fully assumed I would follow behind him like a desperate, obedient dog—crying, apologizing, and begging him not to ruin my family's alliance.

Just like I had done for three exhausting years. Every time he cancelled our anniversaries, or left me stranded at galas, and even blew off my calls to run to Sarah's side.

I stood completely frozen.

I looked at him holding another woman. I looked at the red blood smudged on my white silk glove, and then down at the heavy six-carat diamond sitting on my left hand.

Three years of biting my tongue, and being told by my mother to be quiet, be sweet, endure it so our debts are paid.

I was nothing but a pawn to them.

Suddenly, the tight, suffocating knot in my chest snapped. The quiet, desperate love I had tried so hard to keep alive for him turned completely to ash, replaced by an ice-cold clarity.

Before Julian could take a single step toward the door, I grabbed the diamond band on my finger and ripped it off.

I threw it straight at him. The heavy ring bounced hard off his tuxedo jacket and clattered loudly onto the marble floor.

Julian stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes widened as the ring rolled away, then slowly snapped up to meet mine. Raw shock flickered across his face, his jaw dropping slightly. He stared at me as if I had suddenly turned into a complete stranger.

I didn't give him the satisfaction of a single word, or even shed a single tear.

I turned my back on him, pulled my heavy gown up above my ankles, and walked straight past the gaping crowd. The sea of wealthy guests parted for me in stunned silence as I pushed open the massive double doors and walked out into the freezing night.

The moment the doors slammed shut behind me, the sky opened up. Torrents of freezing rain crashed down, soaking my hair and dress in seconds.

I stood alone on the dark pavement, shivering violently. I had no coat, no car. I had just thrown away the only thing keeping my family out of bankruptcy.

Suddenly, my phone started vibrating furiously in my small clutch.

I pulled it out with shaking hands. The screen lit up with my mother’s name. She must have already seen the live streams from the ballroom. I knew exactly what was waiting for me if I answered—screaming, cursing, and an ultimatum to go back inside and kneel at Julian’s feet.

I had absolutely nothing left. Nowhere to go. No one to call.

I stared blindly into the dark, pouring rain, ready to just start walking until my feet bled.

But then, the blinding LED headlights of a massive, sleek black Maybach cut through the darkness. Pulling up right to the curb where I stood.