Chapter 14

EMILIA

For once in Zane Whitmoore’s life, he looks genuinely speechless.

And I can’t even blame him. I’m just as surprised at my own outburst as he is. Deep down, I know it isn’t just about him—it’s everything. The torment of these past few weeks, the exhaustion, the way I’ve been stretched thin. The normal Emilia—his pushover ex-fiancée, as he called me—wouldn’t have dared to speak to him like that.

From the storm in his eyes, I know he realizes it too.

He clenches his fists and steps closer. “So it’s such a bad thing to check up on you?”

I shrink back, instinctively wishing I could take my words back. “It’s not, I just—”

He cuts me off. “You were my best friend for ten years. We have one disagreement, and now you treat me like this? Talk to me like I mean nothing?”

The words best friend hit me harder than I expect, like a slap to the face. Best friend. That’s all he thinks we were. Everything we had, everything I gave to him, everything we