Not His First Choice

The air went cold.Ellie dropped her gaze. "I'm sorry, Ms. Beaumont. This is my fault."Troy, don't argue because of me. It's not worth it."She knew I was mad out of jealousy—and flipped it into a status play.Smart.Her eyes went red on cue. I almost laughed. "Ellie, you like riding, right? I'll give you a horse. Ride whenever you want."Her head snapped up, eyes wide.My voice went cold. "Know your place. You're just an assistant. If it's not yours, don't touch it."Troy finally clocked that I was actually mad and rushed over. "Belinda, I'm sorry. Today's our anniversary—and your birthday."He leaned in close. "I didn't get you a gift this year. So I thought... I'd give you me."He shifted, just enough to show the bow at his neck.I'd known Troy for ten years. Been with him for eight.Every time he forgot my birthday, he pulled the same move to get me to forgive him.Eight years—seven times.I really thought this year would be different. Our last year before marriage.

Troy shoved me aside, panic all over his face.He dropped next to Ellie. "Are you okay? Does anything hurt?"Belinda, if you're mad, take it out on me. Why drag someone else into it?"The shove caught me off guard—I went down hard onto shattered glass."I didn't push her."He shot me a look. "Then she just fell on her own?"I pushed myself up, careful of the shards. Blood from my palm dripped onto the white carpet, spreading fast.Troy froze for a second, like he might say something—"Troy, my leg hurts so much."He instantly panicked, already dialing. "I'll get you to the hospital right away."Belinda, I'll deal with you when I get back."When the paramedics carried Ellie out, he didn't even give them a minute to bandage me."Troy, Ms. Beaumont is hurt too—"He let out a cold laugh. "It's just a scratch. She won't die. She brought it on herself. If she hadn't pushed you, none of this would've happened."I closed my eyes.When I opened them again, the hesitation was gone

Belinda's POVTroy caught up at the VIP terminal entrance.The second he saw me, he exhaled hard, grabbed my hand, and tried to pull me back."Belinda, thank God I found you. Come home with me. Yeah, I messed up, but you don't have to make it this big, right?"I shook him off, pulled out a tissue, and wiped where he touched me.His face dropped. "What's that supposed to mean?"I tossed the tissue. "Dirty.""The tissue—or me?"He caught himself, shoved the edge out of his voice. "I know you're mad I didn't take you to the hospital. But you hurt her first. If I didn't calm Ellie down and she called the cops, then what? Everything I did was for you."He let out a breath. "Fine. Maybe you don't get it. But transferring your shares and leaving? What's next—marrying someone else just to get back at me?"I shook my head. "You're overthinking it. I'm not getting married to provoke you."He let out a smug laugh and leaned in, like he used to. "Knew it. You still love me."I stepped

The next two weeks flew by in wedding prep.Then I caught Troy on the news—and yeah, he still wasn't over it.It was supposed to be some big entrepreneur interview, but only the first half aired.Troy looked straight into the camera. Said he missed me."Belinda Beaumont, you're the only person I've ever loved. I screwed up. I know I made you mad, but can you give me another chance? I looked into everything—the whole misunderstanding. I'll fire whoever caused it. Just... come back."His eyes were red. Even with all that studio makeup, you could see how wrecked he was."In the two weeks since you left, I haven't slept once. It's only now—without you—that I realized I have insomnia."Lex leaned over my shoulder and let out a low laugh. "How does he say something that shameless with a straight face?"I glanced up at him, confused.He scoffed. "It was his fault. But say it like that, and suddenly you're the one who left over nothing. Makes you look careless." His tone dropped. "Not