My Fiancé Swapped Room Cards So I Mated His Rival novel · Chapter 5 of 24

Chapter 5: Nine Years

The hall did not empty after the ruling.

Two hundred vampires wanted to see what I would do next.

Servants carried trays of blood and champagne through the crowd, and the whispering started up again.

Mated to Ward.

Dropped the ring in his glass.

I stood by a pillar with a hand pressed to the mark on my neck, and Lucian was across the room with the eldest, answering her low questions.

I felt him through the bond, steady and watchful.

Then Bridget came through the crowd toward me with her eyes already wet.

She had changed her gold dress for a plain grey one, and she carried a glass of water in both hands.

"Margo," she said. "Please. Five minutes."

"Say it here."

"I can't, not in front of..."

"You answered his phone. Say it here."

People nearby turned to look, and I let them.

She set the water down on a tray with a shaking hand.

"I never wanted you hurt," she said. "Tristan told me it was just the game. I was afraid to say no. You know how he is."

"I know how he is," I said. "I was engaged to him for two years. You knew me for nine."

"I was trying to protect you."

"By standing in his room?"

"I wasn't in his room."

"Your key says you were."

She opened her mouth and shut it.

A woman near us lifted her glass slowly and stopped drinking.

"Bridget," I said, as gently as I could, "his key had your name on it because he fixed it to. I smelled him on your hair. I smelled you on his collar. You're the only human in this house, so nobody here is going to protect you. Tell the truth, and I'll stand next to you while you tell it."

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