Not His Bride Anymore novel · Chapter 9 of 24

Chapter 9: Elliot's POV

Elliot's POV:

I said yes in front of forty people, and I did not regret it.

I regretted the other thing, eight months of it, every day since April.

Ainsley turned and walked away through the dining room.

She did not run.

She went straight and fast between the tables, with her back bare and her chin high, toward the corridor at the back where the coats were kept.

Caleb was calling something after her.

I did not hear it.

I followed her.

The corridor was narrow and dim, with a rack of wool coats on one side and a wall of cold storage on the other.

It smelled of garlic and wet umbrellas.

She stood at the far end with her back to me and both hands flat against the wall.

"Ainsley."

"Don't."

"I'm going to tell you all of it, if you want it."

"I want you to tell me why." She turned around. "Not what. Why."

Her eyes were wet, and she was furious about it.

I could have lied, and I had been given a hundred easy lies to use.

"Helen showed me the folder in April," I said. "The week I got back from Rotterdam. She said you were in love and he was a danger, and she said she was handling it."

"And you believed that."

"No. I said, tell her. She said you'd never believe it from her. She said you'd hate whoever carried it."

"So you let me hate nobody."

"I thought you'd find out sooner. I thought you would see it by yourself. And every time I told myself that, another month went by."

← Chapter 8 · All chapters · Chapter 10 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend